Evoked potential in the visual cortex as modified by enucleation of one eye in the albino rat

Evoked potential was recorded from the visual cortex to stimulation of the uncrossed optic nerve in the rat with one eye removed at birth. In the control adult rat, whose eye was enucleated immediately before the recording, the potential consisted of one small cortical wave, and it was recordable only from a limited portion of the visual cortex. In contrast, in the rat whose eye was enucleated at birth, the potential consisted of two cortical waves which were both potentiated and recordable from a large portion of the visual cortex. The first wave in this rat corresponded to the wave recorded in the control rat and was believed to be mediated by the geniculostriate projection. The second wave specifically related to the enucleation time mentioned above was assumed to be mediated by the superior colliculus (SC), the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus (LPT) projection. A possible neuronal reorganization underlying the appearance of the second wave was discussed.