The effects of monocular enucleation on visual topography in area 17 in the rabbit.

The effects of neonatal monocular enucleation on the topographic representation of the ipsilateral visual field in the visual cortex of the rabbit were investigated, using electrophysiological recordings of multi-unit activity in area 17. Topography of receptive fields was determined in normal adult rabbits, adult rabbits monocularly enucleated on the day of birth and adult rabbits monocularly enucleated as adults. In normal rabbits and in adult enucleates, the projection from the ipsilateral eye is represented by a strip of cortex extending approximately 2 mm from the 17/18 border.

Transcallosally evoked responses in the visual cortex of normal and monocularly enucleated rabbits.

In visual cortex of normal adult rabbits, callosal projections are restricted to a 2 mm wide band at the area 17/18 border. In adult rabbits which are monocularly enucleated (ME) on the day of birth, the callosal zone extends 4 mm into the medial region of area 17 in the cortex ipsilateral to the remaining eye. In this study, the function of these anomalous callosal projections in ME rabbits was investigated using electrophysiological techniques.