Since the discovery of ocular dominance plasticity, neuroscientists have understood that changes in visual experience during a discrete developmental time, the critical period, trigger robust changes in the visual cortex. State-of-the-art tools used to probe connectivity with cell-type-specific resolution have expanded the understanding of circuit changes underlying experience-dependent plasticity. Here, we review the visual circuitry of the mouse, describing projections from retina to thalamus, between thalamus and cortex, and within cortex. We discuss how visual circuit development leads to precise connectivity and identify synaptic loci, which can be altered by activity or experience. Plasticity extends to visual features beyond ocular dominance, involving subcortical and cortical regions, and connections between cortical inhibitory interneurons. Experience-dependent plasticity contributes to the alignment of networks spanning retina to thalamus to cortex. Disruption of this plasticity may underlie aberrant sensory processing in some neurodevelopmental disorders.

自从发现眼部支配性可塑性以来，神经科学家已经认识到，在离散的发育时间，关键时期，视觉体验的变化会触发视觉皮层的强大变化。用于以特定于细胞类型的分辨率探测连通性的最新工具扩展了对电路变化的理解，这些变化取决于经验依赖的可塑性。在这里，我们回顾了鼠标的视觉电路，描述了从视网膜到丘脑，丘脑和皮层之间以及皮层内的投影。我们讨论视觉回路的发展如何导致精确的连通性，并确定突触基因座，这可以被活动或经验改变。可塑性扩展到视觉特征，超出了眼部优势，涉及皮质下和皮质区域，和皮质抑制性中间神经元之间的联系。依赖于经验的可塑性有助于跨越视网膜，丘脑和皮质的网络对齐。这种可塑性的破坏可能是某些神经发育障碍中异常的感觉处理的基础。