Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rearrangements in the retino-geniculate projections of rats following ablation of the superior colliculus in infancy

  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

The superior colliculus was bilaterally or unilaterally ablated at different early postnatal ages in rats. When adult, each rat received a unilateral eye injection of Horesradish peroxidase to reveal the crossed and uncrossed retinal terminal fields within the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. Collicular ablation in the first seven days after birth, but not thereafter, produced a small hole or vacancy within the contralateral retinal terminal field which was occupied by an aberrant ipsilateral retinal terminal field. These rearrangements in the retino-geniculate projections occurred in the caudal quarter of the nucleus dorso-laterally just beneath the optic tract, solely ipsilateral to the ablated colliculus. Possible causes of the formation of these rearrangements are discussed, and similarities with other aberrant retinal projections following early damage to the visual system are considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

dLGN:

Dorsal geniculate nucleus

DTN:

Dorsal terminal nucleus of the accessory optic tract

HRP:

Horseradish peroxidase

LP:

Latero-posterior nucleus

NOT:

Nucleus of the optic tract

OT:

Optic tract

PO:

Olivary pretectal nucleus

PP:

Posterior pretectal nucleus

SC:

Superior colliculus

TMB:

Tetramethyl benzidine

References

  • Adams AD, Forrester JM (1968) The projection of the rat's visual field on the cerebral cortex. Q J Exp Physiol 53: 327–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Baisinger J, Lund RD, Miller B (1977) Aberrant retinothalamic projections resulting from unilateral tectal lesions made in fetal and neonatal rats. Exp Neurol 54: 369–382

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowey A, Henken DB, Perry VH (1982) Effects on visual acuity of neonatal or adult tectal ablation in rats. Exp Brain Res 48: 149–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowey A, Perry VH (1979) The projection of the temporal retina in rats, studied by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase. Exp Brain Res 35: 457–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Grain BJ, Hall WC (1980a) The organization of the lateral posterior nucleus of the golden hamster after neonatal superior colliculus lesions. J Comp Neurol 193: 383–401

    Google Scholar 

  • Grain BJ, Hall WC (1980b) The organization of afferents to the lateral posterior nucleus in the golden hamster after different combinations of neonatal lesions. J Comp Neurol 193: 403–412

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dean P (1981) Visual acuity in hooded rats: effects of superior collicular or posterior neocortical lesions. Brain Res 156: 17–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost DO, Schneider GE (1979) Plasticity of retinofugal projections after partial lesions of the retina in newborn Syrian hamsters. J Comp Neurol 185: 517–567

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuda Y (1977) A three group classification of rat retinal ganglion cells: histological and physiological studies. Brain Res 119: 327–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Giolli RA, Creel DJ (1974) Inheritance and variability of the organization of the retinogeniculate projections in pigmented and albino rats. Brain Res 78: 335–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffery G (1984) Retinal ganglion cell death and terminal field retraction in the developing rodent visual system. Develop Brain Res 13: 81–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman AR (1974) Some factors affecting retrograde neuronal responses to axonal lesions. In: Bellairs R, Gray EG (eds) Essays on the nervous system. Clarendon Press, Oxford, Chap 4

    Google Scholar 

  • Linden R, Cowey A, Perry VH (1983) Tectal ablation at different ages in developing rats has different effects on retinal ganglion cell density but not on visual acuity. Exp Brain Res 51: 368–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Linden R, Perry VH (1982) Ganglion cell death within the developing retina: a regulatory role for retinal dendrites? Neuroscience 7: 2813–2827

    Google Scholar 

  • Linden R, Perry VH (1983) Massive retinotectal projection in rats. Brain Res 272: 145–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund RD (1965) Uncrossed visual pathways of hooded and albino rats. Science 149: 1506–1507

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund RD, Cunningham TJ, Lund JS (1973) Modified optic projections after unilateral eye removal in young rats. Brain Behav Evol 8: 51–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund RD, Land PW, Boles J (1980) Normal and abnormal uncrossed retinotectal pathways in rats: an HRP study in adults. J Comp Neurol 189: 711–720

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund RD, Lund JS (1976) Plasticity in the developing visual system: the effects of retinal lesions made in young rats. J Comp Neurol 169: 133–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesulam M-M (1978) Tetramethyl benzidine for horseradish peroxidase neurohistochemistry: a non-carcinogenic blue reaction-product with superior sensitivity for visualizing neural afferents and efferents. J Histochem Cytochem 26: 106–117

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Montero VM, Brugge JF, Beitel RE (1968) Relation of the visual field to the lateral geniculate body of the albino rat. J Neurophysiol 31: 221–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry VH (1980) A tectocortical visual pathway in the rat. Neuroscience 5: 915–927

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry VH, Cowey A (1979a) The effects of unilateral cortical and tectal lesions on retinal ganglion cells in rats. Exp Brain Res 35: 85–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry VH, Cowey A (1979b) Changes in the retino-fugal pathways following cortical and tectal lesions in neonatal and adult rats. Exp Brain Res 35: 97–108

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perry VH, Cowey A (1982) A sensitive period for ganglion cell degeneration and the formation of aberrant retino-fugal connections following tectal lesions in rats. Neuroscience 7: 583–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese BE (1984) The projection from the superior colliculus to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in the rat. Brain Res 305: 162–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese BE, Cowey AC (1983) Projection lines and the ipsilateral retino-geniculate pathway in the hooded rat. Neuroscience 10: 1233–1247

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese BE, Jeffery G (1983) Crossed and uncrossed visual topography in dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the pigmented rat. J Neurophysiol 49: 877–885

    Google Scholar 

  • Scalia R, Arango V (1979) Topographic organization of the projections of the retina to the pretectal region in the rat. J Comp Neurol 186: 271–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider GE (1973) Early lesions of superior colliculus: factors affecting the formation of abnormal retinal projections. Brain Behav Evol 8: 73–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Schober W, Gruschka H (1977) Die Ganglienzellen der Retina der Albinoratte: eine qualitative und quantitative Studie. Z Mikrosk-Anat Forsch 91: 397–414

    Google Scholar 

  • Siminoff R, Schwassmann HO, Kruger L (1966) An electrophysiological study of the visual projection to the superior colliculus of the rat. J Comp Neurol 127: 435–444

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, OX1 3UD, Oxford, UK

    B. E. Reese & A. Cowey

Authors
  1. B. E. Reese
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Cowey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reese, B.E., Cowey, A. Rearrangements in the retino-geniculate projections of rats following ablation of the superior colliculus in infancy. Exp Brain Res 59, 372–381 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230917

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230917

Key words

Search

Navigation