Summary
In order to identify the pretectal nucleus which contains pupillomotor cells in the rat, cells were sought which were sensitive to changes in luminance level at the eye. Two types were found: Luminance detectors which showed a graded increase in firing with increase in luminance, and darkness detectors which showed a graded increase in firing rate with graded dimming of luminance intensity. All luminance detectors were located in the olivary pretectal nucleus, whereas darkness detectors were located in the posterior pretectal nucleus. Consensual pupil responses were recorded in conscious normal and sympathectomised rats using an infra-red sensitive T.V. pupillometer. Pupil diameter varied 2mm in an approximately linear fashion over six log units range in luminance intensity. Sympathectomy produced a general constriction of the pupil, but the overall response to light was unaffected. The changes in pupil size occurred over the same range of luminance that the firing rates of both luminance and darkness detectors changed. The olivary pretectal nucleus may therefore be involved in pupilloconstruction in the light, and the posterior pretectal nucleus, with pupillodilation in the dark.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benevento LA, Rezak M, Santos-Anderson R (1977) An autoradiographic study of the projections of the pretectum in the rhesus monkey (mucaca mulatta): evidence for sensorimotor links to the thalamus and the oculomotor nuclei. Brain Res 127: 197–218
Herman N (1977) Connections of the pretectum in the cat. J Comp Neurol 174: 227–254
Block MT (1969) A note on the refraction and image formation of the rat's eye. Vision Res 9: 705–711
Budge J, Waller AV (1852) Troisieme partie des recherches sur la pupille. CR Acad Sci (Paris) 34: 164–167
Carpenter MB, Pierson RJ (1973) Pretectal region and the pupillary light reflex. An anatomical analysis in the monkey. J Comp Neurol 149: 271–300
Cavaggionni A, Madarasz I, Zampollo A (1968) Photic reflex and the pretectal region. Arch Ital Biol 106: 227–242
Clarke RJ, Ikeda H (1979) Localisation of neurones in the pretectum mediating the pupil light reflex in the rat. J Physiol (Lond) 301: 22P
Clarke RJ, Ikeda H (1981) Pupillary response and luminance and darkness detector neurones in the pretectum of the rat. Doc Ophthal Proc Ser 30: 53–61
Collwijn H (1975a) Oculomotor areas in the rabbit's midbrain and pretectum. J Neurobiol 6: 3–22
Collwijn H (1975b) Direction-selective units in the rabbit's nucleus of the optic tract. Brain Res 100: 489–508
Hare WK, Magoun HW, Ranson SW (1935) Pathways for pupillary constriction: location of synapses in the path for the pupillary reflex and of constrictor fibres of cortical origin. Arch Neurol Psychiat 34: 1188–1194
Hellon RF (1971) The making of electrode tip positions in nervous tissue. J Physiol (Lond) 214: 12P
Hodes R (1940) The efferent pathway for reflex pupillomotor activity. Am J Physiol 131: 144–155
Hoffmann K-P, Behrend K, Schoppmann A (1976) A direct afferent pathway from the nucleus of the optic tract to the inferior olive in the cat. Brain Res 115: 150–153
Hoffmann K-P, Schoppmann A (1975) Retinal input to directional-selective cells in the nucleus of the optic tract in the cat. Brain Res 99: 359–366
Hoffmann K-P, Schoppmann A (1981) A quantitative analysis of the direction specific response neurones in the cat's nucleus of the optic tract. Exp Brain Res 42: 146–157
Ikeda H, Wright MJ (1972) The outer disinhibitory surround of retinal ganglion cell receptive fields. J Physiol (Lond) 226: 511–522
Itaya SK, Van Hoeson GW (1982) WGA-HRP as a transneuronal marker in the visual pathways of monkeys and rats. Brain Res 236: 199–204
Kanaseki T, Sprague JM (1974) Anatomical organisation of the pretectal nuclei and tectal laminae in the cat. J Comp Neurol 158: 319–338
