Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T21:16:38.054Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Differential elasticity of the immature retina: A contribution to the development of the area centralis?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Steven T. Kelling ,
Dale R. Sengelaub ,
Kenneth C. Wikler  and
Barbara L. Finlay
Steven T. Kelling
Affiliation:
Field of Physiology, Cornell University, Ithaca
Dale R. Sengelaub
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington
Kenneth C. Wikler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca
Barbara L. Finlay
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Differential stretch of a retinal surface with an initially uniform cell density has been repeatedly implicated as one of the developmental mechanisms that produces the topographic organization of cell density in the adult retina, notably the area centralis or visual streak versus peripheral regions. It is known that intraocular pressure is required to produce the normal conformation and thinning of the retina during development. We tested the possibility that the retina has elastic properties that might permit differential stretch in conjunction with intraocular pressure. The relative deformation of the retina containing the presumptive area centralis was compared to the deformation of peripheral retina at equivalent applied fluid displacements in 7–12-day-old cats. The peripheral retina deformed significantly more, consistent with the hypothesis that differences in the local elasticities of the developing neural retina contribute to its characteristic topographic changes. Thus, a biomechanical property of the growing eye may contribute to the mechanism by which the pattern of the visual array is sampled.

Keywords

Retinal specializationsArea centralisVisual streakRetinal stretchRetinal GrowthDevelopment
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , February 1989 , pp. 117 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coulombre, A.J. & Coulombre, J.L. (1956). The role of intraocular pressure in the development of the chick eye. I. Control of eye size. Journal of Experimental Zoology 133, 211–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, Z., Finlay, B.L. & Wikler, K.C. (1988). Development of ganglion cell topography in the ferret retina. Journal of Neuroscience 8, 1194–1205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lia, B., Williams, R.W. & Chalupa, L.M. (1987). Formation of retinal ganglion cell topography during prenatal development. Science 236, 848–851.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mastronarde, D.N., Thibeault, M.A. & Dubin, M.W. (1984). Non-uniform postnatal growth of the cat retina. Journal of Comparative Neurology 228, 598–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ng, A.Y.K. & Stone, J. (1982). The optic nerve of the cat: appearance and loss of axons during normal development. Developmental Brain Research 5, 263–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rapaport, D.H. & Stone, J. (1984). The area centralis of the retina of the cat and other mammals: focal point for function and development of the visual system. Neuroscience 11, 289–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S.L. (1987). Ontogeny of the area centralis in the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 255, 50–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, S., Dreher, B., Horsburgh, G. & McCall, M.J. (1986). Development of the ganglion cell density gradient in the rabbit retina. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 12, 985.Google Scholar
Rodieck, R.W. (1973). The Vertebrate Retina: Principles of Structure and Function. San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Rutishauser, U. (1986). Differential cell adhesion through spatial and temporal variations of NCAM. Trends in Neuroscience 9, 374–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sengelaub, D.R., Dolan, R.P. & Finlay, B.L. (1986). Cell generation, death, and retinal growth in the development of the hamster retinal ganglion cell layer. Journal of Comparative Neurology 246, 527–543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, J., Rapaport, D.H., Williams, R.W. & Chalupa, L. (1982). Uniformity of cell distribution in the ganglion cell layer of prenatal cat retina: implications for mechanisms of retinal development. Developmental Brain Research 2, 231–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Alphen, G. (1986). Choroidal stress and emmetropization. Vision Research 26, 723–734.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wikler, K.C. (1987) Developmental hetternalref and the evolution of species differences in retinal specializations. Doctoral Thesis, Cornell University.Google Scholar
Wu, W., Peters, W.H. & Hammer, M. (1987). Basic mechanical properties of retina in simple elongation. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 109 65–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed