Effect of temperature on rate of goldfish optic nerve regeneration: A radioautographic and behavioral study

Abstract

Optic nerve regeneration was examined in goldfish radioautographically, as well as by a variety of behavioral measures of visual function. The rate of regeneration was markedly enhanced by increasing temperature above the ambient level (20 [deg]C). The earliest functional indication of recovery was the appearance of an autonomic response to a change in illumination, then the ability to localize food visually and at a still later time, an optomotor response. Even the early behavioral indications of return of function appeared some time after there was radioautographic evidence that the tectum had been reinnervated.