Variations in the retinal synapses of the cat superior colliculus revealed using quantitative electron microscope autoradiography.

This study has examined the retinal synapses of the cat superior colliculus using electron microscope autoradiography and morphometric techniques. The depth of each retinal synapse was measured using a computer-based EM plotter. The area, perimeter, and synapse contact density of selected synapses were calculated using a computer-based digitizer. Pale mitochondria were found to be an accurate cytological marker of retinal input to the colliculus. Fifty-eight percent of pale mitochondria terminals were labeled in the colliculus contralateral to eye injections. Ten percent of pale mitochondria terminals were labeled in the ipsilateral colliculus. A few labeled terminals contained dark mitochondria. The labeled retinal terminals in the contralateral colliculus were concentrated in a 60 microns wide dense band at the top of the superficial gray layer. They were also found within the deep superficial gray and upper optic layers. This distribution corresponded exactly to a larger population of pale mitochondria terminals. The cross-sectional area and synaptic contact density of selected pale mitochondria terminals varied with depth. Within the upper superficial gray, the terminals were small (mean area = 1.26 microns squared) and had high contact densities (mean = 0.25 per microns). These small terminals were also found deeper within the colliculus. Below the upper subdivision of the superficial gray, some labeled terminals were much larger and had lower contact densities. These results suggest there may be two subpopulations of retinal terminal in the cat superior colliculus: (1) small terminals with scalloped contours and complex synaptic relationships which may correspond to W-type input; and (2) larger terminals with simpler synaptic relationships which are distributed deeper and may correspond to Y-type input.