The developing optic tectum: An asymmetrically organized system and the need for a redefinition of the notion of sensitive period

Abstract

The present article summarizes the main events involved in the isthmic organizer and optic tectum determination and analyses how optic tectum patterning is translated, by the organized operation of several specific cell behaviors, into the terminally differentiated optic tectum. The paper proposes that this assembling of temporally/spatially organized cell behaviors could be incorporated into a wider notion of patterning and that, given the asymmetric organization of the developing optic tectum, the notion of “sensitive period” does not capture the whole complexity of midbrain development and the pathogenesis of congenital disorders. The cell behaviors involved in the optic tectum development are organized in time and space by the isthmic organizer. A comprehensive description of the normal optic tectum development, and also its alterations, should consider both domains. Significantly, the identity of each neuronal cohort depends critically on its “time and place of birth”. Both parameters must be considered at once to explain how the structural and functional organization of the optic tectum is elaborated. The notion of “patterning” applies only to the early events of the optic tectum development. Besides, the notion of “sensitive period” considers only a temporal domain and disregards the asymmetric organization of the developing optic tectum. The present paper proposes that these notions might be re-defined: (a) a wider meaning of the term patterning and (b) a replacement of the term “sensitive period” by a more precise concept of “sensitive temporal/spatial window”.