Chromatic sensitivity of ganglion cells in the peripheral primate retina

Visual abilities change over the visual field. For example, our ability to detect movement is better in peripheral vision than in foveal vision, but colour discrimination is markedly worse. The deterioration of colour vision has been attributed to reduced colour specificity in cells of the midget, p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2001-04, Vol.410 (6831), p.933-936
Main Authors: Martin, Paul R, Lee, Barry B, White, Andrew J. R, Solomon, Samuel G, Rüttiger, Lukas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anisotropy
Biological and medical sciences
Cells
Color Perception - physiology
Dendrites - physiology
Electrophysiology
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Eyes & eyesight
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Light
Macaca
multidisciplinary
Neurology
Primates
Retina - physiology
Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Retinal Ganglion Cells - cytology
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Visual Pathways
Visualization
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Summary:Visual abilities change over the visual field. For example, our ability to detect movement is better in peripheral vision than in foveal vision, but colour discrimination is markedly worse. The deterioration of colour vision has been attributed to reduced colour specificity in cells of the midget, parvocellular (PC) visual pathway in the peripheral retina. We have measured the colour specificity (red-green chromatic modulation sensitivity) of PC cells at eccentricities between 20 and 50 degrees in the macaque retina. Here we show that most peripheral PC cells have red-green modulation sensitivity close to that of foveal PC cells. This result is incompatible with the view that PC pathway cells in peripheral retina make indiscriminate connections ('random wiring') with retinal circuits devoted to different spectral types of cone photoreceptors. We show that selective cone connections can be maintained by dendritic field anisotropy, consistent with the morphology of PC cell dendritic fields in peripheral retina. Our results also imply that postretinal mechanisms contribute to the psychophysically demonstrated deterioration of colour discrimination in the peripheral visual field.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35073587