Synaptic organization of complex ganglion cells in rabbit retina: Type and arrangement of inputs to directionally selective and local-edge-detector cells

2005 ◽  
Vol 484 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward V. Famiglietti
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Synaptic Organization ◽  
Edge Detector ◽  
Local Edge

scholarly journals Retinal Synaptic Pathways Underlying the Response of the Rabbit Local Edge Detector

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (5) ◽  
pp. 2757-2769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Russell ◽  
Frank S. Werblin
Keyword(s):  
Feedback Inhibition ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Cell Voltage ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Edge Detector ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Field Sensitivity ◽  
Glycinergic Inhibition ◽  
Local Edge ◽  
Feedforward Inhibition

We studied the circuitry that underlies the behavior of the local edge detector (LED) retinal ganglion cell in rabbit by measuring the spatial and temporal properties of excitatory and inhibitory currents under whole cell voltage clamp. Previous work showed that LED excitation is suppressed by activity in the surround. However, the contributions of outer and inner retina to this characteristic and the neurotransmitters used are currently unknown. Blockage of retinal inhibitory pathways (GABAA, GABAC, and glycine) eliminated edge selectivity. Inverting gratings in the surround with 50-μm stripe sizes did not stimulate horizontal cells, but suppressed on and off excitation by roughly 60%, indicating inhibition of bipolar terminals (feedback inhibition). On pharmacologic blockage, we showed that feedback inhibition used both GABAA and GABAC receptors, but not glycine. Glycinergic inhibition suppressed GABAergic feedback inhibition in the center, enabling larger excitatory currents in response to luminance changes. Excitation, feedback inhibition, and direct (feedforward) inhibition responded to luminance-neutral flipping gratings of 20- to 50-μm widths, showing they are driven by independent subunits within their receptive fields, which confers sensitivity to borders between areas of texture and nontexture. Feedforward inhibition was glycinergic, its rise time was faster than decay time, and did not function to delay spiking at the onset of a stimulus. Both the on and off phases could be triggered by luminance shifts as short in duration as 33 ms and could be triggered during scenes that already produced a high baseline level of feedforward inhibition. Our results show how LED circuitry can use subreceptive field sensitivity to detect visual edges via the interaction between excitation and feedback inhibition and also respond to rapid luminance shifts within a rapidly changing scene by producing feedforward inhibition.

Involvement of glycinergic neurons in the diminished surround activity of ganglion cells in the dark-adapted rabbit retina

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph J. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurons ◽  
Dark Adaptation ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Dopamine Antagonist ◽  
Intracellular Camp ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Camp Levels ◽  
Dependent Mechanism

AbstractPrevious studies have reported that the surround responses of retinal ganglion cells weaken or disappear upon dark adaptation. The mechanism(s) by which this occurs is largely unknown, although changes in activity of retinal dopaminergic neurons have been implicated. In the light-adapted rabbit retina, the surround ON responses of OFF-center ganglion cells have been shown to be markedly reduced or abolished by a dopamine antagonist. This effect of a dopamine antagonist was recently shown to be reversed by the glycine antagonist strychnine and by compounds that elevate intracellular cAMP levels. The present study was conducted to determine whether strychnine and cAMP-elevating compounds could bring out the surround ON responses in OFF-center ganglion cells that are diminished upon dark adaptation. Extracellular recordings of OFF-center brisk ganglion cells were made from isolated, superfused retinal preparations. During the course of dark adaptation, the surround On responses of many cells decreased markedly.Application in both brisk-transient and brisk-sustained OFF-center ganglion cells. The center OFF responses of these cells, on the other hand, were not enhanced by strychnine. Of the cAMP-elevating compounds tested, 8-(4-chlorophenylthio) cyclic AMP was the most effective in bringing out the surround ON responses in dark-adapted OFF-center ganglion cells. The findings from this study suggest that under dark-adapted conditions glycinergic neurons inhibit the surround component of OFF-center ganglion cells. The release of glycine from these neurons is suggested to be regulated by a cAMP-dependent mechanism.

Spatially restricted electrical activation of retinal ganglion cells in the rabbit retina by hexapolar electrode return configuration

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 036013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amgad G Habib ◽  
Morven A Cameron ◽  
Gregg J Suaning ◽  
Nigel H Lovell ◽  
John W Morley
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Electrical Activation ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion

Regional topography of rod and immunocytochemically characterized “blue” and “green” cone photoreceptors in rabbit retina

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1151-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Famiglietti ◽  
S. J. Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Double Labeling ◽  
Peak Density ◽  
Visual Streak ◽  
Color Opponency ◽  
Dorsal Retina ◽  
Cone Density

