September 2016
Volume 57, Issue 12
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   September 2016
Unilateral optic nerve crush induces potentiation of visual evoked response through the non-damaged eye in adult mice
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Elena G. Sergeeva
    Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
  • Claudia Espinosa-Garcia
    Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
  • Machelle T Pardue
    Atlanta VA Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitaiton, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
  • Donald G. Stein
    Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Elena Sergeeva, None; Claudia Espinosa-Garcia, None; Machelle Pardue, None; Donald Stein, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  This work was supported by gifts in support of research from BHR Pharma, Allen and Company, and the Marcus Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. MP was supported by Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehab R&D Service, Merit Award (E0591R) and Research Career Scientist Award (C9257).
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science September 2016, Vol.57, 606. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Elena G. Sergeeva, Claudia Espinosa-Garcia, Machelle T Pardue, Donald G. Stein; Unilateral optic nerve crush induces potentiation of visual evoked response through the non-damaged eye in adult mice. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2016;57(12):606.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose : We studied stimulus-selective response potentiation to demonstrate experience-dependent plasticity in adult mice following unilateral optic nerve crush (ONC). We hypothesized that the evoked response in the binocular area of the primary visual cortex of the contralateral, intact eye would be enhanced, and that allopregnanolone (ALLO), a putative GABAA receptor agonist, would diminish this potentiation.

Methods : Seven-week-old C57BL/6J mice were implanted with electrodes in the binocular visual cortices and randomly assigned to one of 4 groups: ONC/Veh, ONC/ALLO, Sham/Veh, Sham/ALLO (N=8/group). The left optic nerves were crushed in the ONC groups, and briefly exposed but left intact in the Sham groups. ALLO (10 mg/kg) or vehicle was given 1 hour after ONC and then on post-injury day (dpi) 3, 8, 13, and 18. Visual evoked potentials (VEP) were recorded before ONC (Baseline, BL) and on dpi 2, 7, 12, 17, 22 and 30. Visual stimuli consisted of horizontal or vertical full-field 100% contrast sine wave gratings (0.05 c/deg). Visual spatial frequency was assessed at BL and dpi 2, 6, 11, 16, 21 and 29 using an optokinetic tracking system. Two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc correction was applied.

Results : VEP amplitude was significantly augmented in all groups on dpi 2 (146±6.4% of BL), particularly in ONC animals, and slowly enhanced through dpi 30 (171±9.2%, p<0.0001). However, after dpi 12, while the VEP amplitude increased from 156 to 197% in the ONC/Veh group, in ONC/ALLO it stopped increasing and on day 30 was at the same level (148%) as Sham (difference ONC/Veh vs ONC/ALLO, p=0.003, Fig.1). Interestingly, in contrast to VEP amplitudes, the spatial frequency in the non-damaged eye in ONC/ALLO mice increased more than in ONC/Veh (BL 0.42±0.01 vs 0.44±0.02; dpi 2: 0.57±0.02 vs 0.52±0.02; dpi 29: 0.50±0.02 vs 0.46±0.02 c/deg; p<0.001, Fig.2).

Conclusions : Unilateral ONC enables enhancement of response potentiation in the visual cortex through the contralateral, non-damaged pathway. ALLO reduced this potentiation, possibly through GABAA-mediated inhibition, yet increased visual performance in the ONC/ALLO group. The contradictory dynamics of VEP and visual function after dpi12 suggests an optimal level of potentiation for functional improvement. Further studies to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the described potentiation will be implemented.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.

 

 

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×