On the distribution of gamma cells in the cat retina

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Stein ◽  
D.M. Berson
Keyword(s):  
Beta Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retrograde Transport ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Cell Class ◽  
Visual Streak ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
Soma Size ◽  
Retinal Distribution ◽  
The Brain

AbstractGanglion cells of the cat retina that are neither alpha nor beta cells are often lumped for convenience into a single anatomical group—the gamma cells (Boycott & Wässle, 1974; Stone, 1983; Wässle & Boycott, 1991). Defined in this way, gamma cells are the morphological counterpart to the physiological W-cell class, which includes all ganglion cells that are neither Y (alpha) nor X (beta) cells. We have estimated the retinal distribution of gamma cells by using retrograde transport to label ganglion cells innervating the superior colliculus and by assuming that these included virtually all gamma cells and no beta cells. We excluded labeled alpha cells on the basis of soma size. Our data suggest that gamma cells represent just under half of the ganglion cells in most of the nasal retina, but only about a third of those in the area centralis and temporal retina. Gamma cells do not appear to be more highly concentrated in the nasal visual streak than are other ganglion cells. In the temporal retina, gamma cells with crossed projections to the brain are apparently at least twice as common as those with uncrossed projections.

Selective depletion of beta cells affects the development of alpha cells in cat retina

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Ault ◽  
Kirk G. Thompson ◽  
Yifeng Zhou ◽  
Audie G. Leventhal
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Peripheral Retina ◽  
Specific Interactions ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Β Cells ◽  
Β Cell ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Soma Size ◽  
Retinal Distribution

AbstractThe results of previous studies suggest that class-specific interactions contribute to the development of the different classes of retinal ganglion cells. We tested this hypothesis by examining the morphologies and distributions of alpha (α) cells in regions of mature cat retina selectively depleted of beta (β) cells as a result of visual cortex lesions at birth. We find that α cells in regions of central retina depleted of β cells are abnormally large while α cells in regions of peripheral retina depleted of β cells are abnormally small. The normal central-to-peripheral α cell soma-size gradient is absent in hemiretinae depleted of β cells. The dendritic fields of α cells in the border of β-cell-depleted hemiretina extend preferentially into the β-cell-poor hemiretina. In spite of this, α cell bodies retain their normal retinal distribution and remain distributed in a nonrandom mosaic-like pattern. Thus, it appears that the development of α retinal ganglion cells is influenced by interactions both with other α cells (class-specific interactions) and with surrounding β cells (nonclass-specific interactions).

Anatomical correlations between soma size, axon diameter, and intraretinal length for the alpha ganglion cells of the cat retina

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Fitzgibbon ◽  
K. Funke ◽  
U. Th. Eysel
Keyword(s):  
Optic Disc ◽  
Cell Density ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Present Report ◽  
Alpha Cell ◽  
Axon Diameter ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
Soma Size ◽  
Temporal Aspect

AbstractRetinal ganglion cells within the same region of the retina may have different lengths of axon before reaching the optic disc depending on the route they take with respect to the temporal raphe. We have investigated whether there is a correlation between soma and intraretinal axon diameter and how these parameters relate to intraretinal axon length on both sides of the cat temporal raphe. Retinas were wholemounted and alpha-cell somata and fibers stained with a modified neurofibrillar method. Moving peripherally from the area centralis along the raphe there was a progressively increasing difference between the intraretinal axon lengths for nearly adjacent cells across the raphe, which reached a maximum of 4–5 mm at the retinal periphery. Cells on the nasal aspect of the raphe had shorter axons than did adjacent cells on the temporal aspect of the raphe. Comparison of soma diameter s&les across the raphe showed there was no clear trend between soma diameter and intraretinal length. Replotting the raphe and s&le areas on a cell density map indicated that différences in soma diameter could be attributed to ganglion-cell density differences between the s&led areas.Examination of the stained cells revealed that within the initial length of the axon there was a region showing a reduction of axon diameter (diameter <1 μm), which varied in length from cell to cell. The axon was, therefore, divided into three segments: the portion of axon prior to thinning (A), the thin segment itself (B), and the part of the axon after the thin segment (C). The diameter of each segment (A, B, C) and the lengths of the first and second segments (A, B) were significantly correlated with soma diameter (P < 0.001). From measurements of the axon diameter of segment C, it was concluded that alpha-cell axons continue to increase in diameter along their path towards the optic disc.The present report indicates that alpha-cell soma size, when going from the area centralis to the periphery along the raphe, reaches a plateau and then declines within more peripheral retinal locations in spite of increasing intraretinal axon length. Thus, there is no positive correlation between soma or axon diameter and intraretinal axon length. The anatomical findings are discussed in relation to previous reports of retinal development and complementary conduction times within intraretinal and extraretinal visual pathways.

