Journal of Neuroscience Methods 132 (2004) 161168

The mapping of the visual field onto the dorso-lateral tectum of the
pigeon (Columba livia) and its relations with retinal specializations
Juan-Carlos Letelier , Gonzalo Marin, Elisa Sentis, Andrea Tenreiro,
Felipe Fredes, Jorge Mpodozis
Departamento de Biologa, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile
Received 18 April 2003; received in revised form 14 July 2003; accepted 9 September 2003

Abstract
Most of the physiological studies of the pigeon retino-tectal visual pathway have investigated the accessible tectum, a small dorso-lateral
tectal section that can be easily accessed by a simple craniotomy. However, at present we lack a detailed study of the topographical arrangement
between the visual field, the retina and the accessible tectum. In particular, it is not known which section of the visual field is mapped onto the
accessible tectum, and which of the specialized retinal areas mediates this projection. Here we determined, using local field potential (LFP)
recordings and reverse retinoscopy, the shape, size and position in the visual space of the portion of the visual field mapped onto the accessible
tectum (called here the accessible visual field, or AVF). Using this data and the mapping of Nalbach et al. [Vis. Res. 30 (4) (1990) 529], the
retinal area corresponding to the AVF was determined. Such retinal area was also directly delimited by means of retrograde transport of DiI.
The results indicate that the AVF is a triangular perifoveal zone encompassing only 15% of total visual field. The retinal region corresponding
to the AVF has the shape of an elongated triangle that runs parallel to the visual equator and contains the fovea, the tip of the pecten, a
perifoveal region of the yellow field and a small crescent of the red field. In agreement with this anatomical heterogeneity, visual evoked
potentials measured in different parts of the accessible tectum present steep variations in shape and size. These results are helpful to better
design and interpret anatomical and physiological experiments involving the pigeons visual system.
2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Dorso-lateral tectum; Columba livia; AVF

1. Introduction
Birds retinae feature several well-defined specialized
regions, which differ in the density and composition of
their cellular elements. In pigeons, the most common model
for visual studies among birds, these regions are: the red
area, a section of greater cellular density encompassing the
dorso-temporal retina, which looks at the lower nasal part
of the visual field; the shallow and cellularly dense central
fovea, located near the projection of the optic axis, which
looks at the centro-lateral visual field; and the more cellularly sparse yellow field, encompassing the inferio-temporal
retina, which looks at the superior-anterior visual field. Extensive literature (Hahmann and Gntrkn, 1993; Nalbach
et al., 1990) indicates that these areas have different visual
properties and may serve different visual functions.

Corresponding author. Fax: +56-2-271-2983.

E-mail address: [email protected] (J.-C. Letelier).

0165-0270/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2003.09.007

The main retinorecipient structure in the brain of birds

and most non-mammalian vertebrates is the optic tectum. In pigeons, the tectum receives a direct projection
from the contralateral eye, consisting of about two million axons, representing at least 90% of ganglion cells
(Mpodozis et al., 1995). The retino-tectal projection follows
a topographic arrangement that has been coarsely investigated with anatomical and electrophysiological techniques
(Clarke and Whitteridge, 1976; Cowan et al., 1961; Hamdi
and Whiteridge, 1954). According to these studies, the dorsal retina projects to the ventral tectum, while the anterior
retina projects to the posterior tectum, producing a double
inversion along the dorso-ventral and the anterior-posterior
axes. However, none of these studies has described in detail
how the different retinal areas map onto the tectum.
From an experimental point of view, most of the tectum
is not directly accessible, as it is covered by the telencephalon, the anterior semicircular canal, or it lies directly
on top of the bone forming the floor of the skull. Because of

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this anatomical situation, the great majority of electrophysiological studies in pigeons have investigated the accessible
tectum, the small dorso-lateral section that can be easily accessed by a simple craniotomy. The important experimental
advantage of the accessible tectum is that it permits microelectrode penetrations under visual control (Fig. 1) (Frost

