Effects of visual deprivation upon the morphology of retinal ganglion cells projecting to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat

Electrophoretic injections of horseradish peroxidase were made into physiologically characterized sites within the A laminae of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) of normal cats and of cats deprived from birth of vision in one eye by monocular lid suture (MD). MD cats were deprived for periods ranging from 2.5 to 14 months. The procedures employed involved staining the cell bodies, dendrites, and axons of retrogradely labeled retinal ganglion cells so that the morphology of cells in the two retinae could be compared. The geniculate laminae receiving afferents from the deprived eye were severely shrunken in all MD cats, confirming the effectiveness of the visual deprivation.