2 results
Retinotopic organization of the superior colliculus in relation to the retinal distribution of afferent ganglion cells
- D.M. Berson, J.J. Stein
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- Journal:
- Visual Neuroscience / Volume 12 / Issue 4 / July 1995
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 June 2009, pp. 671-686
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Sensory representations in the brain exhibit topographic variations in magnification. These variations have been thought to reflect regional differences in the density of innervation at the sensory receptor surface. In the primate visual cortex, for example, local magnification factors have been reported to be proportional to the corresponding densities of retinal ganglion cells. We sought to learn whether this principle also operates in a second major retinofugal pathway—the projection to the superior colliculus. In cats, we first used retrograde transport to determine the retinal distributions of the ganglion cells that project to the colliculus. Then, we compared the numbers of colliculopetal ganglion cells in selected retinal sectors to the areas of the corresponding collicular representations. Collicular areal magnification was not simply proportional to the density of afferent ganglion cells, being instead at least 5-fold greater than expected in the representation of the central visual field. These data imply that incoming retinal afferents are more widely spaced in the central regions of the tectal map than in the map's periphery. Such variations in afferent density appear to play as large a role as the distribution of ganglion cells in determining the metric of the collicular map.
Organization of ascending projections from the optic tectum and mesencephalic pretectal gray in Rana pipiens
- Neil M. Montgomery, Katherine V. Fite
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- Journal:
- Visual Neuroscience / Volume 7 / Issue 5 / November 1991
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 June 2009, pp. 459-478
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The ascending projections from the dorsal mesencephalon to the thalamus and pretectum in Rana pipiens were investigated by using the anterograde and retrograde transport of HRP with regard to two major issues:
(1) the degree of tectotopic organization in the projections, and (2) their cells of origin.
The results indicate that the spatial organization of the tecto-thalamic tract is specifically related to the laminar organization of the contributing tectal efferent neurons. Axons of neurons in the superficial portion of tectal layer 8 exit the tectum through layer 9 and travel in the superficial portion of the dorsal and ventral tecto-thalamic tracts and innervate the nucleus lentiformis mesencephali, the posterior lateral dorsal nucleus, and corpus geniculatum. The distribution of terminals within these structures varied with the tectal HRP-injection site. HRP injections in the ventral tecto-thalamic tract retrogradely labeled neurons in the superficial portion of tectal layer 8 across the lateral and caudal portion of the tectal lobe. HRP injections into the dorsal tecto-thalamic tract, at the level of the pretectum, retrogradely labeled pyriform neurons in the superficial portion of tectal layer 8 in the rostral and medial portions of the tectal lobe.
With regard to the deep tectal layers, axons from pyramidal neurons in layer 6 and ganglionic neurons in layer 8 leave the tectum through layer 7, travel in both the dorsal and ventral tecto-thalamic tracts, and are located internal to the axons of the pyriform neurons of superficial tectal layer 8. The majority of the ganglionic neurons project to the posterior lateral ventral nucleus and the anterior lateral nucleus. The distribution of terminals within these nuclei did not display a tectotopic organization.
A second major projection to the thalamus originates from the mesencephalic pretectal gray and innervates the nucleus lentiformis mesencephali, the posterior lateral dorsal nucleus, the anterior lateral nucleus, dorsal and ventral divisions of the ventral lateral thalamus, and the nucleus of Bellonci. Other axons from the mesencephalic pretectal gray terminate in the contralateral, medial portions of the posterior lateral dorsal thalamus, the ventral lateral thalamus, and the anterior lateral nucleus.
The isthmo-tectal projection was also retrogradely labeled following tectal injections of HRP. This pathway travels in the most ventral portion of the ventral tecto-thalamic tract; its axons passed over the lateral margin of the endopeduncular nucleus bilaterally, and crossed the midline in the caudal portion of the optic chiasm. Extensive, bead-like varicosities were observed on these axons both in the endopeduncular nucleus and in the posterior optic chiasm.
These results, taken together with those from other species, strongly suggest that a common organizational plan exists among terrestrial vertebrates with regard to the specific pattern of innervation of pretectal and thalamic nuclei by either the optic tectum or the superior colliculus.