Adaptation and dynamics in X-cells and Y-cells of the cat retina

1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.G. Jakiela ◽  
C. Enroth-Cugell ◽  
B. Shapley
Keyword(s):  
Cat Retina ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

Actions of excitatory amino acids on brisk ganglion cells in the cat retina

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1368-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Boos ◽  
F. Muller ◽  
H. Wassle
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Gabaergic Interneurons ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. Retinal ganglion cell activity was recorded extracellularly in the intact cat eye. We examined the effects of iontophoretically applied glutamate (GLU), aspartate (ASP), and the specific agonists kainate (KA), quisqualate (QQ), (RS)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA), and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) on the spontaneous and light-driven activity of ganglion cells. 2. ASP and GLU increased the spontaneous as well as the light-driven activity of all brisk cell types. The effects of the two drugs were very similar. The activity of most cells remained at a constant increased level during prolonged application of these drugs. 3. KA also excited all brisk ganglion cell classes and caused effects very similar to those of GLU and ASP but was effective at a much lower concentration. In general, brisk ganglion cells responded most vigorously to KA application. 4. QQ excited approximately 50% of all ON-X and OFF-X cells encountered, the other 50% of the X cells and all Y cells were inhibited during QQ-application. This inhibition was quite likely due to the stimulation of glycinergic and GABAergic interneurons, because it was reduced or abolished during application of the respective antagonists strychnine and bicuculline. All ganglion cells apparently received either direct or indirect excitatory input from QQ receptors, which can be revealed by blocking the inhibitory interneurons. 5. The major actions of QQ on the discharge rate of ganglion cells are mimicked by AMPA. Hence, the actions of QQ are likely to be mediated by the "classical" QQ-receptor, ion-channel complex rather than by the recently described type of QQ-receptor that is coupled to a second messenger system. 6. NMDA excited ON-X, OFF-X, and OFF-Y cells but inhibited ON-Y cells. Excitatory and inhibitory NMDA effects could be blocked by the specific NMDA-receptor antagonists D(-)-2-amino-7-phosphono-heptanoate (AP-7) or 3-((+/-)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP). If the GABAergic transmission was blocked by bicuculline, the NMDA-induced inhibition of ON-Y cells was abolished. We conclude that NMDA activates GABAergic interneurons that in turn reduce the activity of ON-Y cells.

Morphological correlates of physiologically identified Y-, X-, and W-cells in cat retina

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 999-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Fukuda ◽  
C. F. Hsiao ◽  
M. Watanabe ◽  
H. Ito
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Fiber Layer ◽  
Dendritic Field ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Range Cell ◽  
Dendritic Fields ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

The action spike activities of single ganglion cells were recorded from the nasal retina of the intact eye of anesthetized and immobilized cats. Each ganglion cell was identified as a Y-, X-, or W-cell on the basis of its axonal conduction velocity, its receptive-field properties, and the level of maintained activity. Of about 100 ganglion cells physiologically identified and penetrated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-containing glass microelectrodes, 21 cells were subsequently identified in flat-mount preparations of the retinas and processed for detection of HRP. Of a total of nine Y-cells recovered, four had been penetrated at the soma and five at the axon. All had the morphology of the alpha-cell of Boycott and Wassle. Eight X-cells recovered. All had been penetrated at the soma and showed beta-cell morphology. Four W-cells were penetrated at the soma and recovered. Two off-tonic W-cells had small somas (15-16 micron in diam) and sparse dendritic fields, resembling gamma-cells of Boycott and Wassle. They are also similar to “G4” and “G18” of Kolb et al.'s classification. One on-tonic W-cell had somewhat larger soma (18 micron) with a relatively densely branched dendritic field. This corresponds to delta-cell of Boycott and Wassle or to “G15” of Kolb et al. One on-off phasic W-cell had a medium-sized soma (25.3 micron) with a fanlike dendritic expansion characteristic of the “unilateral horizontal broad range cell” of Shkolnik-Yarros or of “G22” of Kolb et al. Alternatively, all these W-cells can be called medium-sized gamma-cells. Among all three classes of ganglion cells, a positive correlation was found between the diameter of the receptive-field center and the dendritic field. Assuming that in the cat retina 1 degree of visual angle = 230 micron, dendritic fields of Y-cells seemed larger than their physiologically determined receptive-field centers. By contrast, the reverse relation was found between these two dimensions in X-cells. Axon diameters ranged from 4.0 to 5.6 micron (mean, 4.5 micron) in Y-cells and from 1.9 to 2.7 micron (mean, 2.2 micron) in X-cells. Three W-cells showed axon diameters of 0.6, 1.1, and 1.8 micron. The axon diameter distributions made from axons labeled by massive injections of HRP into the optic nerve fiber layer showed a pattern of distribution similar to that obtained from physiologically identified Y-, X-, and W-cell axons.

