Depth perception in salamanders: the wiring of visual maps

Most members of the salamander family Plethodontidae exhibit fast and precise prey localization and are likely to use stereopsis for this task. Tectal and isthmic neurons were stained iontophoretically with biocytin after intracellular recording in order to investigate the fine structure and arborization pattern of dendritic and telodendritic trees. The back-projection of isthmic neurons to both tectal hemispheres exhibits a conspicuous and spatially restricted connection with tectal neurons and the afferent fiber layers, which probably plays an important role in the context of stereoscopic depth perception and detection of retinal disparities.