Development of Natural Scene Representation in Primary Visual Cortex Requires Early Postnatal Experience

The development of the visual system is known to be shaped by early-life experience. To identify response properties that contribute to enhanced natural scene representation, we performed calcium imaging of excitatory neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of awake mice raised in three different conditions (standard-reared, dark-reared, and delayed-visual experience) and compared neuronal responses to natural scene features in relation to simpler grating stimuli that varied in orientation and spatial frequency. We assessed population selectivity in the V1 by using decoding methods and found that natural scene discriminability increased by 75% between the ages of 4 and 6 weeks. Both natural scene and grating discriminability were higher in standard-reared animals than in those raised in the dark. This increase in discriminability was accompanied by a reduction in the number of neurons that responded to low-spatial-frequency gratings. At the same time, there was an increase in neuronal preference for natural scenes. Light exposure restricted to a 2- to 4-week window during adulthood did not induce improvements in natural scene or in grating stimulus discriminability. Our results demonstrate that experience reduces the number of neurons needed to effectively encode grating stimuli and that early visual experience enhances natural scene discriminability by directly increasing responsiveness to natural scene features. •Natural scene discriminability in the V1 increases by 75% between the ages of 4 and 6 weeks•Discriminability of natural scenes and gratings is reduced in dark-reared animals•Discriminability fails to develop if visual experience is delayed until adulthood Using 2-photon calcium imaging in awake mice, Kowalewski et al. find that visual experience reduces the number of neurons required to effectively encode grating stimuli and enhances natural scene representation by directly increasing responsiveness to higher order features in the primary visual cortex.