Development of cortical afferents and cortico-tectal efferents of the mammalian (rat) primary visual cortex

Morphology and estrogen receptor alpha mRNA expression in the developing green anole forebrain

Sex differences in forebrain morphology arise during development and are often linked to hormonal changes. These dimorphisms frequently occur in regions related to reproductive behaviors. Little is known about the normal ontogeny of reproductive nuclei in the green anole lizard, including whether steroid hormones influence their development. To address this issue, brain region volume, cell density, soma size, and estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) mRNA expression were characterized in the preoptic area (POA), ventromedial amygdala (AMY), and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) of late embryonic and early post-hatchling anoles. In adulthood, the POA and AMY are associated with male-specific reproductive behaviors and the VMH is implicated in female receptivity. Although soma size decreased in all brain regions with age, brain region volume diminished only in the POA, with a transient sex difference appearing before hatching. Cell density increased with age only in the female AMY. ERalpha mRNA expression was up to four times greater in the developing VMH than POA and AMY, peaking in the VMH around the day of hatching. These results are consistent with the idea that estradiol may influence differentiation of the VMH in particular. However, other factors are likely important to the development of these three brain regions, some of which exert their effects at later developmental stages.

Bihemispheric Collateralization of the Cortical and Subcortical Afferents to the Rat's Visual Cortex

A fluorescent dye (usually fast blue or rhodamine tagged latex microspheres) was injected into cortical area 17 (or area 17 and the lateral part of area 18b) of adult and juvenile (15 - 22 day old) Sprague-Dawley albino rats. Another fluorescent dye (usually diamidino yellow) was injected into cortical areas 17, 18a and 18b of the opposite hemisphere. The injections involved only the cortical grey matter. After postinjection survival of 2 - 14 days the distribution of retrogradely labelled mesencephalic and prosencephalic cells was analysed. Both small and large injections labelled retrogradely a substantial number of cells in specific and nonspecific dorsal thalamic nuclei (lateral geniculate, lateral posterior, ventromedial, several intralaminar nuclei and nucleus Reuniens) as well as a small number of cells in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus and the mesencephalic ventral tagmental area (VTA). While labelled thalamic cells contained only the dye injected into the ipsilateral cortex, a small proportion of hypothalamic and VTA cells was labelled with the dye injected into the contralateral cortex. Virtually none of the cells in these areas were double labelled with both dyes. Both small and large injections labelled cells in the ipsilateral telencephalic magnocellular nuclei of the basal forebrain and the caudal claustrum. A substantial minority of labelled cells in these structures was labelled by the dye injected into the contralateral cortex. Furthermore, a small proportion (about 1%) of claustral cells projecting to the ipsilateral cortex were double labelled with both dyes. In several cortical areas ipsilateral to the injected area 17, associational neurons were intermingled with commissural neurons projecting to the contralateral visual cortex. A substantial proportion of associational neurons projecting to ipsilateral area 17 also projected to the contralateral visual cortex (associational-commissural neurons). Thus, in visual area 18a, the associational-commissural neurons were located in all laminae, with the exception of lamina 1 and the bottom of lamina 6, and constituted about 30% of the neurons projecting to ipsilateral area 17. In paralimbic association area 35/13, associational-commissural neurons were located in lamina 5 and constituted about 20% of neurons projecting to ipsilateral area 17. In the limbic area 29d, the associational-commissural neurons were located in laminae 4, 5 and the upper part of lamina 6 and constituted about 10% of the associational-commissural neurons projecting to ipsilateral area 17. In oculomotor area 8, double-labelled neurons were located in lamina 5 and constituted about 10% of the neurons projecting to ipsilateral area 17. Thus, it appears that the axons of mesencephalic and diencephalic neurons projecting to the visual cortex do not send collaterals into both hemispheres. The bihemispheric projection to the rat's visual cortex originates almost exclusively in the retinotopically organized cortical area 18a and in integrative cortical areas 35/13, 29d and 8.

Bihemispheric Axonal Bifurcation of the Afferents to the Visual Cortical Areas during Postnatal Development in the Rat

Numerous cortical neurons in the juvenile and adult rat project to visual areas of both hemispheres whereas the vast majority of subcortical structures projecting to the visual cortex send strictly ipsilateral projections (Dreher et al., 1990). In the present study, the authors have sought to determine whether this pattern of axonal bifurcation in the connectivity of the visual areas undergoes a change during postnatal development. Two retrograde fluorescent dyes were used, fast blue (FB) and diamidino yellow (DY). Large multiple injections of one of the dyes were placed in all visual areas of one hemisphere and a small injection of the other dye was placed in area 17 of the opposite hemisphere. Labelled neurons were observed in subcortical and cortical structures on the side of the small injection. The experiments were performed on ten neonatal albino rat pups aged between 3 and 12 postnatal days (p.n.d.) at the time of injection and the results were compared with those obtained in the juvenile and adult animals, as reported in the preceding paper. In the thalamus of newborn animals, neurons belonging to nuclei located away from the midline send strictly ipsilateral cortical projections. However, in the midline nuclei of the intralaminar thalamic complex, a small region of overlap was observed between neurons projecting ipsilaterally and neurons projecting contralaterally in animals aged less than 9 postnatal days. In addition, in these neonatal animals a small number of bilaterally projecting neurons was detected in this region of overlap. In all other subcortical structures examined (ventral tegmental area, diagonal band of Broca, claustrum), the laterality of the projection was the same in the newborn and the adult animals. In particular, in the claustrum of neonatal animals, as in adult animals, there was a large contingent of contralaterally projecting neurons and only a very small number of bilaterally projecting neurons. The results in the cortex contrast with those observed in subcortical structures. Whereas ipsilaterally projecting neurons were distributed in a broadly similar way in newborn and adult animals, the laminar and areal distribution of contralaterally projecting neurons in newborn animals clearly differed from those observed in the adult animals. Furthermore, double labelled neurons were more numerous in animals aged less than 12 days than in adults. The proportions of such bilaterally projecting neurons were computed with respect to the numbers of neurons sending ipsilateral projections to area 17. These proportions are constant at all ages in the claustrum and cortical area 8. In areas 18a, 29 and 35 on the other hand, the proportions of bilaterally projecting neurons increase after 5 days and reach a peak in the period extending from 9 to 11 days of age when more than half of the neurons projecting ipsilaterally also send an axonal branch to the contralateral cortex. In cortical areas 29 and 35, this peak is followed by a sudden drop to the adult level at 12 postnatal days, whereas the return to the adult level is gradual in area 18a. These results demonstrate that, in subcortical structures and in cortical area 8, the laterality of the afferent connections to the visual cortex does not change during postnatal development. By contrast, cortical areas 18a, 29 and 35 go through a stage when numerous cells send bifurcating connections to both hemispheres. The timing of the decrease in proportions of bilaterally projecting neurons in these areas suggests that numerous neurons retract their callosal axonal branch when the adult pattern of callosal connectivity is established at 9 - 11 days of age.