scholarly journals Temporal and mosaic distribution of large ganglion cells in the retina of a daggertooth aulopiform deep–sea fish ( Anotopterus pharao )

2000 ◽  
Vol 355 (1401) ◽  
pp. 1161-1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Uemura ◽  
H. Somiya ◽  
M. Moku ◽  
K. Kawaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Outer Part ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Epipelagic Zone ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
Mean Size ◽  
Mosaic Distribution

The daggertooth Anotopteruspharao (Aulopiformes: Anotopteridae) is a large, piscivorous predator that lives within the epipelagic zone at night. In this species, the distribution of retinal ganglion cells has been examined. An isodensity contour map of ganglion cells shows that the cells concentrate in a slightly ventral region of the temporal retina. The region of high ganglion cell density contains 4.07 × 10 3 cells mm −2 , and the resulting visual acuity is 3.5 cycles deg −1 . Outside the area centralis, conspicuously large ganglion cells (LGCs) are observed in the temporal margin of the retina. The LGCs are regularly arrayed, and displaced into the inner plexiform layer. Thick dendrites extend into the outer part (sublamina a) of the inner plexiform layer. In the retinal whole mount, the total number of LGCs is 1590 (90.7cm specimen), and the mean size of the LGCs is about four times larger than that of the ordinary ganglion cells. The morphological appearance of the LGCs was similar to the off–type alpha cells of the cat retina. The function of these distinctive LGCs is discussed in relation to specific head–up feeding behaviour.

Morphology and mosaic of on- and off-beta cells in the cat retina and some functional considerations

1981 ◽  
Vol 212 (1187) ◽  
pp. 177-195 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Beta Cells ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Fine Detail ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Retinal Topography ◽  
Dendritic Branching ◽  
Whole Mounts

The beta type of ganglion cell can be subdivided in Golgi-stained whole mounts of the cat retina according to the branching level of the den­dritic tree in the inner plexiform layer. The dendritic branching level of on-beta cells is nearer to the cell body; that of off-beta cells is about 10 μm further outwards. After horseradish peroxidase (HRP) injection into the lateral geniculate nucleus all beta cells were labelled. In this way it is shown that about 55% of all ganglion cells, irrespective of retinal topography, are beta cells. The spatial distribution of on- and off-beta cells was studied from the HRP-labelled material. On-beta cells form a lattice with regular inter-cell spacings ; off-beta cells are also regularly arrayed. The two lattices are superimposed independently of each other. Beta cells are commonly assumed to be associated with the resolution of fine detail in the cat visual system. The mosaic of beta cells imposes some constraints and permits some predictions to be made with respect to the cat’s visual discrimination.

The ipsilateral retinal projection in the fat-tailed dunnart, Sminthopsis crassicaudata

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. RODGER ◽  
S.A. DUNLOP ◽  
L.D. BEAZLEY
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Retinal Projection ◽  
Binocular Field ◽  
Sminthopsis Crassicaudata ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
Ipsilateral Projection ◽  
The Brain

The population of retinal ganglion cells which project ipsilaterally in the brain was examined in the fat-tailed dunnart, Sminthopsis crassicaudata, following injection of horseradish peroxidase into one optic tract. Retinae were examined as wholemounts and optic nerves as serial sections. In addition, visual fields were measured ophthalmoscopically. Ipsilaterally projecting ganglion cells were located temporal to a line which ran vertically through the middle of the area centralis and extended medially to define a ventrolateral crescent. Temporal to the naso-temporal division, a mean of 77% of ganglion cells projected ipsilaterally; these cells represented 20% of the total ganglion cell population. The magnitude and retinal location of the ipsilateral projection correlated with the extensive binocular field which measured 180 deg in the vertical (from 20 deg below the horizontal axis to 70 deg beyond the zenith) and 140 deg in horizontal meridian. Ipsilaterally projecting axons were restricted to the lateral third of the optic nerve along its length, sharing territory with contralaterally projecting axons.

