Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1991 Apr 15;88(8):3426–3430. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.8.3426

Early visual deprivation results in a degraded motor map in the optic tectum of barn owls.

S du Lac 1, E I Knudsen 1
PMCID: PMC51460  PMID: 2014263

Abstract

The optic tectum contains a precise map of orienting movements: the size and direction of movements of the eyes, head, and/or body vary systematically with the locus of neural activation within the tectum. In adult animals, this motor map aligns closely with the tectal map of visual space. This study addressed the question of whether the motor map develops entirely independently of visual experience. We found that in barn owls (Tyto alba) raised without vision, although a tectal map of head movement develops, its topography and alignment with the map of visual (and auditory) space are abnormal. The results demonstrate that during early life vision is necessary either to maintain or to guide the development of a normal tectal motor map.

Full text

PDF
3426

Selected References

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

  1. Holt C. E., Harris W. A. Order in the initial retinotectal map in Xenopus: a new technique for labelling growing nerve fibres. Nature. 1983 Jan 13;301(5896):150–152. doi: 10.1038/301150a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Knudsen E. I. Auditory and visual maps of space in the optic tectum of the owl. J Neurosci. 1982 Sep;2(9):1177–1194. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.02-09-01177.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Knudsen E. I. Early blindness results in a degraded auditory map of space in the optic tectum of the barn owl. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Aug;85(16):6211–6214. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.16.6211. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Knudsen E. I. Fused binocular vision is required for development of proper eye alignment in barn owls. Vis Neurosci. 1989;2(1):35–40. doi: 10.1017/s0952523800004302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Masino T., Knudsen E. I. Horizontal and vertical components of head movement are controlled by distinct neural circuits in the barn owl. Nature. 1990 May 31;345(6274):434–437. doi: 10.1038/345434a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Nakamura H., O'Leary D. D. Inaccuracies in initial growth and arborization of chick retinotectal axons followed by course corrections and axon remodeling to develop topographic order. J Neurosci. 1989 Nov;9(11):3776–3795. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-11-03776.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Sparks D. L. Translation of sensory signals into commands for control of saccadic eye movements: role of primate superior colliculus. Physiol Rev. 1986 Jan;66(1):118–171. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1986.66.1.118. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Stuermer C. A., Rohrer B., Münz H. Development of the retinotectal projection in zebrafish embryos under TTX-induced neural-impulse blockade. J Neurosci. 1990 Nov;10(11):3615–3626. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.10-11-03615.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. du Lac S., Knudsen E. I. Neural maps of head movement vector and speed in the optic tectum of the barn owl. J Neurophysiol. 1990 Jan;63(1):131–146. doi: 10.1152/jn.1990.63.1.131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES