Axon growth and Visual development.

Axons of the Neurones from the Retina grow to the Thalamus where they form synapses with neurones in the thalamus in a very ordered arrangement. axons from these thalamus neurones grow towards the visual cortex in the occipital lobe.

Occipital lobe-concerned with processing information from the eyes, including vision, colour, shape recognition and perspective.

 Staining techniques and studies using electrical stimulation show that the visual cortex is made up of columns of cells. the axons of the thalamus synapse with these columns of cells. adjacent columns of cells receive stimulation from the same area of the retina in the right and left eye, with the pattern repeated across the visual cortex. 

it used to be thought that these columns of cells in the visual cortex were formed during a critical period for visual development after birth, nurture instead of nature. this is not the case. Crowley and Katz showed that by injecting labelled tracers that the columns in the visual cortex are formed before the the critical period for development of vision. However periods of time during postnatal…