Researchers find essential brain circuit in visual development

Amblyopia occurs when the brain favors one eye over another, and is the most common visual impairment in children. If not corrected early in life, the impairment can become permanent. Now, researchers at UCLA have identified a new neural circuit in mice that may help treat amblyopia. In a new study published in Nature, the researchers showed that the binocular zone of the brain (the yellow/green region in the image - the red and blue zones are limited to input from each eye alone) has a circuit that inhibits firing of neurons in the region when an eye is covered. But after 24 hours of remaining covered, the inhibition fades, and the cells resumed their normal rate of firing even as the eye remained covered. This allowed the optical circuits to start rewiring, even in adult mice. Stimulating this circuit with drugs or implants could help treat amblyopia in adult sufferers, the researchers said.

Read more: National eye institute news
Journal article: A disinhibitory microcircuit initiates critical period plasticity in visual cortex. Nature, 2013. DOI: 10.1038/nature12485
Image credit: Image courtesy of Dr. Joshua Trachtenberg, UCLA.