scholarly journals The effect of strychnine, bicuculline, and picrotoxin on X and Y cells in the cat retina.

1979 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
A W Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Small Shift ◽  
Gaba Antagonists ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Consistent Manner ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

The effect of intravenous strychnine and the GABA antagonists picrotoxin and bicuculline upon the discharge pattern of center-surround-organized cat retinal ganglion cells of X and Y type were studied. Stimuli (mostly scotopic, and some photopic) were selected such that responses from both on and off-center cells were either due to the center, due to the surround, or clearly mixed. Pre-drug control responses were obtained, and their behavior following administration of the antagonists was observed for periods up to several hours. X-cell responses were affected in a consistent manner by strychnine while being unaffected by GABA antagonists. All observed changes following strychnine were consistent with a shift in center-surround balance of X cells in favor of the center. For Y-cell responses to flashing annuli following strychnine, there was either no shift or a relatively small shift in center-surround balance. Compared to X-cell responses to flashing lights, those of Y cells were very little affected by strychnine and in most cases were unaffected. It thus appears that glycine plays a similar role in receptive field organization of X cells as does GABA in Y cells (Kirby and Enroth-Cugell, 1976. J. Gen. Physiol. 68:465-484).

Effects of strabismus on responsivity, spatial resolution, and contrast sensitivity of cat lateral geniculate neurons

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Jones ◽  
R. E. Kalil ◽  
P. D. Spear
Keyword(s):  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Orienting Response ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

Rearing cats with esotropia is known to cause a number of deficits in visual behavior tested through the deviated eye. These include a loss of orienting response to stimuli presented in the nasal visual field of the deviated eye, a reduction in visual acuity, and a general reduction in contrast sensitivity at all spatial frequencies. To assess the involvement of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in these deficits, we measured the following: 1) the visual responsiveness of lamina A1 cells with peripheral (more than 10 degrees from area centralis) receptive fields in three esotropic and three normal cats and 2) the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of lamina A X-cells with central (within 5 degrees of the area centralis) receptive fields in six esotropic and six normal cats. For comparison, we also measured LGN X-cell spatial resolutions in four exotropic cats and in two cats raised with an esotropia in one eye and the lids of the other eye sutured shut (MD-estropes). Recordings from the lateral portion of lamina A1 in esotropic cats yielded similar numbers of visually responsive cells with far nasal receptive fields as were seen in normal animals. Peak and mean response rates to a flashing spot also were normal. In addition, no differences were found between esotropes and normals in the percentages of X- and Y-cells encountered. These results suggest that the loss of orienting response to stimuli presented in the nasal field (12, 20) is not due to a loss of neural responses in the LGN of esotropic cats. In addition, they suggest that decreases in cell size in lamina A1 of esotropic cats (13, 36; R. E. Kalil, unpublished observations) are not accompanied by marked functional abnormalities of the cells and that cortical abnormalities ipsilateral to the deviated eye (22) are likely to have their origin within striate cortex itself. Recordings from lamina A cells with receptive fields near area centralis revealed that the average X-cell spatial resolution in esotropes (2.1 cycles/deg) was significantly lower than that in normal cats (3.1 cycles/deg). This reduction was seen in all esotropic cats tested and was due both to an increase in the proportion of X-cells with very low spatial resolution and to a loss of X-cells responding to high spatial frequencies (greater than 3.25 cycles/deg). The average spatial resolution of X-cells driven by the deviated eye in MD-esotropes fell midway between those of esotropes and normals. In exotropes, mean X-cell spatial resolution was normal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Morphology of retinogeniculate X and Y axon arbors in cats raised with binocular lid suture

