Behavioural and electrophysiological analysis of strabismus in cats: modern context.

We studied the effects of paralytic strabismus on visual behaviour and binocularity of cortical visual mechanisms by immobilization of one eye in adult cats. Visual discrimination abilities of the immobilized eye were significantly diminished despite extensive training with one or both eyes. The deficits are not caused by the immobilization itself but appear to reflect an adaptive mechanism to deal with double vision. The deficits with the immobilized eye persisted even after section of the optic chiasm, which effectively removes the direct cortical competition of the two eyes. Single-cell electrophysiological recordings showed that cortical cellular responses are modified by the immobilization, with loss of binocularity in some cells and shifting of receptive fields of other cells that continued to respond to both eyes.