PARABIGEMINAL, PRETECTAL AND HYPOTHALAMIC AFFERENTS TO RATS DORSAL LATERAL GENICULATE-NUCLEUS - COMPARISON BETWEEN ALBINO AND PIGMENTED STRAINS

In adult pigmented and albino rats different fluorescent dyes were inj ected into the dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei of opposite sides. Dif ferences between the strains occur mainly in parabigemino-geniculate a nd pretecto-geniculate projections. Both the major contralateral and t he minor ipsilateral parabigemino-geniculate projections in albinos we re clearly smaller then those in pigmented rats, In pigmented rats but not in albinos the parabigemino-geniculate projections originated mai nly from the region where the vertical meridian is represented and con tained a small number of neurones projecting bilaterally. In each stra in, a small number of retrogradely labelled neurones was found in the ipsilateral and contralateral lateral hypothalami.