Object orientations in the visual field are columned into specific orientation domains in the primary visual cortex [area 17 (A17) and area 18 (A18)] of cats. At the single-cell level, adapting A17 neurons to a non-preferred orientation (adaptor) shifts their preferred orientation either towards the adaptor (attractive shift) or away from it (repulsive shift). As A17 and A18 are reciprocally connected, we sought to determine how changes in preferred orientations in A18 neurons are correlated with changes recorded in A17 anesthetised cats. To this end, we simultaneously traced populations of neurons in A17 and A18, using intrinsic optical imaging, before and after long (12 min) and short (3 min) adaptations. The comparison of A17 and A18 maps pre-adaptation and post-adaptation showed that variance in shift amplitudes is greater in A18 than A17 for short adaptations. Our results indicate a rapid reconfiguration of functional maps that may spread to many cortical areas. : Using optical imaging in anesthetised cats, we compared the effect of short (3 min) and long (12 min) term adaptation on orientation selectivity of neurons in A17 and A18. We found that adaptation induces similar proportion of attractive and repulsive shifts in neuronsʼ preferred orientation. These observations are independent of the adaptation duration. In addition, we report that orientation-shifts are more variable in A18 than in A17, suggesting that A17 is less plastic than A18.(Figure is included in full-text article.)