and DiFranco, 1976; Frost et al., 1988; Hughes and

Pearlman, 1974; Jassik-Gerschenfeld and Hardy, 1981).
At present, we lack a precise description, in a standard
reference system, of the mapping of the retina and the visual
field onto the accessible tectum in pigeons. In particular,
it is not known where and to what extent the specialized
retinal areas project upon the accessible tectum. Evaluation
of the results from past experiments and the planning and
interpretation of new experiments would benefit greatly
from this knowledge. It would allow for more precise
planning and interpretation of experiments involving tectal
injections of neural tracers, or tectal lesions restricted to
certain well-delimited zones of the retino-tectal projection
(i.e. the foveal representation). Similarly, experiments assessing physiological differences between tectal responses
elicited from different regions of the visual field would be
facilitated in both execution and interpretation.
Here, we present a detailed map of the visual field of the
accessible tectum (which we will call the accessible visual
field or AVF), together with a determination of the retinal
section that corresponds to it. We found that the AVF is a
small triangular perifoveal zone encompassing only 15% of
the total visual field. Its corresponding retinal section has
the shape of an elongated triangle that runs parallel to the
visual equator. This retinal region is not homogeneous, as it
contains the fovea, the tip of the pecten, a pericentral portion of the yellow field and a small crescent of the red field.
As expected from this anatomical heterogeneity, evoked potentials measured in different parts of the accessible tectum
present steep variations in shape and size, indicating that the
anatomical asymmetries of the retino-tectal projection are
indeed reflected at physiological levels.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Anesthesia

Fig. 1. (A) Craniotomy exposing the accessible tectum (dorso-lateral aspect) in the pigeon. The accessible tectum has a triangular shape (A:
anterior, S: superior, P: posterior). The anterior border (line AS) is delimitated by the telencephalon (Te), the posterior border (line SP) by a blood
vessel (black arrow) running in parallel with the anterior semicircular
canal (AC) and the horizontal border (line PA) is defined by a horizontal
line passing just above the auditory meatus. The patterns of blood vessels change from animal to animal (scale bar: 2 mm). (B) Macroscopic
anatomy of the pigeon brain. The optic tectum (TeO) is the largest visual
structure in the pigeons brain. The accessible tectum (area delimitated
by a dark trace) is only a small fraction (15%) of the overall tectum. The
accessible tectum was marked with black China ink. Note the relative
size of the eye with respect to the brain (E: eye, Te: telencephalon, Ce:
cerebellum, P: pons; scale bar: 5 mm).

Adult feral pigeons (N = 7) of both sexes, obtained from a

local dealer and kept in an animal facility for at least 2 weeks,
were anesthetized with an intramuscular dose of a mixture of
ketamine (40 mg/kg) and xylazine (12 mg/kg) injected into
the pectoral muscles. This initial dose was supplemented
by 13 mg/kg ketamine and 4 mg/kg xylazine every 2 h or
when the heart frequency indicated a change in the level
of anesthesia. The body temperature and the instantaneous
heart beat frequency were continuously monitored by an
on-line data acquisition system. The body temperature was
maintained in the 3941 C. The ethics committee of the
Universidad de Chiles Facultad de Ciencias approved all
experimental procedures.
2.2. Eye and head immobilization
During each experiment the pigeons head was mounted
in a stereotaxic holder specially designed to allow maximum

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exposition of the pigeons the visual field. This stereotaxic

instrument oriented the animals head in accordance with
orientations defined by the pigeon-brain stereotaxic atlas
(Karten and Hodos, 1967). Once the pigeon was placed
in the stereotaxic frame, a craniotomy exposing the dorsal
aspect of the left tectum was performed. The dura over
the tectum was also removed just prior to microelectrode
insertion.
Eye immobilization was achieved either by using
d-tubocurarin (10 mg/kg) coupled with mechanical ventilation (two experiments) or by using surgical glue (Histoacryl,
Barun-Melsungen AG) (five experiments). The merit of the
latter procedure, compared with the normal application of
curare, was quantified by mapping the projection of the
pecten using reverse opthalmoscopy.
2.3. Reverse retinoscopy and mapping of
receptive fields
The precise mapping of receptive fields and retinal landmarks (pecten and optic axis) was achieved by using a
translucent plastic, vertically-oriented hemisphere (diameter: 57 cm) centered on the pigeon eye in conjunction with
inverse retinoscopy. This hemisphere was used as a screen to
represent the pigeons visual world as centered in the right
eye. The hemisphere was attached to hinges that permitted
it to swivel into position.
An ophthalmoscope attached to a floor stand with a flexible arm was used to visualize the tip of the pecten from
the right eye. Once the tip of the pecten was correctly visualized at the center of the pupil, the ophthalmoscope was
left in position and the eye was covered with a small piece
of opaque plastic. Next, a low-power laser beam (0.1 m W),
mounted in a moving stand and attached to a universal joint,
was aligned until its beam passed through the opening of the
ophthalmoscope and reached the eye of the pigeon. Then,
the hemisphere was swiveled into its working position. The
point defined by the interception of the laser beam with
the hemisphere defined the projection of the pecten tip into
the visual field. The same procedure was repeated with two
points in the anterior side of the pecten and two points in the
posterior side. Fortunately, the pecten contains many folds
that provide easily defined landmarks to apply reverse ophthalmoscopy. These five points together defined the pecten
profile as it was projected into the visual field represented
by the plastic hemisphere.
The mapping of the projection of the optic axis was done
similarly. The ophthalmoscope, attached to the floor stand
and the flexible arm, was moved until the corneal reflection was centered on the pupil. To determine the centering,
a 40 dissecting microscope was aimed at the pupil. Once
the reflection from the ophthalmoscope was in the center of
the pupil, the ophthalmoscope was left in place and the laser
beam was again positioned to pass through the ophthalmoscope opening and to reach the pigeons eye. Once the laser
beam was correctly positioned, the translucent hemisphere

