The termination of retinal axons in the pretectal region of mammals

Author:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The retinopretectal projection was investigated in the rat, mouse, rabbit and tree shrew primarily by means of the Fink‐Heimer technique. The experimental animals survived for varying periods of time following unilateral eye removal. The retinopretectal projection in each species was predominantly contralateral. A dense field of terminal degeneration was observed in the nucleus of the optic tract and in the olivary pretectal nucleus in each of the species. A less dense projection was observed for the posterior pretectal nucleus in each species. A sparse projection to the anterior pretectal nucleus was observed in the rabbit and tree shrew but not in the rat or mouse. A dense, ipsilateral projection to the olivary pretectal nucleus was observed in the rat, mouse and tree shrew. A sparse, ipsilateral projection was found in the anterior end of the posterior pretectal nucleus in the rat, mouse and tree shrew and in the posterior part of this nucleus in the rabbit. In the tree shrew, a small amount of terminal degeneration was found in the ipsilateral anterior pretectal nucleus. The nomenclature used here is uniformly applicable among the species described.

This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit: