Visual deprivation and the maturation of the retinotectal projection in Xenopus laevis

There has been a resurgence of interest, recently, in the possible role of neural activity in the ordering of synaptic connections in the lower vertebrate retinotectal system. Blockade of all neural activity, by chronic administration of tetrodotoxin (TTX), during the regeneration of the optic nerve in goldfish has been found to prevent the re-emergence of a fully ordered retinotectal projection. We sought to determine the effects of visual deprivation, a less radical perturbation of neural activity than that produced by TTX, on the initial development of the retinotectal projection. The contralateral visuotectal projection was studied in Xenopus laevis which had been reared in darkness from before the onset of visual function. The projection mapped electrophysiologically at metamorphic climax, or in postmetamorphic juveniles, showed a normal retinotopic topography. The topographic precision of the projection, as revealed by the multiunit receptive field sizes, was the same in light- and dark-reared animals. The laminar distribution, in the superficial neuropil of the optic tectum, of terminals from different classes of retinal ganglion cells was also normal. It is concluded that the specific retinotectal connections underlying these features of the projection are generated by intrinsic developmental processes which do not require visual experience. Among these intrinsic processes might be ‘spontaneous’ neural activity.