Dorsal Terminal Nucleus Of AOS


Using classical neuroanatomical retrograde tracing methods we investigated the retinal ganglion cells projecting to the nucleus of the optic tract and Dorsal Terminal Nucleus of the accessory optic system (NOT-DTN) in macaque monkeys.  

Results show a first and largest LTN projection to the pretectal and AOS nuclei including the ipsilateral nucleus of the optic tract, Dorsal Terminal Nucleus, and interstitial nucleus of the superior fasciculus (posterior fibers); smaller contralateral projections are to the olivary pretectal nucleus, Dorsal Terminal Nucleus, and LTN.  

The present study set out to determine whether the responses of binocular cells in the Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) of the AOS are sensitive to horizontal retinal disparity.  

Unilateral injection of WGA-HRP into the vitreous body resulted in the terminal labeling of the optic projections in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCH), the ventral (CGLv) and dorsal (CGLd) lateral geniculate nuclei, the intergeniculate leaflet (IGL), the pretectum, the superficial layers of the superior colliculus (CS), and the Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) of the accessory optic system (AOS).  

Since NOT and the AOS Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) represent the first relay station of the visuomotor pathway mediating horizontal optokinetic nystagmus (HOKR), we have studied the characteristics of HOKR after various degrees of retinal deafferentation of these nuclei induced by intraocular KA injection.  

Extracellular recordings from single units in the Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) of the cat accessory optic system (AOS) were made before and after intravitreal injections of the GABA antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI).  

The Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) is located between the brachia of the superior and inferior colliculi, near the origin of the superior fasciculus of the accessory optic tract (AOT).  

Injections of 3H-leucine largely restricted to the MTN and minimally involving adjacent ventral midbrain structures, produced heavy terminal axonal labeling within the ipsilateral nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the Dorsal Terminal Nucleus (DTN) of the AOS.  


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