Early visual experience elicits cellular and functional plasticity in the retina and alters behavior

Abstract

Our interaction with the environment shapes how our brain processes sensory information and drives adaptive behavior. This plasticity allows brain adjustments in response to specific sensory experiences. While plasticity has been consistently detected in visual targets, only limited data exist on its extent in the primary sensory organ, the retina. Here, we show that the zebrafish retina demonstrates plastic transformations in response to visual environment alterations during development. We demonstrate that orientation-selective amacrine cells undergo profound morphological changes in animals previously exposed to distinct visual environments. We further find that the functional orientation-selective retinal output is altered, consistent with the visual environment in which the animals are raised, and that these changes are persistent. Finally, we show that early exposure to different visual environments changes the animals’ visuomotor response preference for specifically oriented patterns. Our findings unveil a developmental form of sensory organ plasticity with continuing structural, functional, and behavioral consequences.