Fig. 3.

Prior MD reduces the impact that a later MD has on neurofilament labeling in the dLGN. Timelines and layout are identical to those described in Fig. 2. At low (A) and high (B) magnification, animals with an early history of MD showed a visible loss of neurofilament labeling within dLGN layers connected to the deprived eye (arrows in A for the right and left dLGN) compared to layers serving the non-deprived eye. Stereological quantification of soma area mirrored these qualitative observations by showing a 26% reduction of neurofilament positive density within deprived-eye layers that was statistically significant (C). The comparison MD group that did not have a history of early MD exhibited a more obvious loss of neurofilament labeling within deprived-eye layers (arrows in D), which was evident at low (D) and high (E) magnification. Quantification of neurofilament-positive cell density in this group revealed that deprived layers expressed a 55% loss relative to non-deprived layers and this was a statistically significant difference (F). The loss of neurofilament in this group was roughly double that measured from same aged animals that received an earlier MD. Scale bars = 1 mm (A and D) and 50 μm (B and E). Images in B and E were taken from non-deprived (left image) and deprived (right image) dLGN A layers. Red and blue data points indicate measurements from A and A1 dLGN layers, respectively. Double asterisks indicate statistical significance (p < 0.05).