1988 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 2152-2167 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Raczkowski ◽  
D. J. Uhlrich ◽  
S. M. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Optic Tract ◽  
Selective Reduction ◽  
Complete Darkness ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Essentially Normal ◽  
Adult Cats ◽  
The Individual ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. We examined the terminal arbors of single, physiologically identified retinogeniculate X and Y axons in 13 adult cats raised from birth with binocular lid suture. We recorded in the optic tract from 146 retinogeniculate axons. We studied the response properties of each axon encountered and attempted to penetrate it for labeling with horseradish peroxidase. 2. We attempted to classify each retinogeniculate axon as X or Y on a standard battery of tests. We thus identified 46 X and 91 Y axons; 5 axons had unusual response properties, and 4 axons were lost before they could be adequately identified. The X and Y axons had response properties that were completely normal by our criteria. The 5 unusual axons exhibited linear spatial and temporal summation, which is a property of X cells, despite all of their other tested response properties being consistent with those of Y cells. 3. We achieved complete, dark labeling of 13 X and 13 Y axons that form the data base for all of our qualitative and quantitative morphological observations. All of these labeled axons had response properties entirely normal for their X or Y class. Nine of the labeled X axons arise from the contralateral retina and 4 from the ipsilateral retina, whereas the respective numbers for the Y axons are 8 and 5. 4. Each of the individual retinogeniculate X axons form terminal arbors that appeared essentially normal in terms of location within geniculate lamina A or A1, shape, volume, and number of terminal boutons. 5. In contrast, the retinogeniculate Y axons form clearly abnormal arbors with diminished projections, both in terms of bouton numbers and arbor volumes. For Y axons from the contralateral retina, a roughly normal arbor is formed in the C-laminae, despite greatly diminished or absent projections formed in lamina A, something never seen in normal cats. For Y axons from the ipsilateral retina, the projections to lamina A1 are also diminished, and the arbors there are all limited to the ventral half of the lamina, a pattern rarely seen for normal Y axons. 6. The selective reduction in retinogeniculate Y axon arbors in these binocularly lid-sutured cats is consistent with similar observations reported for monocularly lid-sutured and strabismic cats but is quite different from the apparently normal development of retinogeniculate axon arbors in cats raised in complete darkness.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acuity-sensitivity trade-offs of X and Y cells in the cat lateral geniculate complex: role of the medial interlaminar nucleus in scotopic vision

