Visual cortex critical period

Critical periods are those in which the synaptic circuitry of a given brain region becomes stabilized in a functionally optimized conformation. The cerebral cortex and other brain structures contain functional maps for the activities characteristic of a species. The best example is the ocular dominance columns and other physical and functional characteristics of the circuitry within the visual cortical system that process information derived from the left and right visual fields, producing a map of the visual world. Other internal maps exist for the body (somatosensory, motor corti-... 

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