Cell death in the mammalian visual system during normal development: II. Superior colliculus
- 1 February 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Comparative Neurology
- Vol. 204 (4) , 318-324
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.902040403
Abstract
Degenerating cells may be observed with light microscopy in the hamster superior colliculus during early postnatal development. In the superficial gray layer and stratum opticum, 1.8 degenerating cells for each 1,000 live cells could be seen on the first postnatal day. This rate increased to 5.6 degenerating cells per 1,000 live cells by postnatal day 5, and declined to 2.6 per 1,000 live cells by postnatal day 8. The rate of cell degeneration was consistently elevated at the medial, lateral, and caudal margins of the superficial gray layer relative to the center. In the intermediate and deep gray layers, the rate of cell death was consistently higher, starting at three degenerating cells per 1,000 on the first postnatal day, increasing to 15 per 1,000 on postnatal day 5, and declining to 4.7 per 1,000 by postnatal day 8. In contrast to the superficial gray layer, the number of degenerating cells in the central versus peripheral segments of the intermediate and deep gray layers was quite similar.Although the rate of observable degeneration is low, the likely rapid clearance of degenerating cell debris indicates a substantial loss of cells from the midbrain tectum in early development. The time course of observable degeneration, the amount, and the distribution of degenerating cells are quite similar in the tectum, and its major innervating structure, the retina.This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Development of the diencephalon in the rat. IV. Quantitative study of the time of origin of neurons and the internuclear chronological gradients in the thalamusJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1979
- Development of the diencephalon in the rat. I. Autoradiographic study of the time of origin and settling patterns of neurons of the hypothalamusJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1978
- Prenatal development of the cerebellar system in the rat. I. Cytogenesis and histogenesis of the deep nuclei and the cortex of the cerebellumJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1978
- Cell death of motoneurons in the chick embryo spinal cord. I. A light and electron microscopic study of naturally occurring and induced cell loss during developmentJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1978
- Cell death in the optic tectum of the developing ratBrain Structure and Function, 1977
- The development of the isthmo‐optic tract in the chick, with special reference to the occurrence and correction of developmental errors in the location and connections of isthmo‐optic neuronsJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1976
- Neurogenesis in the visual system of the rat. An autoradiographic investigationJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1976
- NEURONAL DEATH AS A REGULATIVE MECHANISM IN THE CONTROL OF CELL NUMBER IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEMPublished by Elsevier ,1973
- Cell death in the developing chick optic tectumBrain Research, 1972
- Estimation of nuclear population from microtome sectionsThe Anatomical Record, 1946