Roger Sperry surgically rotated an amphibian's eye, severed the optic nerve, and allowed the retinal ganglion cells to re-grow into the brain. Based on the animal's movements in the opposite direction from its prey, the RGC axons made connections to the same part of the brain as before. If normal vision had been restored, what would he have concluded?
Answer
That result would provide support for the 'functional selection hypothesis,' in which initially exuberant connections are selected through their functions to stabilize the final connection pattern.