Quantitative study of the development of neurons and synapses in rats reared in the dark during early postnatal life. 1. Superior colliculus.

Rearing animals in dark conditions during early postnatal life has been shown to affect both the morphology and the normal functioning of the visual system. We have investigated the effects on the synapse-to-neuron ratios in the superior colliculi of rearing male rats in the dark from birth until 30 days of age, followed in some cases by a 35 day period of rehabilitation in control lighting conditions. Control lighting conditions consisted of a room on a 12 hour light/12 hour dark cycle. Synapse-to-neuron ratios were calculated from estimates of the numerical densities of neurons and synapses. These estimates were made using the 'disector' method at the light and electron microscopical levels. Neuronal nuclei were used as the counting unit for neurons and paramembranous densities for synapses. There were no significant differences in the numerical densities of neurons, synapses or synapse-to-neuron ratios between dark-reared and control rats at 30 days of age. Sixty five days old rats, previously raised in the dark, had a significantly smaller numerical density of neurons than light-reared controls. Two-way analysis of variance techniques showed significant effects of age on the estimates of the numerical densities of neurons and synapses. However, there were no significant main effects of the lighting conditions, nor any significant interaction for any of the measures.