Visual experience and the maturation of the ipsilateral visuotectal projection in Xenopus laevis

The effect of visual deprivation upon the maturation of the ipsilateral visuotectal projection has been studied in Xenopus laevis. This topographically ordered projection is polysynaptic. The first stage involves the retinal projection to the contralateral optic tectum. The tectum projects to the nucleus isthmi on the same side. The final stage is the crossed isthmotectal projection from the nucleus isthmi to the tectum ipsilateral to the eye. The topographic precision of connections at various points in this polysynaptic pathway has been investigated by quantifying single-unit and multi-unit receptive field sizes in the contralateral and ipsilateral visuotectal projections. Observations have been made on normal animals of different ages to plot the normal maturational course of events. The effects of visual deprivation on this maturational process has been studied. Between one week and one year after metamorphosis there is an increase in the precision of connections in both the contralateral and ipsilateral visuotectal projections. Visual deprivation had no effect upon the parameters of the contralateral visuotectal projection. Ipsilateral visuotectal single units in dark-reared animals had normal receptive field sizes. Ipsilateral multi-unit receptive fields in dark-reared animals were considerably larger than in normal animals. It was concluded that the effects of visual deprivation are limited to effects on the crossed isthmotectal component of the intertectal system. In this component, however, visual experience seems to play an important role in the normal development and modification of connections. It is suggested that visual experience is utilized to accommodate changes in the system required to respond to normal changes in interocular geometry that take place with development in Xenopus.