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H Vanegas

Publications and source records attributed to H Vanegas.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Cytoarchitecture of the tectum mesencephali in two types of siluroid teleosts.

The cytoarchitecture of the tectum mesencephali in the siluroid teleosts Bagrus and Ictalurus was studied by means of the Golgi method. These animals are known to have a restricted visual system and it seemed important to study whether this fact would affect the existence or the shape of the main neuron types which have been described for highly visual teleosts. It had been shown for a variety of teleosts that the retinotectal axons and terminals occupy almost exclusively the stratum opticum and the stratum fibrosum et griseum superficiale. The thickness of these strata in Bagrus and Ictalurus was found to be reduced. However, the main types of especially the vertically oriented neurons, such as the pyramidal, fusiform, large pyriform and periventricular neurons which have been described for highly visual species of teleosts, were also found in Bagrus and Ictalurus. Although their shape was somewhat distorted, these neurons, nevertheless, showed processes distributed to the same tectal layers as in highly visual teleosts and are accessible to horizontally distributed fiber systems such as marginal, telencephalotectal and commissural tectal fibers, as well as the retinotectal fibers. Nonvisual inputs appear to be considerably involved in the maintenance of the main neuron types in the siluroid tectum. For example, the pyramidal neuron's apical dendritic tree, which receives the excitatory input from the marginal fibers, is as well developed in siluroids as in highly visual teleosts.

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The projection from the lateral geniculate nucleus onto the visual cortex in the cat. A quantitative study with horseradish-peroxidase.

Horseradish-peroxidase (HRP) was injected (9-18 microng in 0.03-0.06 micronl) into cortical areas 17, 18 or 19 of 11 adult cats. After survival times of 17 hours to 7 days, the thalamus was examined for retrogradely HRP labelled nerve cells in serial transverse sections. From these sections, the percentage of labelled cells occurring in each subdivision of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) was calculated for each animal. One case each for injections in areas 17, 18, and 19 was then chosen for nerve cell size measurements in each LGNd subdivision. The perikaryal area of each labelled cell (N=689), and of representative samples of unlabelled cells (N=1137), was measured by planimetry. Size distribution histograms, mean values, standard deviation, and statistical significance levels were obtained by computer. It was found that area 17 receives a projection almost exclusively from laminae A and Al, and that the projecting cells belong to all cell size classes. Area 18 receives a projection mainly from laminae C and Al, and from the medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN). The projecting cells belong mainly to the large cell size classes. Area 19 receives a projection largely from MIN, and also from the C-laminae and extrageniculate cell groups. The projecting cells belong to all cell size classes, with some emphasis on the large cells of lamina C. A significant projection was found to exist from the parvocellular laminae of LGNd onto area 19 and, to a lesser degree, area 18. In conclusion, as one goes from area 17 and 18 and to 19 the projection source shifts from the A-lamine through the C-laminae on to MIN and extrageniculate cell groups. The cells which project to area 18 are on the whole larger than those which project to areas 17 and 19. A significant proportion of the contralateral visual input to area 18 is relayed via lamina C. These results provide a quantitative confirmation and extension of previous anatomical findings, and are in close relationship with physiological results regarding parallel channel processing in the visual system.

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Projections of the optic tectum in two teleost species.

The efferent pathways of the optic tectum have been investigated in the percomorph Eugerres and the berycomorph Holocentrus. A portion of the dorsal-dorsolateral region of the optic tectum was unilaterally resected by suction. The animals were perfused 6-30 days thereafter, and the brains were processed according to a modification (Method 7 in Ebbesson, '70) of the Fink-Heimer ('67) technique for the selective silver impregnation of degenerating axons and terminals. Three groups of fibers emerge from the lesioned region (a) a medial group, which runs towards the midline and terminates in the ipsilateral torus longitudinalis and the contralateral tectum; (b) an ascending group, which enters the dorsocaudal region of the diencephalon and terminates in pretectal cell groups, in the dorsomedial optic thalamic nucleus, and in the nucleus rotundus or prethalamicus; and (c) a descending group, which funnels down into the midbrain tegmentum. Here abundant terminals are given to dorsolateral cell groups and to the nucleus isthmi. A recurrent fascicle leaves the mainstream and ascends to terminate in scattered diencephalic cell groups, in the nucleus geniculatus posterior pars ventralis, and in the nucleus rotundus or prethalamicus. The bulk of descending fibers then forms an ipsilateral bundle, which gives terminals to the lateral reticular formation of mesencephalon and rhombencephalon, and a contralateral (i.e., the predorsal) bundle, which terminates in the medial reticular formation of mesencephalon and rhombencephalon.

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Telencephalic projections in two teleost species.

The efferent pathways of the telencephalon were investigated in the percomorph Eugerres and the berycomorph Holocentrus. One telencephalic hemisphere was resected by suction and the animals were perfused 7-35 days thereafter. The brains were processed according to a modification (Method 7 in Ebbesson, '70) of the Fink-Heimer ('67) technique for selective silver impregnation of degenerating axons and terminals. Some fibers emerging from the lesioned telencephalic hemisphere terminate upon the contralateral hemisphere. The large bulk of efferent fibers, however, descends into the ipsilateral diencephalon and gives off the so-called strio-tectal bundle (STB) as well as the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). The remaining contingent eventually splits into the so-called strio-lobar bundle (SLB) and the lateral forebrain (LFB), but, previous to splitting, it contributes most of the telencephalic projection to the optic tectum in Eugerres, and gives abundant terminals to the ipsilateral nucleus rotundus or prethalamicus in both Eugerres and Holocentrus. The STB conveys all telencephalo-tectal fibers in Holocentrus, and some of them in Eugerres. Telencephalic efferents teminate ipsilaterally in the middle level of the tectum's stratum griseum centrale; in Holocentrus there is also a small projection to the stratum opticum. The MFB terminates at the caudal hypothalamus and gives terminals all along its course. The LFB also gives terminals all along its course and terminates upon a nucleus located between the midline and the corpus glomerulosum. The SLB spreads out and terminates in the inferior lobe of the hypothalamus.

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