Organization of the colliculo-suprageniculate pathway in the cat: a wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase study.

A wheat germ-agglutinated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) tracing technique was used to label the cell bodies of neurons in the superior colliculus that send projections into the visually sensitive region of the suprageniculate nucleus (Sg) in the feline thalamus. After determination of the position of the Sg by detecting characteristic single-unit responses to moving visual stimuli, WGA-HRP was injected into the Sg in five pentobarbital-anesthetized cats. The animals were than sacrificed, and serial frozen sections of the midbrain were processed for the demonstration of peroxidase activity. A total of 2,736 WGA-HRP-stained neurons were located within the ipsilateral superior colliculus (SC), and a few labeled cells were consistently found bilaterally in the external nuclei of the inferior colliculus. In each cat, a small but significant fraction of the labeled cells were encountered contralateral to the injection. Medial SC neurons tended to project to the posterior Sg, and lateral SC neurons tended to project to more rostral Sg. However, labeled cells were distributed homogeneously along the rostrocaudal extent of the SC, indicating the absence of a well defined topographic relationship. Nor was the Sg injection site location related to the laminar distribution of SC projection neurons. In all cases, the majority of the labeled cells were found in layer IV (49.0%), with fewer cells in layers III (17.5%) layer V (20.0%), and layer VI (11.8%). No labeled cells were located in layer I, although a few were located in the deep part of layer II. Five types of SC projection cells were distinguished morphologically. Of the 258 labeled cells that could be characterized, 25% were stellate cells, 25% vertical cells, 20% granular cells, 17% triangular cells, and 12% horizontal cells. The average diameter of 226 cells ranged between 8 and 47 microns. We conclude that a mixed population of SC cells projects to the Sg; the morphological heterogeneity and the distribution of these cells suggests that several functionally different pathways may be involved in the colliculothalamic pathway and in the processing of visual input in the SC.