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The pattern of callosal connections in posterior neocortex of congenitally anophthalmic rats

Anatomy and Embryology volume 178, pages 155–159 (1988)Cite this article

Summary

In an effort to assess the innate capacity of the central visual system to specify corticocortical connectivity in the absence of retinal afferents, we examined the tangential distribution of callosal cells and terminations in posterior neocortex of congenitally anophthalmic rats. Although our results indicate that the callosal pattern is clearly anomalous in these rats, all features of the normal visual callosal pattern are recognizable in mutant rats, indicating that central visual pathways can generate many aspects of normal interhemispheric connectivity in the absence of input from the periphery. On the other hand, the presence of anomalies in the pattern indicates that the eyes are necessary to finetune the distribution of callosal connections at some developemental stage. Moreover, the fact that abnormalities in the callosal pattern of mutant rats are the same as those previusly described in rats enucleated at birth suggests that the eyes begin to exert their influence on callosal development after birth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology 216-76, California Institute of Technology, 91125, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Jaime Olavarria

  2. Departmento de Anatomía, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 114-D, Casilla, Santiago, Chile

    Hermes Bravo

  3. Departmento de Biología Cellular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 114-D, Casilla, Santiago, Chile

    Gloria Ruiz

Authors
  1. Jaime Olavarria
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  2. Hermes Bravo
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  3. Gloria Ruiz
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Olavarria, J., Bravo, H. & Ruiz, G. The pattern of callosal connections in posterior neocortex of congenitally anophthalmic rats. Anat Embryol 178, 155–159 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463649

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463649

Key words

  • Interhemispheric pathway
  • Congenital anophthalmia
  • Visual cortex
  • Development
  • Rat