scholarly journals Light adaptation within the receptive field centre of rat retinal ganglion cells.

1980 ◽  
Vol 301 (1) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
C M Cicerone ◽  
D G Green
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Light Adaptation ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Receptive Field Centre

Electrophysiology of retinal ganglion cells in the mouse: a study of a normally pigmented mouse and a congenic hypopigmentation mutant, pearl

1982 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 968-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Balkema ◽  
L. H. Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
White Light ◽  
Light Adaptation ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Action Spectrum ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Light Sensitivity ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Criterion Response

1. The organization of the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in te normal mouse was studied qualitatively in recordings from 43 single axons in the optic nerve and optic tract, and the light sensitivity was studied quantitatively in 26 of these cells by measuring incremental sensitivity. 2. The receptive fields of normal animals were elliptical, had concentric center and peripheral subdivisions, and had an antagonistic center/surround organization; the receptive-field centers ranged from 1.95 to 83 degrees in diameter, with a median of 7 degrees. 3. The incremental sensitivity to white light was measured using a criterion response of 10 extra spikes; the most sensitive dark-adapted cell required a stimulus luminance of 3.5 x 10(-3) cd/m2 to generate a criterion response. 4. The action spectrum measured at seven different wavelengths (433-619 nm) from ganglion cells in the normally pigmented mouse resembled the CIE (International Commission on Illumination, CIE 1957 (11)) relative scotopic luminous efficiency function (41) and is consistent with a curve having a peak around 500 nm. 5. On light adaptation with blue light (less than 460 nm), the sensitivity to longer wavelength stimuli increased by 0.2-0.5 log units relative to the sensitivity to the shorter wavelengths; these results are compatible with the presence of a photoreceptor sensitive to long wavelengths in the normally pigmented mouse (C57BL/6J+/+). 6. The organization of the receptive fields of 48 retinal ganglion cells from the hypopigmentation mutant pearl (C57BL/6J-pe) was also studied qualitatively; the receptive field organization was similar to that of the normally pigmented mouse. 7. In 25 cells from dark-adapted pearl mice, the incremental sensitivity to white light was, on the average, 1.6 log units less than that for normal mice. 8. The dark-adapted action spectrum of pearl mice was similar to that of normally pigmented mice. However, a shift in sensitivity to longer wavelengths did not occur on selective light adaptation with the most luminous blue light (less than 460 nm) background that we could produce. 9. We conclude that pearl is one of the mammalian genes that codes for functions that affect dark-adapted retinal sensitivity. The results of this study and past studies suggest that the pearl gene's action on light sensitivity is predominantly within the retina and before (distal to) the ganglion cells.

scholarly journals Spatial receptive field properties of rat retinal ganglion cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
WALTER F. HEINE ◽  
CHRISTOPHER L. PASSAGLIA
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Y Cells

AbstractThe rat is a popular animal model for vision research, yet there is little quantitative information about the physiological properties of the cells that provide its brain with visual input, the retinal ganglion cells. It is not clear whether rats even possess the full complement of ganglion cell types found in other mammals. Since such information is important for evaluating rodent models of visual disease and elucidating the function of homologous and heterologous cells in different animals, we recorded from rat ganglion cells in vivo and systematically measured their spatial receptive field (RF) properties using spot, annulus, and grating patterns. Most of the recorded cells bore likeness to cat X and Y cells, exhibiting brisk responses, center-surround RFs, and linear or nonlinear spatial summation. The others resembled various types of mammalian W cell, including local-edge-detector cells, suppressed-by-contrast cells, and an unusual type with an ON–OFF surround. They generally exhibited sluggish responses, larger RFs, and lower responsiveness. The peak responsivity of brisk-nonlinear (Y-type) cells was around twice that of brisk-linear (X-type) cells and several fold that of sluggish cells. The RF size of brisk-linear and brisk-nonlinear cells was indistinguishable, with average center and surround diameters of 5.6 ± 1.3 and 26.4 ± 11.3 deg, respectively. In contrast, the center diameter of recorded sluggish cells averaged 12.8 ± 7.9 deg. The homogeneous RF size of rat brisk cells is unlike that of cat X and Y cells, and its implication regarding the putative roles of these two ganglion cell types in visual signaling is discussed.

