Development of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in normal and visually deprived cats

Abstract

Although much is known about the cell size changes that take place in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus as a result of visual deprivation, very little is known about the time course of either of these changes or the changes that occur during normal development. In addition, all previous studies of lateral geniculate nucleus cell size have been confined to the dorsal laminae A and A1 since the more ventral “C” laminae are impossible to identify in normal Nissl stained material. However, it is possible to extend the cell measurement data to laminae C, C1, and C2 by using autoradiographic techniques. Cross-sectional area measurements of dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus cells were made in 47 normally reared kittens and 45 monocularly deprived kittens. All of the normal kittens and 39 of the 45 deprived kittens were studied during the first 70 days of postnatal life. Six deprived cats used to study the deprivatin induced changes in cell size in the “C” laminae were allowed to survive for longer periods. In normal kittens, lateral geniculate nucleus cells grow rapidly during the first four weeks of life. Cells in the deprived layers also grow rapidly during this time, however, at the end of the first month their growth stops and a slow shrinkage takes place over the next several weeks. In the ‘C’ laminae of deprived cats significant changes in cell size are confined to layer C. Although many of the deprived cats show greater deprivation induced changes in cell size in the binocular segment of the lateral geniculate nucleus than in the monocular segment, other cats show approximately equal changes in cell size in the two regions. In addition, some cats exhibit little, if any, deprivation induced change in lamina A cell size but do show quite severe cell shrinkage in lamina A1.