Spontaneous neural activity in the primary visual cortex of retinal degenerated rats

• Investigated the spontaneous neural activities in the primary visual cortex of RD model.
• Neurons in the primary visual cortex of RD model were hyperactive comparing to control group.
• Complexity of ISI sequence of spontaneous activities in the primary visual cortex of RD model decreased.

Retinal degeneration (RD) models have been widely used to study retinal degenerative diseases for a long time. The biological and electrophysiological presentations of changes in the retina during degeneration progress have been well investigated; thus, the present study is aimed at investigating the electrophysiological effects of RD in the primary visual cortex. We extracellularly recorded the spontaneous neural activities in the primary visual cortex of RD rats. The firing rate, interspike interval (ISI) and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity of spontaneous neural activities were subsequently analyzed. When compared to the control group, it was found that the neurons in primary visual cortex of the RD model fired more frequently. In addition, there was a decrease in LZ complexity of spontaneous neural firing in the RD model. These results suggest that the progress of RD may not only affect the retina itself but also the primary visual cortex, which may result in an unbalanced inhibition-excitation system as well as the decreased arising rate of new patterns of spontaneous activities.