Histological evidence for direct connections between the optic lobes of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae

Abstract

Heretofore, descriptions of direct interconnections between insect optic lobes have been based on histological examinations of normal brains or on inference from electrophysiological or behavioral data. We present here what we believe to be the first demonstration of such monosynaptic connections by techniques of experimental neuroanatomy. Twenty-four to 39 h after extirpation of the left optic lobe, degenerating axons and axon terminals, as silvered by a modified Nauta technique, were abundant in the central portion of the medulla of the right optic lobe. The periphery of the medulla was free of argyrophilic debris as were the lobula and lamina. The distribution of neuronal somata with processes terminating in the the left optic lobe was established by retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase injected into the left lobe and by the development of distinctive perinuclear rings of RNA (a 'chromatolytic' reaction) by some cells within 1-2 weeks following amputation of the left lobe. Both techniques revealed distinct clusters of cells in the anteroventral and posterior regions of the right optic lobe, and in the medial portion of the right protocerebrum. The cells which interconnect the two optic lobes may be involved not only in the bilateral representation of visual information, but also in the coordination of optic lobe pacemakers which control a circadian rhythm of locomotory activity.