163

was put in place and the point where the beam intercepted
the hemisphere, which represents the projection of the optic
axis, was marked onto the hemisphere. During each experiment the position of the optic axis and the profiles of the
pecten projection were determined. In experiments where
surgical glue was used to immobilize the eye, the pecten
profile was also measured at the end of the experiment to
assess the degree of eye immobilization.
2.4. Neural recordings
To map the projection of the visual world onto the dorsal
tectum, tungsten microelectrodes (12 M at 1 kHz, Frederick Haer) were lowered 150 m, under visual control,
into the accessible tectum using a hydraulic advancer. At
the beginning of each experiment a photograph of the accessible tectum was made using a macro lens mounted on
bellows. This photograph was used to define the succession
of recording sites along the border of the accessible tectum.
Depending on the anatomical morphology of each pigeon,
69 recording positions were selected. In each recording
site, multiunitary tectal activity was recorded and fed into
an audio monitor. The center of the associated receptive
field was found by flashing small (0.2 ) light spots onto the
translucent hemisphere and the typical ON/OFF response
associated with retinal fibers was detected. The point of
highest response was defined as the center of the receptive field and its position was marked onto the translucent
hemisphere.
To document regional differences in visual processing,
flash-evoked local field potentials (LFP) were recorded
at different tectal regions in three pigeons. Flashes (2.5 )
were delivered to the outside of the translucent hemisphere
exploring a 7.5 7.5 grid, centered in the receptive field
under study. LFPs were sampled at 2000 samples/s with
a data acquisition program written in IGOR (http://www.
wavemetrics.com).
2.5. Pathway tracing
To trace the projection between the retina and the accessible tectum, a solid microinjector (Marin et al., 2001) was
used to deposit small crystals (less than 100 m) of DiI.
These crystals were applied to seven points along the border of the accessible tectum inside the tectal retinorecipient
layers. After 5 days of survival time (in other studies we
have used between 5 and 20 days of survival time (Marin
et al., 2001)), the pigeon was perfused and the contralateral
retina was flat mounted for inspection with an epifluorescent
microscope (Olympus).
2.6. Analysis of spatial data
Once the projection of the pecten and of the optic axis
were marked on the hemisphere, an equidistant polar projection with the optic axis as the pole was drawn. The

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spherical coordinates of the receptive fields as well as the

retinal landmarks were plotted in the coordinate system
introduced by Nalbach et al. (1990), which defined the position of various retinal landmarks in terms of ocular space
and head orientation in relation with the eye-bill axis.

3. Results
3.1. The accessible tectum
Fig. 1A shows a typical craniotomy over the left tectum
where only a small spherical triangular section, corresponding to the accessible tectum, is exposed. This triangular
section is delimitated anteriorly by the telencephalon and
posteriorly by a major blood vessel that runs parallel with
the anterior semicircular canal. The base of the triangle is
delimitated by bone forming the floor of the tectum. The
triangle has an average base 3.3 mm wide, with a range
between 2 and 4.3 mm. This wide range reflects age and
anatomical differences in the conformation of the auditory
meatus and the skull. In terms of the pigeon stereotaxic atlas
(Karten and Hodos, 1967), the craniotomy exposes only the
dorsal aspects of the sections located between plates APs
5.9 and 1.6. To assess the size and relative position of the
accessible tectum in one animal, its outline was marked with
black ink after perfusion. Fig. 1B shows the outline of the
accessible tectum in relation to the overall tectum. We estimate that the accessible tectum represents 15% of the tectal
surface.
3.2. The accessible visual field
The AVF outline was determined by mapping the receptive field loci of points chosen alongside the border of the
accessible tectum. The AVF profile looks like an elongated
triangle with a finger protruding in the dorso-posterior visual
field and exhibits a great consistency among birds. Fig. 2A
shows the orientation of the average AVF expressed in the
coordinate frame of the pigeon atlas. In all cases it was found
that the optic axis and the area surrounding the tip of the
pecten mapped inside the AVF.
3.3. The projection from the retina
To assess the position and shape of the retinal region that
project upon the accessible tectum, we retrogradely labeled
its boundary with small DiI crystals deposited alongside the
border of the accessible tectum. It was found that the marked
retinal region has an elongated triangular shape and contains
the fovea, a small portion of the red field, and the tip of the
pecten (Fig. 2B). The shape of this retinal region, as well as
the position of the pecten, are almost identical to the position
and shape determined by visual mapping (compare Fig. 2A
with B).

