Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evidence for the delayed expression of a brainstem abnormality in albino ferrets

  • Research Note
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Previous reports have suggested that neurons of the medial superior olivary nucleus in albino cats and rabbits are smaller than those in normally pigmented strains. In this investigation, the mean cross-sectional areas of neuronal perikarya in the medial superior olivary nucleus of pigmented and albino ferrets were compared at juvenile (14 weeks) and adult (greater than six months) ages. The mean cross-sectional area of the perikarya in adult albino ferrets was found to be 45% smaller than that of adult pigmented ferrets, confirming observations in cat and rabbit. The same comparison in juvenile ferrets, however, showed no significant differences. These results suggest that the mechanisms producing the abnormality of the auditory pathways differ from those responsible for the production of abnormal retinofugal pathways in albinos.

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

References

  • Conlee JW, Abdul-Baqi KJ, McCandless GA, Creel DJ (1986a) Differential susceptibility to noise-induced permanent threshold shift between albino and pigmented guinea pigs. Hearing Res 23: 81–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Conlee JW, Parks TN, Creel DJ (1986b) Reduced neuronal size and dendritic length in the medial superior olivary nucleus of albino rabbits. Brain Res 363: 28–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Conlee JW, Parks TN, Romero C, Creel DJ (1984) Auditory brainstem anomalies in albino cats. II. Neuronal atrophy in the superior olive. J Comp Neurol 225: 141–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Creel DJ, Conlee JW, Parks TN (1983) Auditory brainstem anomalies in albino cats. I. Evoked potential studies. Brain Res 260: 1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Creel DJ, Garber BR, King RA, Witkop CJ (1980) Auditory brainstem anomalies in human albinos. Science 209: 1253–1255

    Google Scholar 

  • Cucchiaro J, Guillery RW (1984) The development of the retinogeniculate pathways in normal and albino ferrets. Proc R Soc Lond (Biol) 223: 141–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Dallos P (1973) The auditory periphery. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dräger UC, Hubel DH (1975) Responses to visual stimulation and relationship between visual, auditory and somatosensory inputs in mouse superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 38: 690–713

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon B (1973) Receptive fields in deep layers of cat superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 36: 157–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Guillery RW, Hickey TL, Kaas JH, Felleman DJ, Debruyn EJ, Sparks DL (1984) Abnormal central visual pathways in the brain of an albino green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops). J Comp Neurol 226: 165–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris LR, Blakemore C, Donaghy M (1980) Integration of visual and auditory space in the mammalian superior colliculus. Nature 288: 56–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilding DA, Ginzberg RD (1977) Pigmentation of the stria vascularis. Acta Otolaryngol 84: 24–37

    Google Scholar 

  • King AJ, Hutchings ME, Moore DR, Blakemore C (1988) Developmental plasticity in the visual and auditory representations in the mammalian superior colliculus. Nature 332: 73–76

    Google Scholar 

  • LaVail JH, Nixon RA, Sidman RL (1978) Genetic control of retinal ganglion cell projections. J Comp Neurol 182: 399–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore DR (1982) Late onset of hearing in the ferret. Brain Res 253: 309–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore DR (1986) An auditory brainstem abnormality in the albino ferret. Neurosci Lett 24: S12

    Google Scholar 

  • Morest DK, Bohne BA (1983) Noise-induced degeneration in the brain and representation of inner and outer hair cells. Hearing Res 9: 145–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Orsulakova AM (1986) Melanin in the inner ear: micromorphological and microanalytical investigations. Acta Histochem 32: S245–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell TPS, Erulkar SD (1962) Transneuronal cell degeneration in the auditory relay nuclei of the cat. J Anat 96: 249–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson KJ, Guillery RW, Shackleford RM (1974) Congenitally abnormal visual pathways in mink (Mustela vison) with reduced retinal pigment. J Comp Neurol 154: 225–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz IR, Higa JF (1982) Correlated studies of the ear and brainstem in the deaf white cat: changes in the spiral ganglion and the medial superior olivary nucleus. Acta Otolaryngol 93: 9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Shatz CJ, Kliot M (1982) Prenatal misrouting of the retinogeniculate pathway in Siamese cats. Nature 300: 525–529

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Anatomy, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3QX, Oxford, UK

    G. E. Baker & R. W. Guillery

Authors
  1. G. E. Baker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. W. Guillery
    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

Baker, G.E., Guillery, R.W. Evidence for the delayed expression of a brainstem abnormality in albino ferrets. Exp Brain Res 74, 658–662 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247371

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247371

Key words

Search

Navigation