[The influence of divergent strabismus on horizontal neuronal connections in the cat visual cortex]

We have investigated the neuronal connections of ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex of 5- 6-month-old divergent strabismic cats. Strabismus was induced by tenotomy of medial rectus muscle at the age of 13-16 postnatal days. The angle between visual axes of the eyes was assessed using photographic technique. It was found that severed ocular muscle partially reattaches to the eye globe. In some animals the deviated eye has returned to normal position, in the others the residual eye deviation was 5-15 degrees. The loss of cortical binocularity for such animals is well known [Sireteanu et al., 1993]. The differences in the length of cortical neuronal connections of ocular dominance columns were revealed between these groups of animals. In our opinion, in these animal groups different mechanisms are used to prevent diplopic vision and incongruence of two retinal images: one is alternating fixation and other--suppression of deviated eye activity.