Figure 7.

Thalamocortical projections assume normal periphery-related pattern with normal position in the barrel cortex of the Pax6cKO. Flat-mount preparations from control and Pax6cKO brains stained for cytochrome-oxidase to visualize the position and organization of the barrel field in SS at P10. C and D are high-magnification images taken from A and B showing the presence of barrel fields in both genotypes. B demonstrates the presence of the overall periphery-related pattern, although the individual components are less well defined in the barrel field of the SS cortex in the Pax6cKO cortex compared with control. Despite the reduced definition of individual components, the overall position of the periphery-related representation is not changed. The relative position of the barrel field in relation to the total length of the cerebral hemisphere was found similar in Pax6cKO as in the control. E, Measurements from the rostral pole to the center of the barrel field, as well as its proportion in relation to the total distance between the rostral and caudal pole, were calculated for mutant and control brains showing no statistical difference. Scale bar, 200 μm.