AbstractEvidence from several sources indicates that the photoreceptors of rabbit retina include rods, green cones and blue cones, and that blue-green color opponency occurs in select retinal ganglion cells. One of us (Famiglietti) has identified wide-field cone bipolar cells as probable blue-cone-selective bipolars, and type C horizontal cells as possibly connected to blue cones. We wished to extend the analysis of blue cone pathways in rabbit retina and to characterize the topographic distribution of blue and green cones. Two monoclonal antibodies raised against chicken visual pigments are reported to label medium- and long-wavelength cones (COS-1) and short-wavelength cones (OS-2) in all mammalian retinas studied thus far (Szél and colleagues). Using selective labeling with these two antibodies and a nonselective method in nasal and temporal halves of the same retinas, we have found that densities of photoreceptors vary systematically, depending upon the size of the eye and age of the animal. In ‘standard’ New Zealand rabbits of 2–3 kg (2–3 months old), rods reached a peak density of about 300,000/mm2 just dorsal to the visual streak, while cones exhibit peak density at mid-visual streak of about 18,000/mm2. Published measurements of visual acuity in rabbit are less than predicted by this calculation. The ratio of cones to rods is significantly higher in ventral retina, where the density of cones declines to a plateau of 10,000–12,000/mm2, when compared to dorsal retina, where cones are uniformly distributed at a density of about 7000/mm2. The density of OS-2 labeled (presumably “blue”) cones is uniformly low, 1000–1500/mm2, in a wide expanse that includes dorsal retina, the visual streak, and much of ventral retina, except for a region of higher density along the vertical midline. We confirm that there is a far ventral horizontal region near the perimeter that is populated exclusively by a high density (about 13,000/mm2) of OS-2-positive cones (Juliusson and colleagues). This region does not extend to the ventral retinal margin, however, where cone density drops precipitously. Transitional zones between COS-1 and OS-2 labeling, in a region of relatively high and uniform cone density, where sums of COS-1 and OS-2 labeling are higher than expected and in which weakly and strongly labeled cones are intermixed, raise questions about the identities of the visual pigment epitopes, the possibility of double labeling, and therefore the possibility of dual expression of pigments in single cones. The “inverted- T -shaped” topography of higher density OS-2 labeling raises doubts about the significance of a ventral concentration of blue cones for visual function in rabbit retina.

Neural architecture of the “transient” ON directionally selective (class IIb1) ganglion cells in rabbit retina, partly co-stratified with starburst amacrine cells

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDWARD V. FAMIGLIETTI
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Dendritic Morphology ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Branching Pattern ◽  
Stimulus Velocity ◽  
Starburst Amacrine Cells

AbstractRecent physiological studies coupled with intracellular staining have subdivided ON directionally selective (DS) ganglion cells of rabbit retina into two types. One exhibits more “transient” and more “brisk” responses (ON DS-t), and the other has more “sustained’ and more “sluggish” responses (ON DS-s), although both represent the same three preferred directions and show preference for low stimulus velocity, as reported in previous studies of ON DS ganglion cells in rabbit retina. ON DS-s cells have the morphology of ganglion cells previously shown to project to the medial terminal nucleus (MTN) of the accessory optic system, and the MTN-projecting, class IVus1 cells have been well-characterized previously in terms of their dendritic morphology, branching pattern, and stratification. ON DS-t ganglion cells have a distinctly different morphology and exhibit heterotypic coupling to amacrine cells, including axon-bearing amacrine cells, with accompanying synchronous firing, while ON DS-s cells are not coupled. The present study shows that ON DS-t cells are morphologically identical to the previously well-characterized, “orphan” class IIb1 ganglion cell, previously regarded as a member of the “brisk-concentric” category of ganglion cells. Its branching pattern, quantitatively analyzed, is similar to that of the morphological counterparts of X and Y cells, and very different from that of the ON DS-s ganglion cell. Close analysis of the dendritic stratification of class IIb1 ganglion cells together with fiducial cells indicates that they differ from that of the ON DS-s cells. In agreement with one of the three previous studies, class IIb1/ON DS-t cells, unlike class IVus1/ON DS-s ganglion cells, in the main do not co-stratify with starburst amacrine cells. As the present study shows, however, portions of their dendrites do deviate from the main substratum, coming within range of starburst boutons. Parsimony favors DS input from starburst amacrine cells both to ON DS-s and to ON DS-t ganglion cells, given the similarity of their DS responses, but further studies will be required to substantiate the origin of the DS responses of ON DS-t cells. Previously reported OFF DS responses in ON DS-t cells, unmasked by pharmacological agents, and mediated by gap junctions with amacrine cells, suggests an unusual trans-sublaminar organization of directional selectivity in the inner plexiform layer, connecting sublamina a and sublamina b.

Effects of the dopamine antagonist (+)-SCH 23390 on intracellularly recorded responses of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 463-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph J. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Intracellular Recording ◽  
Spike Activity ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Sch 23390 ◽  
Dopamine Antagonist ◽  
Rabbit Retina

AbstractThe effects of the dopamine D1 antagonist (+)-SCH 23390 on the responses of ganglion cells in the superfused rabbit retinal preparation were studied by intracellular recording. At low micromolar concentrations, (+)-SCH 23390 hyperpolarized OFF-center brisk ganglion cells and reduced or abolished any spontaneous spike activity that was present. The light-evoked EPSPs at the onset of a spot or annulus were reduced or abolished, while the EPSPs at light offset were in most cases potentiated. (+)-SCH 23390 depolarized ON-center brisk ganglion cells and increased spontaneous spike activity. The light-evoked EPSPs to spots and annuli were either unaffected or reduced roughly to the same extent. The findings in this study are compared with findings in a recent study in which the effects of (+)-SCH 23390 on the extracellularly recorded responses of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina were examined.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document