3.4. Regional variation of local field potentials across

the accessible tectum
As the retinal region projecting to the accessible tectum
contains a heterogeneous mixture of retinal areas (perifoveal
area, dorso-lateral area, and a peripheral portion of the red
field, see above), we recorded LFPs evoked by small localized flashes to search for regional variation across the accessible tectum. A consistent pattern was found in that dorsal
LFPs have larger amplitudes than ventral ones (Fig. 3). All
LFPs, independent of the recording site, exhibited an initial
negative (N) wave (Holden, 1968; Letelier et al., 2000), but
the amplitude of this initial negative phase as well as the
complete temporal profile were found to be position dependent. In all pigeons studied (n = 4), the N wave is systematically larger (by a 3:1 ratio) in the dorsal part than near
the representation of the horizon Fig. 3B and C compare
traces in positions H and G with traces in position C). Also
the temporal structure of LFPs showed clear variations with
respect to tectal position.

4. Discussion
Our results show that the AVF represents only a small,
pericentral fraction of the total visual field of the pigeon. The
retinal area that looks at the AVF, and therefore projects onto
the accessible tectum, is also small, but very heterogeneous,
as it contains several specialized regions. This anatomical
heterogeneity is physiologically reflected in the steep variations in shape and size presented by visual evoked potentials
measured in different parts of the accessible tectum.
The position of the AVF in the visual space, as well as its
corresponding retinal region, becomes immediately evident
once the AVF profile is expressed in the reference frame of
Nalbach et al. (1990) (Fig. 4A). The AVF corresponds to
a small (15% of total) elongated triangular portion of the
monocular visual field that lies mostly in the strip between
the horizontal meridian and 30 of dorsal eccentricity. Extensive regions of the visual space, such as the binocular
crescent and most of the dorsal area, are excluded. The visual field of the lateral fovea, which in pigeons serves to
mediate lateral fixations (Maldonado et al., 1988) falls at the
center of the AVF, while its ventral anterior pole contains the
visual field of a pericentral corner of the red area. The AVF
also contains the projection of the optic axis, located 10
below the foveal area. This spatial result perfectly matches
the anatomical tracing of the retinal region projecting to the
accessible tectum. The coherence between the anatomical
(Fig. 2B) and spatial (Fig. 4A) determinations is such that
the retinal region projecting to the accessible tectum and the
AVF can almost be superimposed (compare Fig. 2B with
4A, also see Fig. 5).
In a first approximation, the shapes of the accessible
tectum and the AVF were found to be almost congruent.
If the AVF outline is transformed using simple geometrical

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165

Fig. 2. (A) Average profile of AVF projecting to the accessible tectum (seven cases). This profile represents, for the right eye, the average AVF projecting
into the accessible tectum expressed in an equidistant polar coordinate system with the optic axis as the north pole (Nalbach et al., 1990). Crosses
represent the standard deviations for the elevation and azimuth. A polygonal line approximated the average profile. The figure uses the head inclination
defined in the stereotaxic atlas (Karten and Hodos, 1967). The pecten projection was similar in all pigeons. The arrow defines the beak axis (i.e. the
relative orientation of the beak with respect to the horizontal meridian). (B) Retinal flat mount. The polygonal figure defined by the bright (white) spots
corresponds to the retinal region marked after injecting seven small DiI crystals alongside the border of the accessible tectum. The shape of this retinal
region is congruent with the AVF shape (compare with A). The darker rectangular sections correspond to the fluorescent images superimposed onto the
bright-field picture of the entire retina. This retinal region contains the fovea (f), the tip of the pecten (p: pecten) and the border of the red field (R: red
field, N: nasal, T: temporal, S: superior, I: inferior; scale: 5 mm).

