A long term study of axonal transport in the central visual system following eye enucleation in the adult cat.

The effect of the enucleation of one eye on anterograde and retrograde labelling in geniculo-cortical, cortico-geniculate and commissural projections was investigated in adult cats by means of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and tritiated aminoacids. It was found that in addition to the immediate decrease of retrograde labelling with HRP in the cortical projections from the deafferented A-laminae of the dorsal part of the lateral geniculate nucleus (Singer et al. 1977) there is a further reduction which lasts up to 75 days after enucleation. At 146 and 363 days after enucleation a slight increase in the number of labelled neurones was noted in the deafferented lamina. Qualitative assessment did not reveal any changes of anterograde labelling with tritiated amino acids in geniculo-cortical, cortico-geniculate and commissural axones. In addition, the retrograde labelling with HRP in cortico-geniculate and commissural projections seemed to be unaffected by eye enucleation.

The distribution of pontine projection cells in visual and association cortex of the cat: an experimental study with horseradish peroxidase.

The projections from the visual and association areas of the cat's neocortex to the pons were investigated with horseradish peroxidase as retrograde tracer. Small injections were made into the pars basalis of the pons, along its entire rostrocaudal extent. The cortical areas considered were areas 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and the lateral suprasylvian areas (LSA); the posterior (PMSA), and the anterior middle suprasylvian association area (AMSA), the anterior lateral association area (ALA) and the anterior suprasylvian association area (ASA). A pontine projection was found for all the areas investigated; however, areas differ in the relative strength of their projection, in their intraareal distribution of projection cells, and in the location of their projection zones within the pons. A low to moderate density of projection cells is seen in the areas 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and in PMSA. The posterior part of LSA contains only a few projection cells, whereas in more anterior parts of LSA the density of projection cells is moderate to high. A relatively dense distribution of projection cells also appears in AMSA, ALA, and ASA. In those areas which are retinotopically organized (17, 18, 19, LSA) the representation of the center of gaze contains far fewer projection cells than the representation of peripheral vision. In the association areas the distribution of projection cells appears even. The projection zones from areas 17, 18, and 19 overlap with the zones from LSA in the anterior half of the basal pons. The projection zones from areas 20 and 21 and from ALA and ASA are located in the middle third and the projection zones from PMSA and AMSA spread throughout the entire rostrocaudal extent of the basal pons. Our findings indicate that efferent impulses from the visual cortical areas and from the association areas on the middle suprasylvian gyrus are relayed to the cerebellum exclusively via the basal pontine nuclei. The findings further suggest that the visual corticopontine projections carry a map of the visual field in which the cortical magnification factor is reduced.

Representation of the visual field in the optic tract and optic chiasma of the cat.

The fibre arrangement in the optic chiasma (OC) and tract (OT) was investigated with anatomical and physiological methods. In silver impregnated material, principal fibre streams can be demonstrated. In the OC, fibre bundles from each eye cross in a regular basket weave pattern, but deviations of single fibres from the predominant stream are often seen. In the OT, fibres run essentially parallel, and crossings of individual fibres are mainly restricted to the periphery of the tract, or around capillaries. Fibres in the upper segment of the OT are of thin, in the lower segments of thick diameter. Individual fibres labelled by HRP injected in the lateral geniculate body (LGB) run essentially parallel over long distances. Ventromedially to the LGB, bifurcations are found with one branch entering the LGB, the other continuing. 57% of OT-fibres had a receptive field (RF) in the contralateral, 43% in the homolateral eye; 60% in the lower, 40% in the upper visual field; and 6% had a RF in the homolateral visual field, mostly near the vertical meridian. Fibres from the central area were underrepresented in our sample. Fibres from the two eyes were mixed. The RFs of consecutively recorded fibres showed a systematic progression only exceptionally. After plotting RFs of a single penetration on a transformed isodensity ganglion cell map of the visual field, the RF's were distributed along elongated paths on this map. In the OT, such paths ran parallel or slightly inclined relative to the horizontal meridian. They were restricted to either the upper or the lower quadrant or to a path along the horizontal meridian. In the OC, the RF-paths mostly crossed the horizontal meridian at an obtuse angle (average 70 degrees). Thus, the visual field representation rotates by nearly 90 degrees from the OC to the OT. In the OC, the central area is located anteriorly, in the OT dorsally, with the upper visual quadrant laterally and the lower medially. Fibres from the two eyes were mixed and, within the range of the scatter, RFs from the homo- and contralateral eye were in register. It is concluded, that the distribution of fibres in the OC and the OT show a basic retinotopic organization superimposed by scatter.

