Retrograde cell degeneration in adult cat after hemidecortication

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Abstract
Eighteen adult cats were hemidecorticated by surgical aspiration and allowed to survive 14 to 54 days. Severe cell loss occurred in the following thalamic nuclei: anterior ventralis; anterior medialis, except for cell retention in the dorsomedial third; ventralis anterior; ventralis lateralis; ventralis posterolateralis; ventralis posteromedialis; lateralis dorsalis; lateralis posterior; posterior; pulvinar; geniculatum laterale, pars dorsalis; and geniculatum mediale, pars principalis. Partial cell loss was found in the anterior dorsalis, ventralis medialis, submedius, reuniens, and geniculatum mediale, pars magnocellularis. Paracentralis retained a lower than normal number of Neurons in its medial half, with scattered cells appearing throughout its lateral half and in the adjacent centralis lateralis. The pale‐staining reticular nucleus had nearly a normal complement of cells in its ventral half, whereas the dorsal half retained only scattered cells. No consistent pattern of degeneration was found in medialis dorsalis. The following structures were normal: paratenialis, interanteromedialis, rhomboidens, centralis medialis, parafascicularis, centrum medianum, and geniculatum laterale, pars ventralis. Likewise, no degeneration was displayed by subthalamic and midbrain nuclei. Throughout this study, no differences were discernible which could be ascribed to the variation in postoperative survival times.