Recent studies have demonstrated the important role of immune molecules in the development of neuronal circuitry and synaptic plasticity. We have detected the presence of FcγRllB protein in parvalbumin-containing inhibitory interneurons (PV neurons). In the present study, we examined the appearance of PV neurons in the barrel cortex and the effect of sensory deprivation in FcγRllB-deficient mic...

Stimulation of sensory pathways is important for the normal development of cortical sensory areas, and impairments in the normal development can have long-lasting effect on animal's behavior. In particular, disturbances that occur early in development can cause permanent changes in brain structure and function. The behavioral effect of early sensory deprivation was studied in the mouse whisker ...

The findings reported by Berkowitz (1) -are extremely interesting, informative, and consistent with theoretical formulations and experimental results relating sensory deprivation to stimulus-seeking behaviors, (4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10). It is the intention of this comment to suggest that Berkowitz's conclusion (1, p. 192) that "The results as a whole do not support optimal-arousal theory; nor do they...

The present study aimed at clarifying the relationships between the use of sensory aids and the quality of life (QOL) and mortality of elderly people suffering from sensory deprivation. We carried out a cross-sectional survey on the QOL and the sensory status of an elderly cohort and a 6-year longitudinal follow-up of mortality rates among 1192 non-institutionalized people aged 70-75 years in a...

The article examines the issue of studying speed sensorimotor response,individual-typological properties GNI, psychophysiological functions memory and attention in15-16-year-old students with auditory visual sensory deprivation. It was revealed that a group children fromvisual impairments were characterized by relatively better indicators auditory-motor speedreactions, hearing - visual-motor re...

AIMS This study aimed to establish the contribution of hallucination proneness, anxiety, suggestibility, and fantasy proneness to psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) reported during brief sensory deprivation. METHOD Twenty-four high and 22 low hallucination-prone participants reported on PLEs occurring during brief sensory deprivation and at baseline. State/trait anxiety, suggestibility, and fa...

AIMS This study aimed to establish and compare the effects of brief sensory deprivation on individuals differing in trait hallucination proneness. METHOD Eighteen participants selected for high hallucination proneness were compared against 18 participants rating low on this trait. The presence of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), and participants' cognitive appraisals of these, was evaluated...

Binocularity is a fundamental property of primate vision. Ocular dominance describes the perceptual weight given to the inputs from the two eyes in their binocular combination. There is a distribution of sensory dominance within the normal binocular population with most subjects having balanced inputs while some are dominated by the left eye and some by the right eye. Using short-term monocular...

During a critical period of postnatal age sensory experience has a profound effect on maturation of visual cortical wiring. Electrophysiological evidence is indicating a substantial effect of visual deprivation on the visual cortical response properties. In this study we evaluated effect of light deprivation during a limited time of postnatal age on two aspects of spatial (working and reference...