Perimetric Study of Field Defects in Monkeys after Cortical and Retinal Ablations

Abstract

Monocular visual field defects were studied in two monkeys. In one, the macular retina was destroyed by photocoagulation, producing a central scotoma and consistent 5° eccentric fixation. In a second animal the effects of removal of macular projection area in striate cortex and subsequent photocoagulation of the macula were compared. The cortical operation produced a partial field defect, i.e. a region of diminished sensitivity but not a scotoma, which became with practice much smaller than the region of retina whose primary projection area had been ablated. A 10° eccentric fixation was observed. Following the second, retinal, operation a macular scotoma was demonstrated whose size and position corresponded closely with the area of retinal destruction as determined by photography of the fundus and later histological examination of the retina.