Abstract: PURPOSE: Short-term neural plasticity plays a key role in learning and working memory. Investigation on visual adaptation across different brain regions reveals interesting functional progressive short-term plasticity patterns, which will be helpful to understand how information is processed dynamically along visual streams.
METHODS: Combining biased adaptation protocol and in vivo electrophysiology single unit recording, we observed bi-directional switch of adaptive depression and training potentiation at single-cell level in dLGN, area 17 and area 21a of cats (Felis catus).
RESULTS: Induction of training potentiation requires different probability times of training direction: 8~80 in dLGN, 2~8 in area 17, and 1~4 in area 21a. Probability times under the lower limit could not induce significant change of response features, while exceeding the upper limit leads to adaptive depression. Further investigation suggests that for single cell, switch of adaptive depression and training potentiation is stimuli-parameter specific and cell-type related.
CONCLUSIONS: The short-term bi-directional plasticity patterns show progressive differences along dLGN and the visual ventral stream, suggesting inter-level propagation and intra-level uniqueness co-exist during visual information process.

Key words: short-term plasticity, biased adaptation, visual ventral stream, dLGN