By sectioning one optic tract in each of four monkeys, and studying the distribution within each pair of retinas of the ganglion cells which remained after the affected ganglion cells had undergone retrograde degeneration, a description was obtained of the areas of a retina from which ganglion cells project to the ipsilateral and contralateral sides of the brain. Confirming previous work, ganglion cells in temporal retina were observed to project to the ipsilateral side. and cells in nasal retina to the contralateral side. It was noted, however, that ipsi-and contralaterally projecting areas of retina overlap along a vertically-oriented median strip, which is about 1 wide, and is centred on the fovea. Within this strip ipsi-and contralaterally projecting cells intermingle.Some functional implications of this result are discussed.
By sectioning one optic tract in Siamese kittens and allowing sufficient time for the affected ganglion cells to degenerate and disappear, we have obtained maps of the distribution of ipsi- and contralaterally projecting ganglion cells in the retina of the Siamese cat. As previous work predicted, many ganglion cells in the Siamese cat retina project contralaterally which, in the normally pigmented cat, would project ipsilaterally. The transition from the pattern of projection typical of nasal retina (all contralateral) to that typical of temporal retina (most ipsilateral) is much more gradual in the Siamese cat than in the normally pigmented cat, and is centred 1.7-3 mm temporal to the area centralis, instead of at the area centralis. In the Siamese cat only a few ganglion cells at the area centralis project ipsilaterally, as against nearly 50% in the normally pigmented cat. The proportion of ipsi-projecting cells reaches the 50% level 1.7-3.0 mm into temporal retina, and overall the zone of transition may be several millimetres wide, as against about 0.2-0.5 mm in in the normall pigmented cat. Evidence is presented that the degree of the abnormality of nasotemporal division varies between individual Siamese cats and that the abnormality is more severe among large or "giant" cells than among the population as a whole.
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