The projection of optic fibers to the visual centers in the cat

Retinal projections to the thalamus and midbrain were studied by the Nauta‐Laidlaw technique. After unilateral enucleation, degeneration was found in five areas: dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd, thalamus), ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNv, subthalamus), nucleus of optic tract (NOT, pretectum), superior colliculus (S.C., tectum), and accessory optic nuclei (AON, tegmentum). Degeneration after focal lesions in nasal retina made by photocoagulation is found in four areas of the contralateral LGNd: Laminae A and B, nucleus interlaminaris centralis (NIC), and the medial part of nucleus interlaminaris medialis (NIM). Temporal lesions lead to degeneration ipsilaterally in three areas: lamina A1, NIC, and the lateral part of NIM. Central lesions are followed by bilateral projections; the area of degeneration on each side is greater than that of peripheral lesions of comparable size. Focal degeneration is found in NIM after either central or peripheral retinal lesions. Each retina projects to both NOT and both S.C. In NOT, degeneration following nasal lesions is strictly contralateral while after temporal lesions is mainly ipsilateral. A bilateral projection of temporal retina to NOT constitutes an exception to theories of chiasmal decussation. Both nasal and temporal projections to AON are wholly crossed, thus constituting another example of projection of temporal retina to the contralateral side, Nasal fibers project contralaterally and nearly all temporal fibers ipsilaterally to S.C.

[1]  Ramón y Cajal,et al.  Histologie du système nerveux de l'homme & des vertébrés , 1909 .

[2]  K. Niimi,et al.  The comparative anatomy of the ventral nucleus of the lateral geniculate body in mammals , 1963, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  E. Taber.  The cytoarchitecture of the brain stem of the cat. I. Brain stem nuclei of cat , 1961, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[4]  D. Hubel,et al.  EFFECTS OF VISUAL DEPRIVATION ON MORPHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF CELLS IN THE CATS LATERAL GENICULATE BODY. , 1963, Journal of neurophysiology.

[5]  G. Schaltenbrand,et al.  Einführung in die stereotaktischen Operationen : mit einem Atlas des menschlichen Gehirns = Introduction to stereotaxis, with an atlas of the human brain , 1959 .

[6]  S. Erulkar,et al.  Single‐unit activity in the lateral geniculate body of the cat , 1960, The Journal of physiology.

[7]  R. W. Barris.  DISPOSITION OF FIBERS OF RETINAL ORIGIN IN THE LATERAL GENICULATE BODY: COURSE AND TERMINATION OF FIBERS OF THE OPTIC SYSTEM IN THE BRAIN OF THE CAT , 1935 .

[8]  A. Rochon-Duvigneaud.  Les yeux et la vision des vertébrés , 1943 .

[9]  T H MEIKLE,et al.  THE NEURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE VISUAL PATHWAYS IN THE CAT. , 1964, International review of neurobiology.

[10]  D. M. Rioch,et al.  Studies on the diencephalon of carnivora part I. The nuclear configuration of the thalamus, epithalamus, and hypothalamus of the dog and cat , 1929 .

[11]  S. W. Ranson,et al.  Optic connections of the diencephalon and midbrain of the cat , 1935 .

[12]  W. E. Clark,et al.  A MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LATERAL GENICULATE BODY , 1932, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[13]  J. Stone.  A quantitative analysis of the distribution of ganglion cells in the cat's retina , 1965, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[14]  W. Levick,et al.  The determination of the projection of the visual field on to the lateral geniculate nucleus in the cat , 1962, The Journal of physiology.

[15]  T H MEIKLE,et al.  THE ROLE OF THE SUPERIOR COLLICULUS IN VISUALLY GUIDED BEHAVIOR. , 1965, Experimental neurology.

[16]  W. Hayhow.  The cytoarchitecture of the lateral geniculate body in the cat in relation to the distribution of crossed and uncrossed optic fibers , 1958, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  W. F. Windle,et al.  A Physiological Approach to Perfusion-Flxation of Tissues with Formalin , 1945 .

[18]  P. O. Bishop,et al.  Some quantitative aspects of the cat's eye: axis and plane of reference, visual field co‐ordinates and optics , 1962, The Journal of physiology.

[19]  P. S. Silva,et al.  Some anatomical and physiological aspects of the lateral geniculate body , 1956 .

[20]  D. Cogan,et al.  Studies of Retinal Vascular Patterns: Part I. Normal Architecture , 1960 .

[21]  M. Fillenz.  Binocular Interaction in the Lateral Geniculate Body of the Cat , 1961 .

[22]  M. Probst.  Ueber den Verlauf der Sehnervenfasern und deren Endigung im Zwischen- und Mittelhirn. , 1900 .

[23]  E. Marg.  THE ACCESSORY OPTIC SYSTEM * , 1964 .

[24]  P. O. Bishop,et al.  VISUAL OPTICS IN THE CAT, INCLUDING POSTERIOR NODAL DISTANCE AND RETINAL LANDMARKS. , 1963, Vision research.

[25]  H. Kuhlenbeck,et al.  The pretectal region of the rabbit's brain , 1942 .

[26]  S. W. Ranson,et al.  The topography of the nuclei of the diencephalon of the cat , 1932 .

[27]  W. Hayhow.  An experimental study of the accessory optic fiber system in the cat , 1959, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[28]  B. D. Thuma.  Studies on the diencephalon of the cat. I. The cyto‐architecture of the corpus geniculatum laterale , 1928 .

[29]  J. Altman.  Some fiber projections to the superior colliculus in the cat , 1962 .

[30]  J. Apter,et al.  PROJECTION OF THE RETINA ON SUPERIOR COLLICULUS OF CATS , 1945 .