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Neurochemical changes in the primate lateral geniculate nucleus following lesions of striate cortex in infancy and adulthood: implications for residual vision and blindsight

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Abstract

Following lesions of the primary visual cortex (V1), the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) undergoes substantial cell loss due to retrograde degeneration. However, visually responsive neurons remain in the degenerated sector of LGN, and these have been implicated in mediation of residual visual capacities that remain within the affected sectors of the visual field. Using immunohistochemistry, we compared the neurochemical characteristics of LGN neurons in V1-lesioned marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) with those of non-lesioned control animals. We found that GABAergic neurons form approximately 6.5% of the neuronal population in the normal LGN, where most of these cells express the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin. Following long-term V1 lesions in adult monkeys, we observed a marked increase (~ sevenfold) in the proportion of GABA-expressing neurons in the degenerated sector of the LGN, indicating that GABAergic cells are less affected by retrograde degeneration in comparison with magno- and parvocellular projection neurons. In addition, following early postnatal V1 lesions and survival into adulthood, we found widespread expression of GABA in putative projection neurons, even outside the degenerated sectors (lesion projection zones). Our findings show that changes in the ratio of GABAergic neurons in LGN need to be taken into account in the interpretation of the mechanisms of visual abilities that survive V1 lesions in primates.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the contributions of Monash Micro Imaging (MMI) facility for providing training and support for confocal imaging.

Funding

Funded by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (1122220 and 1194206).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Nafiseh Atapour, Katrina H. Worthy & Marcello G. P. Rosa

  2. Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Nafiseh Atapour & Marcello G. P. Rosa

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  1. Nafiseh Atapour
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  2. Katrina H. Worthy
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Correspondence to Nafiseh Atapour.

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The experiments were conducted in accordance with the Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes. All procedures were approved by the Monash University Animal Ethics Experimentation Committee, which also monitored the health and wellbeing of the animals throughout the experiments.

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Atapour, N., Worthy, K.H. & Rosa, M.G.P. Neurochemical changes in the primate lateral geniculate nucleus following lesions of striate cortex in infancy and adulthood: implications for residual vision and blindsight. Brain Struct Funct 226, 2763–2775 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02257-0

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