Summary
A modification of the Fink-Heimer silver stain (Method II) is shown to be an excellent stain of degenerating axons and terminals in the Octopus CNS. At temperatures around 23° C the time for optimum degeneration (as seen in the light microscope) is between 1–3 days after lesioning, although some degeneration persists as late as 8 days post lesion. The degeneration is usually discrete and prominent against a pale, clear background and this method, used with caution and in conjunction with other stains and tracing techniques should prove valuable in tracing connections in the cephalopod CNS. The technique has been validated on pathways in the visual system already described; but new evidence is presented of projections to a visuo-motor centre, the peduncle lobe. This supports earlier evidence that these swift, agile invertebrates have a region of their brain organised like a cerebellum and that, to regulate motor programs, this utilises a range of information of the kind used by vertebrates.
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Abbreviations
- ce.gr.lay.in:
-
inner granule cell layer
- ce. gr. lay. out:
-
outer granule cell layer
- ce. ret. in:
-
proximal portion of retinal cells
- an.br.1,2:
-
brachial nerve (first and second)
- n. opt.:
-
optic nerves
- n.pal.:
-
palliai nerve
- n. stell:
-
stellar nerve
- ol.:
-
olfactory lobe
- opt.:
-
optic lobe
- aped.bas.:
-
peduncle lobe basal zone
- ped.sp.:
-
peduncle lobe spine
- pl. ret.:
-
retinal plexus
- plex:
-
plexiform zone of optic lobe
- rl.l.:
-
radial layer 1
- sc.:
-
sclera
- sp.:
-
1 lateral bank of spine
- sp.med.:
-
median bank of spine
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Camm, J.P., Messenger, J.B. & Tansey, E.M. New pathways to the “cerebellum” in Octopus Studies by using a modified Fink-Heimer technique. Cell Tissue Res. 242, 649–656 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00225433
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00225433