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Fig. 3. (A) Regional variation in LFP in the accessible tectum (four cases). The LFPs elicited by small flashes (2 ) in the center of the receptive field
were recorded for different tectal loci in the accessible tectum. LFPs exhibited a consistent amplitude variation between the dorsal and ventral positions.
Dorsal LFPs (position H) have larger amplitude than ventral LFPs (position C) (see Fig. 1B, Ant: anterior, Post: posterior, Sup: superior). (B) LFP traces
at higher temporal resolution. Traces from (A) at selected positions. (C) LFP profiles from another pigeon at the same positions. Note how, in both cases,
the traces corresponding to position H are greater than at position C. Also notice how the temporal profile changes from bird to bird.

operations (like reflection, rotation, and uniform stretches in

the x and y dimension), its transformed outline and the outline of the accessible tectum are very similar (Fig. 5). Both
shapes represent elongated triangles, with a very strong congruence in the ventral part, where they are almost identical.
This congruence degrades towards the dorsal tectum.
In most physiological studies, the optic tectum is presented as a homogenous structure. Nevertheless, our LFP
recordings show that even a tectal section as small as the accessible tectum shows a dramatic physiological heterogeneity. Inside this tectal portion, tectal loci receiving afferences
from different retinal areas show steep differences in their
LFP profiles. Tectal LFPs are mostly a manifestation of the
synaptic currents triggered by the volley of incoming retinal action potentials, and their profiles reflect the collective
operation of large populations of synapses (Holden, 1968;
Letelier et al., 2000). Therefore, differences in LFP profiles,
like those described in this study (Fig. 3), will result either

from: (a) differential properties and density of retinal ganglion fibers in the stimulated retinal areas, (b) differences in
the physiology and density of the postsynaptic elements in
the tectum, or (c) a combination of both these factors. Our
results directly show that the anatomical heterogeneity of
the retinal projection onto the accessible tectum is indeed reflected at the physiological level. Thus, marked differences
should be expected in visual synaptic physiology between
tectal regions in receipt of afferences from the different retinal specializations, in particular, between the dorsal (yellow
field recipient) and ventral (red field recipient) tectum. In a
recent study (Gu et al., 2000), the visual properties of tectal receptive fields, in fact, have been described as differing
between these tectal regions.
The physiological regionalization described here is especially relevant in the case of studies involving current
source density (CSD) analysis. This technique, which allows
synaptically active neuropiles to be localized deep within a

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167

Fig. 5. AVF and the accessible tectum are almost congruent. The AVF
profile when subjected to simple geometrical transformations (a reflection
followed by an 18 rotation, and magnified 7 times in the x dimension
and 4.5 times in the y dimension) is similar to the accessible tectum.
Both areas are congruent in the ventral part, but this congruence degrades
dorsally, where the superposition is less perfect than ventrally (S: superior,
A: anterior, P: posterior).

5. Conclusions

Fig. 4. (A) AVF profile, and retinal landmarks, in standardized coordinates.

The average position of AVF was plotted in relation with the positions
of retinal landmarks using the reference frame defined by Nalbach et al.
(1990). In this representation, which corresponds to the head orientation
of a walking bird, the AVF is mostly a superior perifoveal band that
contains the projections of the optic axis and the fovea. Only a small
fraction of the red field is located inside the AVF. The fovea (asterisks) is
always located inside the AVF. The red field is indicated by a thick black
line. The pecten position and the extent of the red field were obtained
from Nalbach et al. (1990). (B) 3D representation. Position of the average
AVF plotted in a sphere representing the left visual field. Data from (A)
plotted in 3D according to Hahmann and Gntrkn (1993).

multilayered structure, is based on the synchronic collection

of LFPs at different depths. Several studies have performed
CSD analysis in the accessible tectum of the pigeon, under the assumption that LFPs are homogeneous across
tectal surface structures (Letelier et al., 2000; Nakagawa
et al., 1997). Our data indicate that this is not the case,
suggesting that LFP and CSD studies should be reevaluated.

We have found that the accessible tectum, although a mere

15% of the total tectum, is not homogeneous, as it receives
afferences from a section of the retina containing several specialized areas. Accordingly, the accessible tectum presents
clear regional differences in visual physiological processing.
These results, along with recent results concerning functional and structural asymmetries of the tecto-fugal pathway
(Gu et al., 2000; Karten et al., 1997), show that the physiological exploration of this pathway must take into account
the conspicuous regionalization of the retino-tectal projection in birds. The data presented here allow tectal physiological results to be related to anatomical specializations of
the retino-tectal projection.

Acknowledgements
We thank Diane Greenstein for editorial assistance. We
also thank Solano Henriquez and Cristian Acevedo for technical assistance and Nicolas Piwonka for photography. This
research was supported by grants 1990045 and 1030522
from the Chilean Scientific Council (CONICYT) to Jorge
Mpodozis.

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