Lowenstein O, Loewenfeld IE (1950a) Role of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems in reflex dilation of the pupil. Arch Neurol Psychiat 64: 313–340
Lowenstein O, Loewenfeld IE (1950b) Mutual role of sympathetic and parasympathetic in shaping of the pupillary reflex to light. Arch Neurol Psychiat 64: 341–377
Maekawa K, Kimura M (1981) Electrophysilogical study of the nucleus of the optic tract that transfers optic signals to the nucleus of the reticularis tegmentis pontis — the visual mossy fibre pathway to the cerebellar flocculus. Brain Res 211: 456–462
Magnuson DJ, Rezak M, Benevento LA (1980) Some afferent connections to the oculomotor complex in the macaque monkey. Soc Neurosci Abstr 6: 478
Mizuno N, Nakamura Y, Iwohari S (1974) An electron microscope study of the dorsal cap of the inferior olive in the rabbit, with special reference to the pretecto-olivary fibres. Brain Res 77: 385–395
Nisida I, Okada H, Nakano O (1959) Electrical activity of the pretectal region in the cat to visual stimulation. Yonago Acta Med 4: 7–19
Nisida I, Okada H, Nakano O (1960) The activity of the ciliospinal centres and their inhibition in the pupillary light reflex. Jpn J Physiol 10: 73–84
Pellegrino LJ, Cushman AJ (1967) A stereotaxic atlas of the rat brain. Appleton, Century, Crofts NY
Pierson RJ, Carpenter MB (1974) Anatomical analysis of pupillary reflex pathways in the rhesus monkey. J Comp Neurol 158: 121–144
Ranson SW, Magoun HW (1933) The central path of the pupilloconstrictor reflex in response to light. Arch Neurol Psychiat 30: 1193–1202
Scalia F (1972) The termination of retinal axons in the pretectal region of mammals. J Comp Neurol 145: 223–257
Scalia F, Arango V (1979) Topographic organisation of the projections of the pretectal region in the rat. J Comp Neurol 187: 271–292
Sillito AM (1968) The location and activity of pupilloconstrictor neurones in the midbrain of the cat. J Physiol (Lond) 194: 39–40P
Sillito AM (1969) The pretectal light input to the pupilloconstrictor neurones. J Physiol (Lond) 204: 36–37P
Siminoff R, Schwassmann HO, Kruger L (1967) Unit analysis of the pretectal nuclear group in the rat. J Comp Neurol 130: 329–342
Smith JD, Ichinose LY, Masek GA, Watanabe T, Stark L (1968) Midbrain single units correlating with pupil responses to light. Science 162: 1302–1303
Smith JD, Masek GA, Ichinose LY, Watanabe T, Stark L (1970) Single neuronal activity in the pupillary system. Brain Res 24: 219–234
Steiger H-J, Büttner-Ennever JA (1979) Oculomotor nucleus afferents in the monkey demonstrated with horseradish peroxidase. Brain Res 160: 1–15
Straschill M, Hoffmann K-P (1969) Response characteristics of movement detecting neurones in the cat's pretectal region. Exp Neurol 25: 165–176
Terasawa K, Otani K, Yamada J (1979) Descending pathways of the nucleus of the optic tract in the rat. Brain Res 173: 405–417
Trejo LJ, Cicerone CM (1981) Asymmetry of the on and off cell responses in the pupillary light reflex in the rat. ARVO Abstr 3: 15
Weber JT, Harting JK (1980) The efferent projections of the pretectal complex: an autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase analysis. Brain Res 194: 1–28
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported by a grant from the Special Trustees of St. Thomas' Hospital to H.I.; R.J.C. was a holder of a studentship of the Science Research Council of Great Britain during 1976–1979
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clarke, R.J., Ikeda, H. Luminance and darkness detectors in the olivary and posterior pretectal nuclei and their relationship to the pupillary light reflex in the rat. Exp Brain Res 57, 224–232 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236527
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236527