[Ontogeny of retinal projections: observation and reflection]

Recent evidence indicates that the retinotectal projection has a field-to-field rather than a point-to-point precision. Therefore, individual fibres can vary their relative position in the fibre pathway to some extent. In addition it is not necessary that retinotopy is maintained throughout the whole pathway; transformations may also occur. In fact, in the chick embryo outgrowing retinal fibres maintain not an absolute but only a high degree of order. Transformations occur at the entrance to the optic nerve and probably also right behind the chiasm. The origin of the map is determined by the fact that central retinal fibres which are formed first connect to tectal neurons near the centre of the optic tectum where neurons mature first. There they immediately invade the cellular tectal layers and form functional synapses soon after. Supernumerary fibres degenerate.