Maturation of visual receptive field properties in the rat superior colliculus

Visually responsive neurons were recorded in the superficial layers of rat superior colliculus from postnatal day 12 to 28. Receptive field properties such as size, type (ON, OFF, ON-OFF and motion sensitive) and direction selectivity were analyzed to disclose changes during maturation. Although some aspects of sensory properties are modified during development (latency, receptive field sizes, and proportions of receptive field types), a high level of sophistication is also present in young animals even before eyelid opening. For instance, direction selective and direction biased cells, which require complex synaptic relations, are already observed when the first light evoked responses emerge in the superior colliculus (P13), strongly suggesting that this property develops without visual experience. Furthermore, direction selectivity is present in the colliculus prior to the appearance of visually evoked activity in the cortex. This indicates that direction selectivity can not be attributable to incoming cortical afferents. This study provides the first direct evidence that, unlike the cat, the rat's cortico-tectal pathway is only weakly involved in the establishment of direction selectivity in collicular neurons.

Post eye-opening maturation of visual receptive field diameters in the superior colliculus of normal- and dark-reared rats

When the rat's eyes open (P14) the retino-collicular projection is largely mature but the cortico-collicular afferents are naive and mature considerably in the following week. At P14, single units in the superior colliculus' superficial grey layer (SGS) had discrete receptive fields (RFs) (diameter = 15 +/- 1.6 degrees) which expanded with age, reaching 30 +/- 2.6 degrees at P21, possibly reflecting the increasing influence of the visual cortex, whose RFs are known to be enlarged at P21. Subsequently SGS RFs retracted to 13 +/- 1.3 degrees by P23. Dark-reared (DR) rats followed a similar but delayed developmental pattern, such that RFs were still large (27 +/- 3.4 degrees) at P24. By P30 however the RFs of DR rats were the same as those of normal adults. Thus visual experience accelerates the emergence of normal RFs in the SGS.

Maturation of projections from occipital cortex to the ventrolateral geniculate and superior colliculus in postnatal hamsters

The development of corticofugal axons from the posterior cortex of young (ages P3-P11, P15 and P22) and adult Syrian hamsters was investigated by anterograde axonal transport of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP). On P3 and P4, 30 h after tracer was deposited in the cortex, The HRP reaction product was observed in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate body and in the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus, but no labeled axons were observed in the ventral nucleus of the lateral geniculate body (LGBv) until P5. Axon arborization, indicated by a granular precipitate scattered throughout the LGBv was light on P6 and robust on P7. Adult-like patterns of cortico-LGBv innervation were present by P11. The time course for the development of corticotectal fibers was similar to that for the cortico-LGBv projection: labeled cortical efferents were present in the pretectum on P5, but these did not enter the optic fiber layer of the superior colliculus (SC) until the following day (P6). Substantial invasion of the superficial gray layer, resulting from possible arborization of cortical axons in the optic fiber layer, occurred on P9. An adult-like distribution was evident by P11. Thus, corticofugal efferents to the LGBv and to the SC follow a similar developmental sequence, with the LGBv afferents maturing slightly earlier. There appears to be, however, a significant difference in the 'waiting periods' for the two systems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Transient projection from the superior temporal sulcus to area 17 in the newborn macaque monkey

Area 17 in the neonate of numerous species receives projections from cortical areas that do not project to area 17 in the adult. To investigate if this were the case in the developing primate, we have made injections of retrograde tracers in area 17 of newborn monkeys (Macaca irus) and examined the areal distribution of labeled neurons. Neurons projecting to area 17 were found to be restricted to those cortical regions that project to area 17 in the adult. The projection to area 17 in the neonate did appear to be very different in that in the superior temporal sulcus there was a large contingent of labeled neurons in supragranular layers. This constitutes a transient projection because in the adult area 17 projecting neurons in this cortical region originate almost exclusively from infragranular layers. To test if a change in the laminar distribution of area 17 projecting neurons in extrastriate cortex is a general feature of postnatal development, we have computed in neonates and adults the proportion of area 17 afferent neurons in infra- and supragranular layers for each cortical region that projects to area 17. This revealed (i) that in the adult the laminar distribution of area 17 afferents is characteristic for each cortical area and (ii) that this distribution emerges during development from an immature state in which labeled neurons are more numerous in supragranular layers. These results show that there is an extensive remodeling of the neuronal circuitry connecting visual cortical areas during postnatal development in the monkey and that the transient connectivity of primate area 17 is very different from that observed in other mammalian species.