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Morphology of the turtle accessory optic system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2004

JOHN MARTIN ,
NAOKI KOGO ,
TIAN XING FAN  and
MICHAEL ARIEL
JOHN MARTIN
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis
NAOKI KOGO
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis Current address: Department of Elektrotechniek, Katholieke Universiteit Lueven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001, Heverlee, Belgium
TIAN XING FAN
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis
MICHAEL ARIEL
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis
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Abstract

Neural signals of the moving visual world are detected by a subclass of retinal ganglion cells that project to the accessory optic system in the vertebrate brainstem. We studied the dendritic morphologies and direction tuning of these brainstem neurons in turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans) to understand their role in visual processing. Full-field checkerboard patterns were drifted on the contralateral retina while whole-cell recordings were made in the basal optic nucleus in an intact brainstem preparation in vitro. Neurobiotin diffused into the neurons during the recording and was subsequently localized in brain sections. Neuronal morphologies were traced using appropriate computer software to analyze their position in the brainstem. Most labeled neurons were fusiform in shape and had numerous varicosities along their processes. The majority of dendritic trees spread out in a transverse plane perpendicular to the rostrocaudal axis of the nucleus. Neurons near the brainstem surface were often oriented tangential to that surface, whereas more cells at the dorsal side of the nucleus were oriented radial to the brainstem surface. Further analysis of Nissl-stained neurons revealed the largest neurons are located in the rostral and medial portions of the nucleus although neurons are most densely packed in the middle of the nucleus. The preferred directions of the visual responses of the neurons in this sample did not correlate with their morphology and position in the nucleus. Therefore, the morphology of the cells in the turtle accessory optic system appears dependent on its position within the nucleus while its visual responses may depend on the synaptic inputs that contact each cell.

Keywords

Basal optic nucleusDirection-sensitive cellsWhole-cell recordingsNeurobiotinNissl staining
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , November 2003 , pp. 639 - 649
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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