[Immunohistochemical characterization of serotoninergic afferent pathways in the visual system of the rat]

Using the immunohistochemical PAP-method occurrence, distribution and terminal aborization of serotoninergic axons were investigated in the visual system of the albino rat. The present study reveals that the innervation varies in quantitative and qualitative manner in the different parts of the visual system. A sparsly serotoninergic innervation was observed in the dorsal lateral geniculate body (d lgb) and in the nucleus lateralis posterior. An intensive serotoninergic innervation was found in the lateral part of the ventral lateral geniculate body (v lgb) and in the area praetectalis. Serotoninergic axons show a lamina specific orientation in the colliculus superior and in the visual cortex. Our findings indicate that serotoninergic axons have an intensive terminal aborization in subcortical visual nuclei, which are more or less connected with oculomotoric functions.