Prior experience enhances plasticity in adult visual cortex

Abstract

Early experiences facilitate learning the same type of information at a later time. Indeed, the brain has a remarkable capacity to adapt to alterations in its sensory environment; this phenomenon is much more pronounced in juvenile animals. In this study, the authors show that in adult mice, the ability to adapt to changes can be improved profoundly if the mouse has already experienced a similar change in its sensory environment earlier in life. The authors used monocular deprivation, which is the standard model to study sensory plasticity in the mouse visual cortex (ocular dominance plasticity).