scholarly journals Mechanisms of functional plasticity in subcortical visual areas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mael Dumenieu ◽  
Beatrice Marqueze-Pouey ◽  
Michael Russier ◽  
Dominique Debanne
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Neuronal Plasticity ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Functional Plasticity ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Activity Dependent

Visual plasticity is classically considered to occur essentially in the primary and secondarycortical areas. Subcortical visual areas such as the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN)or the superior colliculus (SC) have long been held as basic structures responsible for a stableand defined function. In this model, the dLGN was considered as a relay of visual informationtravelling from the retina to cortical areas and the SC as a sensory integrator orienting bodymovements towards visual targets. However, recent findings suggest that both dLGN and SCneurons express functional plasticity, adding unexplored layers of complexity to theirpreviously attributed functions. The existence of neuronal plasticity at the level of visualsubcortical areas redefines our approach of the visual system. The aim of this paper istherefore to review the cellular and molecular mechanisms for activity-dependent plasticity ofsynaptic transmission and of cellular properties in subcortical visual areas.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Plasticity in Subcortical Visual Areas

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3162
Author(s):  
Maël Duménieu ◽  
Béatrice Marquèze-Pouey ◽  
Michaël Russier ◽  
Dominique Debanne
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Plasticity ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Activity Dependent ◽  
Mechanisms Of Plasticity

Visual plasticity is classically considered to occur essentially in the primary and secondary cortical areas. Subcortical visual areas such as the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) or the superior colliculus (SC) have long been held as basic structures responsible for a stable and defined function. In this model, the dLGN was considered as a relay of visual information travelling from the retina to cortical areas and the SC as a sensory integrator orienting body movements towards visual targets. However, recent findings suggest that both dLGN and SC neurons express functional plasticity, adding unexplored layers of complexity to their previously attributed functions. The existence of neuronal plasticity at the level of visual subcortical areas redefines our approach of the visual system. The aim of this paper is therefore to review the cellular and molecular mechanisms for activity-dependent plasticity of both synaptic transmission and cellular properties in subcortical visual areas.

Subdivisions of the visual system labeled with the Cat-301 antibody in tree shrews

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj Jain ◽  
Todd M. Preuss ◽  
Jon H. Kaas
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
M Cell ◽  
Macaque Monkeys ◽  
Tree Shrews ◽  
Area 18 ◽  
Visual Thalamus ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Y Cells ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate

AbstractThe monoclonal antibody Cat-301 was used to stain neurons and neuropil in the visual thalamus and cortex of tree shrews —small, highly visual mammals that are closely related to primates. Previously, this antibody has been found to label neurons associated with the Y-cell stream of processing in cats and the magnocellular or M-cell stream in macaque monkeys. In tree shrews, the antibody selectively labeled layers 1, 2, 4, and 5 of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, layers that are likely to contain neurons previously classified as Y-cells. Of the two layers that contain W-cells, layer 3 was unlabeled and layer 6 was lightly labeled. In area 17, layer 3c was densely stained, as in cats and macaque monkeys. The external half of layer 5 was also densely stained, in contrast to cats where the internal half of layer 5 is stained and macaques where layer 5 is sparsely stained. Area 18 was characterized by dense, uniform staining of inner layer 3 and outer layer 5, but no pattern of alternating light and dense bands crossed the width of area 18 as in macaques. Dense labeling of these same sublayers occurred in cortical areas TA and TD just lateral to area 18. Area TD may be the homologue of area MT of primates, which also stains densely with Cat-301 in macaques. These results indicate that Cat-301 differentially labels layers and areas in the visual system of tree shrews, and raise intriguing issues of comparison among tree shrews, primates, and cats.

First order connections of the visual sector of the thalamic reticular nucleus in marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus)

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 857-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS FITZGIBBON ◽  
BRETT A. SZMAJDA ◽  
PAUL R. MARTIN
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Callithrix Jacchus ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Thalamic Reticular Nucleus ◽  
Reticular Nucleus ◽  
Lower Visual Field ◽  
First Order ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Areas

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) supplies an important inhibitory input to the dorsal thalamus. Previous studies in non-primate mammals have suggested that the visual sector of the TRN has a lateral division, which has connections with first-order (primary) sensory thalamic and cortical areas, and a medial division, which has connections with higher-order (association) thalamic and cortical areas. However, the question whether the primate TRN is segregated in the same manner is controversial. Here, we investigated the connections of the TRN in a New World primate, the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). The topography of labeled cells and terminals was analyzed following iontophoretic injections of tracers into the primary visual cortex (V1) or the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd). The results show that rostroventral TRN, adjacent to the LGNd, is primarily connected with primary visual areas, while the most caudal parts of the TRN are associated with higher order visual thalamic areas. A small region of the TRN near the caudal pole of the LGNd (foveal representation) contains connections where first (lateral TRN) and higher order visual areas (medial TRN) overlap. Reciprocal connections between LGNd and TRN are topographically organized, so that a series of rostrocaudal injections within the LGNd labeled cells and terminals in the TRN in a pattern shaped like rostrocaudal overlapping “fish scales.” We propose that the dorsal areas of the TRN, adjacent to the top of the LGNd, represent the lower visual field (connected with medial LGNd), and the more ventral parts of the TRN contain a map representing the upper visual field (connected with lateral LGNd).

Retinal Projections in the Northern Native Cat, Dasyurus-Hallucatus (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae)

1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
AM Harman ◽  
DP Crewther ◽  
JE Nelson ◽  
SG Crewther
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Accessory Optic System ◽  
Anterograde Transport ◽  
Retinal Projections ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Contralateral Eye ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate

The retinal projections of the northern native cat, Dasyurus hallucatus, were studied by the anterograde transport of tritiated proline and by autoradiography. Seven regions in the brain were found to receive direct retinal projections: (1) the suprachiasmatic nucleus; (2) the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; (3) the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus; (4) the lateral posterior nucleus; (5) the nuclei of the accessory optic tract; (6) the pretectal nuclei; (7) the superior colliculus. All nuclei studied received a bilateral retinal projection except the medial terminal nucleus of the accessory optic system, in which only a contralateral input was found. The contralateral eye had a greater input in all cases. As with the related species, Dasyurus viverrinus, there is extensive binocular overlap in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd). In the LGNd contralateral to the injected eye, the autoradiographs show four contralateral terminal bands occupying most of the nucleus. The axonal terminations in the ipsilateral LGNd are more diffuse but show a faint lamination pattern of four bands. The ventral portion of the LGNd receives only contralateral retinal input, and therefore probably represents the monocular visual field. The other principal termination of the optic nerve, the superior colliculus, has a predominantly contralateral input to both sublayers of the stratum griseum superficiale. However, the ipsilateral fibres terminate only in patches in the more inferior sublayer.

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