Research paperRepresentation of the visual field in the anterior thalamus of the leopard frog, Rana pipiens

•Frog anterior thalamic units respond only to stimuli in contra visual hemifield.•RGCs projecting to anterior thalamus are in corresponding retinal hemifield.•As determined physiologically there is no retinotopic map in anterior thalamus.

We used physiological and anatomical methods to elucidate how the visual field is represented in the part of the dorsal anterior thalamus of the leopard frog that receives direct retinal projections. We recorded extracellularly while presenting visual stimuli, and characterized a physiologically defined region that encompasses the retinal projections as well as an extended zone beyond them. We probed the area systematically to determine if the zone is organized in a visuotopic map: we found that it is not. We found that units in this region respond only to stimuli in the contralateral half of the visual field, which is similar to what is seen in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in mammals. When we backfilled retinal ganglion cells from application of HRP to the anterior thalamus, we found labeled cells only in those parts of the retina corresponding to the contralateral hemifield, confirming our physiological observations.