The distribution of interhemispheric projections in area 18 of the cat: coincidence with discontinuities of the representation of the visual field in the second visual area (V2).

In normal adult cats three regions with callosal projections from the contralateral visual areas 17, 18, and 19 have been identified at the lateral border of area 18 by degeneration techniques (Sanides, 1978). The visuotopic distribution of these callosal patches has now been investigated by combining anatomical with physiological techniques. The centers of the receptive fields recorded in the callosal patches are located on or close to the vertical meridian in the contralateral hemifield reaching eccentricities of about 15 deg. Some of these fields are of extraordinary size crossing the vertical meridian and covering large areas of the ipsilateral hemifield. On the other hand, receptive fields recorded from the acallosal parts of lateral area 18 may reach eccentricities of more than 50 deg. Thus, the callosal patches of lateral area 18 are wedged in between parts of lateral area 18 which represent the periphery of the contralateral hemifield. It is concluded that the retinotopic arrangement at lateral area 18 (the second visual area) distinguishes this area fundamentally from area 17, the primary visual area.

Identification of the projection from the visual cortex to the claustrum by anterograde axonal transport in the cat.

Visual cortex, including areas 17, 18, and sometimes 19, was injected with tritiated leucine. Terminal labelling could be detected by autoradiography in the dorsocaudal part of the ipsilateral claustrum in all cases.

The retinotopic distribution of visual callosal projections in the suprasylvian visual areas compared to the classical visual areas (17, 18, 19) in the cat.

The distribution of the interhemispheric projection from area 17 and 18 was studied using the anterograde degeneration technique. Besides the classical visual areas (17, 18, 19), area 21 and several visual areas in the middle suprasylvian sulcus also received visual callosal input. In the four terminal areas of the middle suprasylvian sulcus the projection was found to be focused on representations of the ventrical meridian including the area centralis, as in the classical visual areas. An increase of the width of visual field represented in the zone of callosal terminations can be seen from area 17 through area 18 to area 19 and possibly this trend continues in the suprasylvian visual areas.

A study of binocular convergence in cat visual cortex neurons.

The average latency of cortical neuronal responses to electrical optic nerve (ON) stimulation was 3.0 +/- 0.7 s.d. msec. No significant difference between latencies to ipsi- and contralateral ON stimulation was found. Binocularly excitable cells showed almost equal response latencies to stimulation of both nerves. The average latency of subcortically recorded geniculo-cortical fibers was 0.3 msec less, but showed the same variance as that of cortical cells, suggesting that in all cases direct monosynaptic excitation of cortical cells by fibers of either ocularity is possible. Classes of ocular dominance based on electrical stimulation were positively, but not 100% correlated with classes of ocular dominance to visual stimulation. An anatomical study revealed that in cat terminals of geniculo-cortical projection are segregated to a lesser degree into ocularity stripes than in monkey. Direct monosynaptic excitation of cells by fibers of either ocularity which was found physiologically would also on these grounds appear possible for all cells.

The retinal projection to the ventral part of the lateral geniculate nucleus. An experimental study with silver-impregnation methods and axoplasmic protein tracing.

The retinal projection to the ventral part of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNv) was studied in 25 adult cats. In 12 cats one or both eyes were enucleated and the terminal degeneration in the LGNv was studied with silver impregnation methods. In 12 cats one or both eyes were injected with 3H-leucine and the terminal labelling in the LGNv was studied with autoradiography. In one animal one eye was enucleated and the other injected. In this case alternate sections were silver impregnated and processed for autoradiography. The series were cut in parasagittal, transverse or horizontal planes. The results revealed by degeneration were in very good agreement with those revealed by axoplasmic protein tracing. Two fields of retinal projection were found in the LGNn. The larger, dorsal one was restricted to subnucleus k (Jordan and Holländer, 1972) and comprised an ipsilateral and a contralateral component which did not overlap each other. The smaller, ventral field of projection was contralateral and extended from subnucleus b into c, e and a. The afferent optic tract fibres to both terminal fields were of small calibers.