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1235-1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lee ◽  
C. Lee ◽  
J. G. Malpeli
Keyword(s):  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Adaptation Level ◽  
Special Role ◽  
A Cells ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sinusoidal Gratings ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. The cat medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN) receives inputs almost exclusively from tapetal retina, suggesting that the MIN has a special role in dim-light vision. In this study we compared the sensitivities of cells in the MIN with those in layers A and magnocellular C of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd), using drifting sinusoidal gratings to determine contrast thresholds as a function of spatial frequency and retinal adaptation level over the entire scotopic range. 2. About one-half of the cells recorded in the MIN and layer A had brisk responses that could be nulled by properly positioned, counterphased sinusoidal gratings, and were classified as X cells. The rest of the cells in the MIN and layer A, as well as all cells recorded in layer C, were Y cells. 3. MIN cells had higher contrast sensitivity than layer A cells for low spatial frequencies (0.15 cycles/deg and below) over a wide range of adaptation levels, both overall and for separate comparisons within X or Y cells. Layer C Y cells were intermediate in sensitivity between MIN and layer A Y cells. For low spatial frequencies, Y cells as a group were more sensitive than X cells, whereas the reverse was true for high spatial frequencies. 4. These data enable one to determine the lowest adaptation level at which stimuli of a given contrast can be detected for a given structure. At the lowest spatial frequencies, the MIN can function at adaptation levels approximately 1 log unit below layer A, averaged over all stimulus contrasts. In contrast, the tapetum lowers luminance threshold by at most 0.16 log unit. 5. For scotopic conditions and eccentricities within 15 degrees of the area centralis, contrast sensitivity decreases with eccentricity for low spatial frequencies and remains flat or slightly increases for high spatial frequencies. This relationship, which is opposite to that found for photopic vision, is strongest for MIN Y cells. 6. These data support the hypothesis that the retinal conflict between sensitivity and acuity is ameliorated in the CNS through separate thalamic relays with different degrees of afferent convergence. MIN cells have higher luminance sensitivity than layer A cells, but at the expense of acuity. Layer C appears to occupy an intermediate position in this trade-off.

Effects of Saccades on the Activity of Neurons in the Cat Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 922-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daeyeol Lee ◽  
Joseph G. Malpeli
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Dark Condition ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Visual Inputs ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Time Courses ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

Lee, Daeyeol and Joseph G. Malpeli. Effects of saccades on the activity of neurons in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 922–936, 1998. Effects of saccades on individual neurons in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) were examined under two conditions: during spontaneous saccades in the dark and during stimulation by large, uniform flashes delivered at various times during and after rewarded saccades made to small visual targets. In the dark condition, a suppression of activity began 200–300 ms before saccade start, peaked ∼100 ms before saccade start, and smoothly reversed to a facilitation of activity by saccade end. The facilitation peaked 70–130 ms after saccade end and decayed during the next several hundred milliseconds. The latency of the facilitation was related inversely to saccade velocity, reaching a minimum for saccades with peak velocity >70–80°/s. Effects of saccades on visually evoked activity were remarkably similar: a facilitation began at saccade end and peaked 50–100 ms later. When matched for saccade velocity, the time courses and magnitudes of postsaccadic facilitation for activity in the dark and during visual stimulation were identical. The presaccadic suppression observed in the dark condition was similar for X and Y cells, whereas the postsaccadic facilitation was substantially stronger for X cells, both in the dark and for visually evoked responses. This saccade-related regulation of geniculate transmission appears to be independent of the conditions under which the saccade is evoked or the state of retinal input to the LGN. The change in activity from presaccadic suppression to postsaccadic facilitation amounted to an increase in gain of geniculate transmission of ∼30%. This may promote rapid central registration of visual inputs by increasing the temporal contrast between activity evoked by an image near the end of a fixation and that evoked by the image immediately after a saccade.

Development of neuronal response properties in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus during monocular deprivation

1983 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 240-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Mangel ◽  
J. R. Wilson ◽  
S. M. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Optic Chiasm ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate

