Abnormal development of kitten retino-geniculate connectivity in the absence of action potentials.

Action potentials were silenced in one eye of neonatal kittens by repeated intraocular injections of tetrodotoxin for 5 to 8 weeks. After tetrodotoxin blockade was allowed to wear off, receptive field properties of individual relay cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus were examined. The many ON-OFF and binocular fields found in the layers that receive input from the treated eye suggest that these cells had extremely abnormal retino-geniculate synaptic connections. These effects were different in kind from those seen after deprivation rearing that does not silence action potentials. Lack of action potential activity was concluded to lead to abnormal development in the central nervous system.

[1]  W Singer,et al.  Inhibitory interaction between X and Y units in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. , 1973, Brain research.

[2]  S. Sherman,et al.  Lateral geniculate nucleus in dark-reared cats: loss of Y cells without changes in cell size. , 1979, Science.

[3]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Development of single-neuron responses in kitten's lateral geniculate nucleus. , 1978, Journal of neurophysiology.

[4]  Rusoff Ac,et al.  Development of receptive-field properties of retinal ganglion cells in kittens. , 1977 .

[5]  M. H. Evans Tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin, and related substances: their applications in neurobiology. , 1972, International review of neurobiology.

[6]  C. Malsburg,et al.  Co-operativity and brain organization , 1981, Trends in Neurosciences.

[7]  J. Robson Abnormal axonal growth in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat , 1981, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[8]  G. Stent A physiological mechanism for Hebb's postulate of learning. , 1973, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[9]  B. Cleland,et al.  Organization of visual inputs to interneurons of lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. , 1977, Journal of neurophysiology.

[10]  C. Malsburg,et al.  How patterned neural connections can be set up by self-organization , 1976, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[11]  A. Tenenhouse,et al.  Comparison of α-bungarotoxin binding to skeletal muscles after inactivity or denervation , 1976, Nature.

[12]  R. J. Boegman,et al.  Batrachotoxin blocks slow and retrograde axonal transport in vivo , 1980, Neuroscience Letters.

[13]  J. K. S. Jansen,et al.  The effect of prolonged, reversible block of nerve impulses on the elimination of polyneuronal innervation of new-born rat skeletal muscle fibers , 1979, Neuroscience.

[14]  R W Guillery,et al.  A study of Golgi preparations from the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the adult cat , 1966, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[15]  R. W. Rodieck Maintained activity of cat retinal ganglion cells. , 1967, Journal of neurophysiology.

[16]  M. Vadas,et al.  Multiple projection of the visual field to the medial portion of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and the adjacent nuclei of the thalamus of the cat , 1969, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  P. O. Bishop,et al.  RESPONSES OF SINGLE UNITS IN LATERAL GENICULATE NUCLEUS OF CAT TO MOVING VISUAL PATTERNS. , 1965, Journal of neurophysiology.

[18]  A. Pestronk,et al.  Effect of muscle disuse on acetylcholine receptors , 1976, Nature.

[19]  P O Bishop,et al.  Binocular corresponding receptive fields of single units in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. , 1969, Vision research.

[20]  W. Harris,et al.  The effects of eliminating impulse activity on the development of the retinotectal projection in salamanders , 1980, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[21]  R. Kalil Development of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in the cat , 1978, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[22]  J. Changeux,et al.  Selective stabilisation of developing synapses as a mechanism for the specification of neuronal networks , 1976, Nature.

[23]  D. Purves,et al.  Elimination of synapses in the developing nervous system. , 1980, Science.

[24]  B. Cragg,et al.  The development of synapses in the visual system of the cat , 1975, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[25]  J. Movshon,et al.  Visual neural development. , 1981, Annual review of psychology.

[26]  R W Guillery,et al.  Experiments to determine whether retinogeniculate axons can form translaminar collateral sprouts in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat , 1972, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[27]  M. Dubin,et al.  Inteneuron circuits in the lateral geniculate nucleus of monocularly deprived cats , 1979 .

[28]  J. Stone,et al.  Relay of receptive-field properties in dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. , 1972, Journal of neurophysiology.