The absence of retinal input disrupts the development of cholinergic brainstem projections in the mouse dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus

Pattern of tdTomato (tdT) labeling in brainstem and thalamus of ChAT-Cre x Ai9 mouse. a Coronal sections of the brainstem showing tdT labeling in cholinergic neurons in a P60 adult mouse. Left panel depicts the laterodorsal tegmentum (LDTg), and caudal region of pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPTg), and the right panel shows the rostral PPTg, parabigeminal nucleus (PBG), and oculomotor nucleus (3？N). Scale bars？=？500？μm. b High power views showing tdT fluorescence in cholinergic neurons of LDTg, PPTg, and PBG of an adult (P60, top) and neonate (P0, bottom). Scale bars？=？50？μm. c Coronal sections of adult (left) and neonate (right) dorsal thalamus showing tdT-labeled cholinergic projections and terminals arbors in ventral and dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei (vLGN, dLGN), lateral posterior nucleus (LP), and pretectum (PT). Dotted lines delineate the borders of the dLGN. In the adult, cholinergic fibers project extensively throughout the dorsal thalamus however, at P0 the dLGN is devoid of cholinergic input. Scale bars？=？100？μ