scholarly journals Transient Responses of Rabbit Retinal Ganglion Cells to Photic and Electrical Stimuli

1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Molotchnikoff
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Electrical Activation ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Transient Responses ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Latency Response ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Inhibitory Period

SUMMARY:The relationships between the center and the surround of the receptive field of the rabbit retinal ganglion cell were investigated. This was done by coupling localized light spots and electrical activation of the retina and by analyzing the time of the excitatory and inhibitory periods. The responsiveness to the electrical transretinal pulse revealed a) that ON stimulation in OFF-center cells and OFF stimulation in ON-center cells, elicited a primary period of inhibition with a short latency; b) the long latency response of surround stimulation was not preceded by an inhibitory period unless the center was simultaneously stimulated in the same direction; c) a transient response to a stationary spot of light is followed by a period of inhibition. These results are discussed in relation to the known cellular retinal networks.

Membrane Properties and Monosynaptic Retinal Excitation of Neurons in the Turtle Accessory Optic System

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 614-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Kogo ◽  
Michael Ariel
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Optic System ◽  
Accessory Optic System ◽  
Postsynaptic Potentials ◽  
Synaptic Inputs ◽  
Bon Cells

Kogo, Naoki and Michael Ariel. Membrane properties and monosynaptic retinal excitation of neurons in the turtle accessory optic system. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 614–627, 1997. Using an eye-attached isolated brain stem preparation of a turtle, Pseudemys scripta elegans, in conjunction with whole cell patch techniques, we recorded intracellular activity of accessory optic system neurons in the basal optic nucleus (BON). This technique offered long-lasting stable recordings of individual synaptic events. In the reduced preparation (most of the dorsal structures were removed), large spontaneous excitatory synaptic inputs [excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs)] were frequently recorded. Spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic potentials were rarely observed except in few cases. Most EPSPs disappeared after injection of lidocaine into the retina. A few EPSPs of small size remained, suggesting that these EPSPs either were from intracranial sources or may have been miniature spontaneous synaptic potentials from retinal ganglion cell axon terminals. Population EPSPs were synchronously evoked by electrical stimulation of the contralateral optic nerve. Their constant onset latency and their ability to follow short-interval paired stimulation indicated that much of the population EPSP's response was monosynaptic. Visually evoked BON spikes and EPSP inputs to BON showed direction sensitivity when a moving pattern was projected onto the entire contralateral retina. With the use of smaller moving patterns, the receptive field of an individual BON cell was identified. A small spot of light, projected within the receptive field, guided the placement of a bipolar stimulation electrode to activate retinal ganglion cells that provided input to that BON cell. EPSPs evoked by this retinal microstimulation showed features of unitary EPSPs. Those EPSPs had distinct low current thresholds. Recruitment of other inputs was only evident when the stimulation level was increased substantially above threshold. The average size of evoked unitary EPSPs was 7.8 mV, confirming the large size of synaptic inputs of this system relative to nonsynaptic noise. EPSP shape was plotted (rise time vs. amplitude), with the use of either evoked unitary EPSPs or spontaneous EPSPs. Unlike samples of spontaneous EPSPs, data from many unitary EPSPs formed distinct clusters in these scatterplots, indicating that these EPSPs had a unique shape among the whole population of EPSPs. In most BON cells studied, hyperpolarization-activated channels caused a slow depolarization sag that reached a plateau within 0.5–1 s. This property suggests that BON cells may be more complicated than a simple site for convergence of direction-sensitive retinal ganglion cells to form a central retinal slip signal for control of oculomotor reflexes.

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