Abstract
Classic models emphasize an important role of sensory experience in the development of visual circuits in the mammalian brain. However, recent evidence indicates that fundamental features of visual circuits in the thalamus, cortex and superior colliculus emerge prior to the emergence of form vision. I will summarize our latest experiments that use in vivo optical imaging techniques and molecular-genetic manipulations in mice to demonstrate that spontaneous retinal activity, generated prior to vision, plays an essential role in sculpting the development of visual circuits in the mammalian brain.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016