Morphological effects of VIth nerve section in the kitten as revealed by horseradish peroxidase.

The effects of the chronic section of the VIth nerve have been studied in kittens with the help of the horseradish peroxidase intra-axonal retrograde tracing method. Two months following the section of the VIth nerve, only 50% of the abducens motoneuron population was left. However, shapes, somata sizes and cell distribution through the nucleus of the remaining neurons were similar to those shown by controls. Functional implications of the findings are discussed.