Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Anatomy logoLink to Journal of Anatomy
. 1991 Feb;174:37–47.

Quantitative study of the development of the optic nerve in rats reared in the dark during early postnatal life.

Y Fukui 1, S Hayasaka 1, K S Bedi 1, H S Ozaki 1, Y Takeuchi 1
PMCID: PMC1256041  PMID: 2032941

Abstract

Male rats were placed in complete darkness from birth until 30 days of age, followed in some cases by a 35 days period of rehabilitation in control lighting conditions. Groups of control and experimental animals were killed at 30 and 65 days of age by perfusion with buffered 2.5% glutaraldehyde. The right optic nerve was dissected out from each animal and processed for embedding in Epon. Quantitative stereological procedures were used to estimate the total number of both myelinated and non-myelinated optic nerve fibres and their mean minimum diameters. There were no significant differences in the total number of optic nerve fibres between dark- and light-reared rats. However dark-reared rats had myelinated and non-myelinated fibres with significantly larger fibre diameters than those in age-matched light-reared rats. The proportion of optic nerve fibres which were myelinated increased with age in both groups of animals. However by 65 days of age the degree of myelination was slightly but significantly greater in the previously dark-reared rats than in the light-reared controls. These results indicate that rats reared in complete darkness for the first 30 days of postnatal life show morphological changes in the optic nerves. The possible significance of these changes is discussed.

Full text

PDF
40

Images in this article

40Fig. 1
on p.40
41Fig. 2
on p.41
41Fig. 3
on p.41
42Fig. 4
on p.42

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bedi K. S. The combined effects of unilateral enucleation and rearing in a 'dim' red light on synapse-to-neuron ratios in the rat visual cortex. J Anat. 1989 Dec;167:71–84. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bedi K. S., Warren M. A. The effects of undernutrition during early life on the rat optic nerve fibre number and size-frequency distribution. J Comp Neurol. 1983 Sep 10;219(2):125–132. doi: 10.1002/cne.902190202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Borges S., Berry M. The effects of dark rearing on the development of the visual cortex of the rat. J Comp Neurol. 1978 Jul 15;180(2):277–300. doi: 10.1002/cne.901800207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Coleman P. D., Riesen A. H. Evironmental effects on cortical dendritic fields. I. Rearing in the dark. J Anat. 1968 Mar;102(Pt 3):363–374. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cragg B. G. The density of synapses and neurones in the motor and visual areas of the cerebral cortex. J Anat. 1967 Sep;101(Pt 4):639–654. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cragg B. G. The effects of vision and dark-rearing on the size and density of synapses in the lateral geniculate nucleus measured by electron microscopy. Brain Res. 1969 Mar;13(1):53–67. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(69)90143-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fifková E., Hassler R. Quantitative morphological changes in visual centers in rats after unilateral deprivation. J Comp Neurol. 1969 Feb;135(2):167–178. doi: 10.1002/cne.901350204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Forrester J., Peters A. Nerve fibres in optic nerve of rat. Nature. 1967 Apr 15;214(5085):245–247. doi: 10.1038/214245a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fukuda Y. A three-group classification of rat retinal ganglion cells: histological and physiological studies. Brain Res. 1977 Jan 7;119(2):327–334. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90314-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. GYLLENSTEN L., MALMFORS T. Myelinization of the optic nerve and its dependence on visual function--a quantitative investigation in mice. J Embryol Exp Morphol. 1963 Mar;11:255–266. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. GYLLENSTEN L., MALMFORS T., NORRLIN M. L. EFFECT OF VISUAL DEPRIVATION ON THE OPTIC CENTERS OF GROWING AND ADULT MICE. J Comp Neurol. 1965 Apr;124:149–160. doi: 10.1002/cne.901240202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. GYLLENSTEN L. Postnatal development of the visual cortex is darkness (mice). Acta Morphol Neerl Scand. 1959;2:331–345. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hughes A. The pigmented-rat optic nerve: fibre count and fibre diameter spectrum. J Comp Neurol. 1977 Nov 15;176(2):263–268. doi: 10.1002/cne.901760207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hunter A., Bedi K. S. A quantitative morphological study of interstrain variation in the developing rat optic nerve. J Comp Neurol. 1986 Mar 8;245(2):160–166. doi: 10.1002/cne.902450203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lam K., Sefton A. J., Bennett M. R. Loss of axons from the optic nerve of the rat during early postnatal development. Brain Res. 1982 Mar;255(3):487–491. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(82)90014-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lund J. S., Lund R. D. The effects of varying periods of visual deprivation on synaptogenesis in the superior colliculus of the rat. Brain Res. 1972 Jul 13;42(1):21–32. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(72)90039-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. MacAvoy M. G., Salinger W. L., Garraghty P. E. Rearing cats with eyelid suture has both early and late effects on cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1990 Mar 1;52(1-2):1–9. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(90)90215-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Mackay D., Bedi K. S. The combined effects of unilateral enucleation and rearing in a "dim" red light on synapse-to-neuron ratios in the rat superior colliculus. J Comp Neurol. 1987 Feb 15;256(3):444–453. doi: 10.1002/cne.902560311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Matheson D. F., Roots B. I. Effect of acclimation temperature on the axon and fiber diameter spectra and thickness of myelin of fibers of the optic nerve of goldfish. Exp Neurol. 1988 Jul;101(1):29–40. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(88)90062-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. O'Kusky J. R. Synapse elimination in the developing visual cortex: a morphometric analysis in normal and dark-reared cats. Brain Res. 1985 Sep;354(1):81–91. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(85)90071-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. PETERS A. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONNEXIONS BETWEEN MYELIN SHEATHS AND GLIAL CELLS IN THE OPTIC NERVES OF YOUNG RATS. J Anat. 1964 Jan;98:125–134. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Perry V. H., Henderson Z., Linden R. Postnatal changes in retinal ganglion cell and optic axon populations in the pigmented rat. J Comp Neurol. 1983 Sep 20;219(3):356–368. doi: 10.1002/cne.902190309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Potts R. A., Dreher B., Bennett M. R. The loss of ganglion cells in the developing retina of the rat. Brain Res. 1982 Mar;255(3):481–486. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(82)90013-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Prada C. Effect of light deprivation upon the morphology of axon terminals in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of mouse: an electron microscopical study using serial sections. Neurosci Res. 1987 Apr;4(4):255–267. doi: 10.1016/0168-0102(87)90042-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. WENDELL-SMITH C. P. EFFECT OF LIGHT DEPRIVATION ON THE POSTNATAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE OPTIC NERVE. Nature. 1964 Nov 14;204:707–707. doi: 10.1038/204707a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Ward R., Tremblay L. Postnatal maturation of the ipsilateral optic tract in pigmented and albino mice. J Hirnforsch. 1982;23(3):311–313. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Anatomy are provided here courtesy of Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

RESOURCES