Effects of enucleation in retinal degenerate mice.

Two experiments are reported which examine the effects of optic enucleation upon behavior of retinal degenerate C3H/HeJ mice. Enucleation did not affect acquisition of a two-way avoidance task. However, enucleated mice were more active than unoperated controls. The increased activity was not specific to the avoidance task since it also occurred in the closed field. The enucleation-induced increase in closed field activity did not depend upon age at time of testing or postsurgical recovery time. Several alternative explanations are considered, including the possibility that some information may be processed by the eye in the absence of traditionally conceived photoreceptors.