Independent biaxial reorganization of the retinotectal projection: a reassessment.

It has been previously suggested that the retinotectal projection can reorganize independently along two orthogonal tectal axes. This possibility was reexamined by removing roughly a quarter of the retina and slightly less than a quarter of the tectum. In the tectal case, the unseated fibers arborized rostral to the ablation, but not lateral to it, and the projection shifted irrespective of tectal axes to maintain topographic order and a roughly uniform representation of retinal areas. In the retinal case, expansion into the denervated quadrant was only from the rostral, never from the medial or lateral directions. Analysis of the movements of fiber arbors shows that they respond to local competition for tectal space rather than following tectal axes.