Binocular depth perception, visual acuity and visual fields in cats following neonatal section of the optic chiasm

Abstract

We studied the role of the transcallosal pathway in stereopsis by measuring binocular and monocular depth perception in two cats that had undergone section of the optic chiasm at the age of 21 d. To ensure that the surgery did not impair vision to the extent that depth perception could not be evaluated, visual acuity and visual fields were also measured. In both of the chiasm-sectioned animals the visual fields were reduced and the visual acuity was substantially lower than in normal cats, with a maximum of about 2 cyc deg-1. Binocular depth thresholds of the chiasm-sectioned cats were worse than those of the normal cat but were better than their own monocular thresholds. These results suggest that the chiasm-sectioned animals were still able to use binocular cues to judge depth and indicate that the indirect pathway through the corpus callosum is sufficient to mediate binocular depth perception.