Vision is Required for Cell Type Specification in the Visual Cortex

Abstract

The role of postnatal experience in mammalian cortical development, while long appreciated, is poorly understood at the resolution of cell types. To explore this issue, we used single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to profile the mouse visual cortex at different times in postnatal life with and without visual experience. The identities of glutamatergic cell types in upper layers (L) (L2/3/4) were established following eye opening. L2/3 cell types formed a spatial continuum, defined by the graded expression of ∼200 genes that included candidates associated with synapse formation and axon projection specificity. These patterns required visual input for both their establishment and maintenance. By contrast to upper-layer glutamatergic neurons, the remaining neuronal and non-neuronal types were established in a vision-independent fashion. Our results demonstrate that vision acts preferentially in the specification of cortical cell types and provide a framework for exploring experience-dependent cortical development at the cellular and molecular level.