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

Early visual experience induces persistent cellular, functional, and behavioral plasticity in the zebrafish retina, with orientation-selective amacrine cells showing profound morphological changes.

• Why it matters: Understanding plasticity in the primary sensory organ is crucial because it influences how sensory information is processed and how adaptive behaviors develop, yet limited data exist on this in the retina.
• What they did: The study examined zebrafish exposed to different visual environments during development, analyzing morphological changes in orientation-selective amacrine cells, alterations in retinal output, and shifts in visuomotor response preferences.
• The result: Findings reveal that early visual experience causes lasting structural, functional, and behavioral changes in the retina, highlighting a developmental sensory organ plasticity that impacts visual processing and behavior.