An extensive projection of fish dorsolateral tegmental cells to the optic tectum revealed by intra-axonal dye marking

Abstract

The cells of the dorsolateral tegmental (DLT) nucleus in the crucian carp (Carassius carassius) were physiologically identified and marked with Lucifer dye. All the identified DLT cells receive both visual and rhombencephalic inputs. These cells project their axons into the contralateral tectum via the tectal commissure as well as into the ipsilateral tectum. The most striking characteristic of the DLT cells was the wide distribution of their axonal branching in the ipsilateral tectum.