We measured response properties of X- and Y-cells from laminae A and A1 of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of monocularly lid-sutured cats at 8, 12, 16, 24, and 52-60 wk of age. Visual stimuli consisted of small spots of light and vertically oriented sine-wave gratings counterphased at a rate of 2 cycles/s. In cats as young as 8 wk of age, nondeprived and deprived neurons could be clearly identified as X-cells or Y-cells with criteria previously established for adult animals. Nonlinear responses of Y-cells from 8- and 12-wk-old cats were often temporally labile; that is, the amplitude of the nonlinear response of nondeprived and deprived cells increased or decreased suddenly. A similar lability was not noted for the linear response component. This phenomenon rarely occurred in older cats. At 8 wk of age, Y-cell proportions (number of Y-cells/total number of cells) in nondeprived and deprived A-laminae were approximately equal. By 12 wk of age and thereafter, the proportion of Y-cells in deprived laminae was significantly lower than that in nondeprived laminae. At no age was there a systematic difference in response properties (spatial resolution, latency to optic chiasm stimulation, etc.) for Y-cells between deprived and nondeprived laminae. Spatial resolution, defined as the highest spatial frequency to which a cell would respond at a contrast of 0.6, was similar for nondeprived and deprived X-cells until 24 wk of age. In these and older cats, the mean spatial resolution of deprived X-cells was lower than that of nondeprived X-cells. This difference was noted first for lamina A1 at 24 wk of age and later for lamina A at 52-60 wk of age. The average latency of X-cells to optic chiasm stimulation was slightly greater in deprived laminae than in nondeprived laminae. No such difference was seen for Y-cells. Cells with poor and inconsistent responses were encountered infrequently but were observed far more often in deprived laminae than in nondeprived laminae. Lid suture appears to affect the development of geniculate X- and Y-cells in very different ways. Not only is the final pattern of abnormalities quite different between these cell groups, but the developmental dynamics of these abnormalities also differ.

Two classes of single-input X-cells in cat lateral geniculate nucleus. II. Retinal inputs and the generation of receptive-field properties

1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. Mastronarde
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Excitatory Effect ◽  
Retinal Input ◽  
Cell Firing ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

The retinal inputs to cells in the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) were directly recorded to study the basis for the properties of two classes of LGN X-cells: Xs (single) and XL (lagged). The presence of excitatory or inhibitory input to an LGN cell from a particular simultaneously recorded ganglion cell was assessed with cross-correlograms during unstimulated activity. Because neighboring ganglion cells do not fire independently, features in a retinogeniculate correlogram can arise in two ways that must be distinguished by a direct effect of the ganglion cell on the LGN cell, or by correlated firing between that ganglion cell and some other ganglion cell that is an excitatory or inhibitory input to the LGN cell. It was possible to determine the origin of correlogram features because features indicating a retinogeniculate effect were distinctly different in timing and strength from features arising solely from correlated firing in the retina. The characteristic feature in a correlogram between an LGN cell and an excitatory retinal input was a sharp peak in LGN cell firing rate at the appropriate latency after the firing of the ganglion cell. The characteristic feature for an inhibitory input was a dip in LGN cell firing rate after the firing of the ganglion cell. Typically, this dip lasted 10-40 ms and was followed by a prolonged enhancement in LGN cell firing rate, which may reflect a postinhibitory rebound. XS-cells had a single retinal X input whose excitatory effect caused most of the LGN cell's spikes during stimulated and unstimulated activity. There was no conclusive evidence that any XS-cell received excitatory retinal input from either Y-cells or other X-cells of the same center sign. There was usually evidence for inhibition of XS-cells by retinal X-cells of opposite center sign with receptive fields highly overlapping that of the XS-cell, but rarely evidence for inhibition by Y-cells. XL-cells also had only a single excitatory input, but this X input had a relatively weak effect that caused only a minority of the LGN cell's spikes, typically 17% during maintained activity and 29% during visual stimulation. The input's excitatory effect was immediately followed by strong inhibition of the XL-cell. XL-cells were also inhibited by retinal X-cells of the same center sign that were adjacent (nearest neighbors) to the excitatory input. The strength and latency of both of these inhibitory effects indicate that the inhibition was disynaptic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Effect of adapting target size on the gain of the surround response mechanism in X- and Y-cells in cat retina

1979 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1350-1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. G. Christen ◽  
R. W. Winters ◽  
H. I. Cohen ◽  
T. W. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Target Size ◽  
Response Mechanism ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Y Cells
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