Direct Visualization of the Dendritic and Receptive Fields of Directionally Selective Retinal Ganglion Cells

Optical methods were used to locate the cell bodies of directionally selective ganglion cells in isolated rabbit retinas. These neurons detect the direction in which images move across the retinal surface and transmit that information to the brain. The receptive field of each identified cell was det...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1992-12, Vol.258 (5090), p.1949-1952
Main Authors: Yang, Guang, Masland, Richard H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action potentials
Amacrine cells
Amidines
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cell physiology
Dendrites
Dendrites - physiology
Dendrites - ultrastructure
Electrodes
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Eye Movements
Fluorescent Dyes
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Ganglia
Neurons
Optic Nerve - physiology
Photoreceptors
Rabbits
Retina
Retinal Ganglion Cells - cytology
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Retinal images
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:Optical methods were used to locate the cell bodies of directionally selective ganglion cells in isolated rabbit retinas. These neurons detect the direction in which images move across the retinal surface and transmit that information to the brain. The receptive field of each identified cell was determined, after which the cell was injected with Lucifer yellow. An image of the receptive field border was then projected onto the fluorescent image of the dendrites, allowing precise comparison between them. The size of the receptive field matched closely the size of the dendritic arbor of that cell. This result restricts the types of convergence that can be postulated in modeling the mechanism of retinal directional selectivity.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1470920