Brief localised monocular deprivation in adults alters binocular rivalry predominance retinotopically and reduces spatial inhibition

Shui’Er Han,Hamish Macdougall,Frans A J Verstraten,David Alais

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75252-w

Abstract

Short-term deprivation (2.5 h) of an eye has been shown to boost its relative ocular dominance in young adults. Here, we show that a much shorter deprivation period (3–6 min) produces a similar paradoxical boost that is retinotopic and reduces spatial inhibition on neighbouring, non-deprived areas. Partial deprivation was conducted in the left hemifield, central vision or in an annular region, later assessed with a binocular rivalry tracking procedure. Post-deprivation, dominance of the deprived eye increased when rivalling images were within the deprived retinotopic region, but not within neighbouring, non-deprived areas where dominance was dependent on the correspondence between the orientation content of the stimuli presented in the deprived and that of the stimuli presented in non-deprived areas. Together, these results accord with other deprivation studies showing V1 activity changes and reduced GABAergic inhibition.

Highlights

Short-term deprivation (2.5 h) of an eye has been shown to boost its relative ocular dominance in young adults
These shifts were observed in predominance and mean dominance duration, but the changes in the former measure were longer-lasting, presumably because it is a more sensitive measure for the weaker effects obtained with brief deprivation periods
The results revealed a retinotopic effect of brief monocular deprivation that reduced spatial inhibition from neighbouring areas interocularly and monocularly

Summary

Introduction

Short-term deprivation (2.5 h) of an eye has been shown to boost its relative ocular dominance in young adults. Of CFS exposure was capable of producing significant shifts in BR dominance that temporarily strengthened the deprived e ye[18] These shifts were observed in predominance (i.e., percentage of total viewing time where an eye is dominant) and mean dominance duration, but the changes in the former measure were longer-lasting, presumably because it is a more sensitive measure for the weaker effects obtained with brief deprivation periods. In line with this idea, the authors reported significant shifts in predominance after only 3 min of continuous flash suppression or interocular contrast difference

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Results

Conclusion