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The projection of the retina upon the optic tectum of the pigeon
Author(s) -
Hunt S. P.,
Webster K. E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.901620403
Subject(s) - tectum , biology , optic tectum , retina , anatomy , laminar organization , cytoarchitecture , degeneration (medical) , projection (relational algebra) , lamina , laminar flow , afferent , neuroscience , golgi apparatus , midbrain , central nervous system , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , medicine , thermodynamics , pathology , algorithm , endoplasmic reticulum , computer science
The projection of the retina onto the optic tectum of the pigeon has been investigated using silver impregnation methods for degenerating axons and terminals, autoradiographic tracing, and the Golgi methods. Degenerating optic afferents distribute to sublaminae a–d and f of the stratum griseum et fibrosum superficiale over the whole tectum, but two major fields are observed. One occupies the caudal and ventral tectum (in which region laminar cytoarchitecture is marked), and the other rostral and dorsal tectum (where demarcation of cell laminae is relatively poor). Degeneration in the latter field is coarse and clearly distributes in a distinctly laminated fashion within the stratum griseum et fibrosum superficiale. In contrast, degeneration in the caudo‐ventral region is fine, and laminated distribution less clear. The evolution of the degeneration pattern over survival periods from 3 to 56 days suggests that these laminar distributions reflect the existence of several different types of optic terminal ramification present in all parts of the tectum. A selective laminar distribution of such optic afferent types correlates well with our own and other Golgi studies. The results of the autoradiography experiments are broadly compatible with these findings.