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Distribution of the tecto-thalamic projection neurons in the hereditary microphthalmic rat

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Summary

Tecto-thalamic projections in the hereditary bilaterally microphthalmic rat were studied by means of WGA-HRP injection into the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) and the lateroposterior thalamic nucleus (LP). Histological study in the mutant rats showed that whereas LGNd and superficial layers of the superior colliculus (SC) suffered from a remarkable reduction in size, LP had no histological changes as compared to the normal animals. Unilateral injection of the tracer into the microphthalmic LGNd showed that WGA-HRP positive neurons were present mostly in the ipsilateral str. griseum superficiale (SGS) of the SC. However, the number of labeled SGS neurons of the microphthalmic animals was about 3% of the normal. Although cell bodies of the normal tecto-LGNd neurons in the SGS were spindle-form in shape and issued one or two proximal dendrites from each pole, the microphthalmic tecto-LGNd neurons showed an irregular contour and their dendrites were not so intensively labeled. Unilateral injections of WGA-HRP into the LP revealed that the tecto-LP neurons were mainly distributed in the ipsilateral str. opticum of the colliculus. (SO) in both normal and microphthalmic animals. However, the number of labeled SO cells in the microphthalmic rat was about one-half of the normal. Furthermore, the size of labeled tecto-LP neurons was smaller than that of the normal ones, and they showed irregular round to oval cell bodies with equivocally labeled dendrites, in contrast to the normal tecto-LP neurons with polygonal cell bodies extending three or more dendrites in a radial fashion. These results indicate that there exist the tecto-LGNd and -LP projection neurons in the microphthalmic rat and that their laminally segregated projection is fundamentally preserved. However, the number of the tecto-thalamic projection neurons, especially of the tecto-LGNd cells, was markedly diminished in the mutant tectum compared to normals.

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Abbreviations

CST:

cortico-spinal tract

DRN:

dorsal raphe nucleus

DTN:

dorsal tegmental nucleus

LGNd:

pars dorsalis of the lateral geniculate nucleus

LLN:

nucleus of the lateral lemniscus

LM:

medial lemniscus

LP:

lateroposterior thalamic nucleus

MGN:

medial geniculate nucleus

MRF:

midbrain reticular formation

OT:

optic tract

P:

pretectal area

PAG:

periaqueductal gray

PB:

parabigeminal nucleus

PN:

pontine nuclei

PCS:

superior cerebellar peduncle

SGS:

superficial gray layer of the superior colliculus

SO:

stratum opticum of the superior colliculus

SN:

substantia nigra

Vm:

motor nucleus of the trigeminar nerve

Vs:

sensory nucleus of the trigeminar nerve

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Third Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, 280, Chiba, Japan

    S. Sugita, K. Otani & A. Tokunaga

  2. Department of Oriental Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2630 Sugitani, 930-01, Toyama, Japan

    K. Terasawa

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  1. S. Sugita
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  2. K. Otani
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  3. A. Tokunaga
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  4. K. Terasawa
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Sugita, S., Otani, K., Tokunaga, A. et al. Distribution of the tecto-thalamic projection neurons in the hereditary microphthalmic rat. Exp Brain Res 60, 564–575 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236943

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236943

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