PSY290H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Retinal Ganglion Cell, Superior Colliculus, Midbrain Tectum
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Aggregation: how do they get themselves there and organize themselves. After neurons have migrated and then aggregated, axons and dendrites then start to grow. This are processes that are being sent out and at the end of them are growth cones (the green part, filipodia is the red part) These extensions reach out and feel out what"s in the environment. A chemical process of figuring out what"s out there. This technique seems inefficient, but it"s a relatively precise process. Axons do a very good job at getting where they need to grow (which eventually evolves into the adult brain) Back in the 40"s, to try to address this question: sperry used an animal model to figure it out, using a frog. Using frog data to infer what is likely happening prenatally, bc we cannot study what"s happening on a prenatal human. Cut the optic nerve of frogs and rotated the eyes 180 degrees (the world is upside down)
