Expansion of the ipsilateral visual corticotectal projection in hamsters subjected to partial lesions of the visual cortex during infancy: Electrophysiological experiments

Abstract

Single unit recording from cells in the superior colliculus ipsilateral to the damaged hemisphere in hamsters subjected to unilateral removal of a part of the posterior neocortex during infancy was combined with electrical stimulation of the cortical remnant and the visual cortex in the undamaged hemisphere. Cells activated by stimulation of the cortical remnant were recorded in all portions of the colliculus. No differences in percentages of driven cells or threshold current intensities were noted between electrode penetrations in which collicular neurons having receptive fields within the remaining visual cortical representation were recorded and tracks where units with receptive fields outside this region were isolated. In the medical part of the tectum ipsilateral to the damaged hemisphere cells driven by stimulation of either cortex were encountered. It was also demonstrated that stimulation of the ipsilateral cortical remnant and/or the contralateral cortex was capable of suppressing discharges normally elicited by optic chiasm or visual stimulation in a manner qualitatively similar to that observed for collicular cells in normal hamsters. The response properties of cells functionally influenced by the ipsilateral and/or contralateral corticles were not different from those of neurons which received no demonstrable cortical input. The receptive field characteristics of the sample of neurons recorded were, on the whole, quite similar to those of collicular neurons in hamsters subjected to lesions of the visual cortex as adults.