Distribution and size of ganglion cells in the retinae of large Amazon rodents

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. L. Silveira ◽  
C. W. Picanço-Diniz ◽  
E. Oswaldo-Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Cell Density ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Size Spectra ◽  
Topographical Distribution ◽  
Visual Streak ◽  
Soma Size

AbstractThe topographical distribution of density and soma size of the retinal ganglion cells were studied in three species of hystricomorph rodents. Flat-mounted retinae were stained by the Nissl method and the ganglion cells counted on a matrix covering the whole retinae. Soma size was determined for samples at different retinal regions. The agouti, a diurnal rodent, shows a well-developed visual streak, reaching a peak density of 6250 ganglion cells/mm2. The total number of ganglion cells ranged from 477, 427–548, 205 in eight retinae. The ganglion-cell-size histogram of the visual streak region exhibits a marked shift towards smaller values when compared to retinal periphery. Upper and lower regions differ in both cell density and cell size. The crepuscular capybara shows a less-developed visual streak with a peak ganglion cell density of 2250/mm2. The shift towards small-sized cells in the visual streak is less marked. Total ganglion cell population is 368,840. In the nocturnal paca, the upper half of the fundus oculi includes a tapetum lucidum. The retina of this species shows the least-developed visual streak of this group, with the lowest peak ganglion cell density reaching 925/mm2. The total ganglion cell number (230,804) is also smaller than in the two other species. Soma-size spectra of this species are characterized by the presence, in the lower hemi-retina, of very large perikarya comparable in size to the cat's alpha ganglion cells.

Retinotopic organization of the superior colliculus in relation to the retinal distribution of afferent ganglion cells

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.M. Berson ◽  
J.J. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retrograde Transport ◽  
Sensory Receptor ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Central Visual Field ◽  
Magnification Factors ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Retinotopic Organization ◽  
Retinal Distribution

AbstractSensory representations in the brain exhibit topographic variations in magnification. These variations have been thought to reflect regional differences in the density of innervation at the sensory receptor surface. In the primate visual cortex, for example, local magnification factors have been reported to be proportional to the corresponding densities of retinal ganglion cells. We sought to learn whether this principle also operates in a second major retinofugal pathway—the projection to the superior colliculus. In cats, we first used retrograde transport to determine the retinal distributions of the ganglion cells that project to the colliculus. Then, we compared the numbers of colliculopetal ganglion cells in selected retinal sectors to the areas of the corresponding collicular representations. Collicular areal magnification was not simply proportional to the density of afferent ganglion cells, being instead at least 5-fold greater than expected in the representation of the central visual field. These data imply that incoming retinal afferents are more widely spaced in the central regions of the tectal map than in the map's periphery. Such variations in afferent density appear to play as large a role as the distribution of ganglion cells in determining the metric of the collicular map.

X-cells in the cat retina: relationships between the morphology and physiology of a class of cat retinal ganglion cells

1987 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 940-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Stanford
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Area Centralis ◽  
Dendritic Arbors ◽  
X Cells ◽  
The Relationship

1. The morphology of 21 physiologically characterized X-cells in the cat retina was studied using intracellular recording and injection with horseradish peroxidase. The data from these experiments were used to test directly the relationships between specific structural and functional characteristics of a sample of individual retinal ganglion cells of the same anatomical and physiological class. Where possible, the response properties of 53 other retinal X-cells that were not successfully injected and recovered are compared with those of the labeled sample. These comparisons, which included conduction velocities (both intraretinal and extraretinal) and receptive-field size, indicate that the labeled X-cells are a representative sample of the population of retinal X-cells at corresponding eccentricities. 2. The somata of this group of injected retinal X-cells increase in size with increasing distance from the area centralis up to 13 degrees eccentricity (the greatest distance from the area centralis at which an X-cell was injected and recovered). The soma sizes of this sample of retinal ganglion cells range from 143.5 to 529.9 micron 2 (diam = 13.5-26.0 micron). Comparison of the soma sizes of the injected and recovered retinal X-cells with those of 300 Nissl-stained neurons at comparable eccentricities in the same retinae indicate that the injected sample had soma sizes that are consistent with their classification as "medium-sized" retinal ganglion cells (5, 69, 74). 3. All of the physiologically characterized retinal X-cells of this study have the compact dendritic arbors described to the morphological class of retinal ganglion cell called beta-cells by Boycott and Wassle (5). The dendrites of some of these neurons have many spinelike appendages, whereas those of other cells are nearly appendage free. We found no obvious correlation between the presence of dendritic appendages and any specific response characteristic ("ON-" or "OFF-center", etc). Like the size of the soma, both the diameter of the dendritic arbors of these cells, and the number of primary dendrites (those dendrites that originate directly from the soma), increase with increasing distance from the area centralis. 4. Since both morphological and physiological data were obtained for these neurons, it is possible to describe the relationship between the size of the receptive-field center and the diameter of the dendritic arbor for individual retinal ganglion cells. These comparisons show that the relationship between the anatomical measure and this response parameter for the entire sample of labeled X-cells is not as strong as had previously been suggested.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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