Fig. 7

Terminal arbor organization of cholinergic fibers in dLGN in WT and math5^−/− mice. Examples are coronal sections through dLGN of WT (A1–2) and math5^−/− (B1–2) mice at P14 and P30. Top left panels depict a low power image of dLGN. Bottom left panels are corresponding heat maps of fluorescence intensity, where red and blue colors correspond to relative signal intensity values, highest values in red, and lowest values in blue. Right panels show a high power view of the corresponding insets. A1–2. In P14 WT (A1), cholinergic fibers form a homogenous pattern of fluorescence in the dorsolateral sector of dLGN, which at P30 (A2) extends throughout the entire nucleus as innervation reaching adult levels. B1–2. In P14 (B1) and P30 (B2) math5^−/− mice, the absence of retinal input leads to disruption of cholinergic terminal arbor organization forming ectopic patches of intense labeling consisting of thick, tangled axonal processes. Scale bars = 100 μm (left panels), 50 μm (right panels)