Organization of extrinsic tectal connections in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Abstract

Nonretinal sources of tectal afferents, the laminar and regional organization of the inputs, and the relation of the tectum with primary and secondary visual and motor centers in goldfish were studied following HRP injections in the optic tectum, orbit of the eye, cerebellum, pretectal area, and dorsolateral mesencephalic tegmentum. Ipsilateral tectal afferents include the area dorsalis centralis of the forebrain, the nucleus dorsalis lateralis of the thalamus, the area pretectalis, the nucleus pretectalis, a nucleus in the rostral mesencephalic tegmentum, the torus longitudinales, the torus semicircularis, a dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, the nucleus isthmi, and a rostral cell group of the nucleus motorius tegmenti. Comparison of results in a series of tectal HRP injections which differed in depth, tangential extent, and location indicated that projections from the area pretectalis, nucleus pretectalis, and nucleus isthmi terminate in the stratum fibrosum et griseum superficiale of the tectum. Terminals of the forebrain and nucleus dorsolateralis and contralateral tectum are sparse and widely branching. Projections from the area and nucleus pretectalis tend to terminate in the rostral tectum, and those from the contralateral tectum, torus semicircularis, dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, and nucleus motorius tegmenti terminate preferentially in the caudal tectum. Cells of origin of extrinsic tectal efferents were also identified following HRP injections in the pretectal area and mesencephalic tegmentum. Proximal dendrites and axons of these cells were labeled sufficiently to allow comparison with morphological types characterized in Golgi studies. HRP injections in the cerebellum labeled cells bodies in the area pretectalis, nucleus pretectalis, and the nucleus of the posterior commissure. Double label experiments with intraocular injection of tritiated proline demonstrated direct retinal input to these three areas. No indications of direct connections between the tectum and cerebellum were found following tectal or cerebellar HRP injections.