title: An electron microscopic comparison of the medial interlaminar nucleus and the A laminae in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat.
abstract: The medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN) of the cat's dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus was studied under the light and electron microscopes and compared with the A laminae. At the light level, MIN has more axons and a lesser cell packing density than the A laminae. Examined at the electron microscopic level, MIN could not qualitatively be distinguished from the A laminae. When quantitative counts of the profiles containing synaptic vesicles were made, MIN had less F profiles and more RSD profiles per unit area than the A laminae. Structure/function correlations suggest that additional F terminals may mediate nondominant eye inhibition and/or a greater amount of inhibition on X-cells versus Y-cells.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002415:Cats; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012160:Retina / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology