The Changing Visual System

In late May and early June 1991, a NATO Advanced Study Institute was held at a hotel in the hilltop village of San Martino al Cimino a few kilometers from the city of Viterbo in the Lazio region of Italy. The title of the course was the same as this volume and brought together specialists working at all phases of the life span (embryology, infancy, childhood, middle life and senescence) in both animals and humans to exchange ideas, facts and theories in the search for common principles. Such principles could prove important for understanding developmental changes in the central nervous system and visual behavior within the context of a continuum of life-span processes rather than viewing them as events or mechanisms that occur only in a certain period. For example, changes that are associated with "aging" were considered as extensions or continuations of processes that began at an earlier stage of the life span, rather than being seen as processes that only began late in life.

Klappentext

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in San Martino al Cimino (Viterbo), Italy, May 26-June 6, 1991

Zusammenfassung
For example, changes that are associated with "aging" were considered as extensions or continuations of processes that began at an earlier stage of the life span, rather than being seen as processes that only began late in life.

Inhalt
Development of the Primate Visual System Throughout Life.- Modern Theories of Aging and their Application to Ocular Senescence.- Animal Models of Life-span Development.- Ontogenetic Clues to the Phylogeny of the Visual System.- Are Visual Hierarchies in the Brains of the Beholders? Constancy and Variability in the Visual System of Birds and Mammals.- The Centrifugal Visual System: What Can Comparative Studies Tell Us About Its Evolution and Possible Function?.- Blockade of Proteolytic Activity Retards Retrograde Degeneration of Axotomized Retinal Ganglion Cells and Enhances Axonal Regeneration in Organ Cultures.- Organization and Development of Sparsely Distributed Wide-field Amacrine Cells in the Rabbit Retina.- Aging and Spatial Contrast Sensitivity: Underlying Mechanisms and Implications for Everyday Life.- Life-span Changes in the Visual Acuity and Retina of Birds.- Plasticity of Synaptic Connections in the Adult Vertebrate Retina.- New Aspects of Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms in Learning Processes.- Maturation and Plasticity of Neuropeptides in the Visual System.- Development and Plasticity of the Tectofugal Visual Pathway in the Zebra Finch.- Spatio-temporal Properties of the Pattern ERG and VEP: Effect of Ageing.- Methods and Models for Specifying Sites and Mechanisms of Sensitivity Regulation in the Aging Visual System.- Structural Organization and Development of Identified Projection Neurons in Primary Visual Cortex.- Developmental Status of Intrinsic Connections in Visual Cortex of Newborn Humans.- Development of the Visual Cortex Deprived Prenatally of Retinal Cues.- Sensorial and Sensorimotor Phenomena in Strabismus.- Age, Sex and Light Damage in the Avian Retina: A Model System.- The Damaging Effects of Light on the Eye and Implications for Understanding Changes in Vision across the Life Span.- Cellular and Molecular Aspects of Neuronal Differentiation.- VGF: A Tissue Specific Protein and a Marker of NGF-Induced Neuronal Differentiation.- Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) Prevents the Effects of Monocular Deprivation in the Rat.- Evidence for a Role of NGF in the Visual System.- Ipsilateral Projections During Development and Regeneration of the Optic Nerve of the Cichlid Fish Haplochromis burtoni.- Abnormal Organization of the Human Retina in a Genetic Disorder (Bloch-Sulzberger Syndrome).- Visual System in Some Systemic Diseases.- Effects of Intraocular Activity Blockade on the Morphology of Developing LGN Neurons in the Cat.- Development of Orientation-Specific Neuronal Responses in Ferret Primary Visual Cortex.- Development of the Tyrosine Hydroxylase Immunoreactive Cell Population in the Rabbit Retina.- Emergence of Visual Cortical Areas: Patterns of Development of Neuropeptide-Y Immunoreactivity and Somatostatin-immunoreactivity in the Cat.- Individual Differences in Contrast Sensitivity Functions of Human Adults and Infants: A Brief Review.- A Neural Network Model for Stripe Formation in Primate Visual Cortex.- Stereo Matching Using Relaxation Labeling Based on Edge and Orientation Features.- Contributors.