ALPHA GANGLION-CELLS IN MAMMALIAN RETINAE - COMMON PROPERTIES, SPECIES-DIFFERENCES, AND SOME COMMENTS ON OTHER GANGLION-CELLS

被引:122
作者
PEICHL, L
机构
[1] Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, Frankfurt/M. 71, Deutschordenstrasse 46
关键词
RETINAL GANGLION CELLS; ALPHA CELLS; Y-CELLS; MAMMALIAN RETINA; CLASSIFICATION OF NEURONS;
D O I
10.1017/S0952523800011020
中图分类号
Q189 [神经科学];
学科分类号
071006 ;
摘要
A specific morphological class of ganglion cell, the alpha cell, was first defined in cat retina. Alpha cells have since been found in a wide range of mammalian retinae, including several orders of placental and marsupial mammals. Characteristically, they have the largest somata and a large dendritic field with a typical branching pattern. They occur as inner and outer stratifying subpopulations, presumably corresponding to ON-center and OFF-center receptive fields. In all species, alpha cells account for less than 10% of the ganglion cells, their somata are regularly spaced, and their dendritic fields evenly and economically cover the retina in a mosaic-like fashion. The morphology of alpha cells and many features, both of single cells and of the population, are conserved across species with different habitats and life-styles. This suggests that alpha cells are a consistent obligatory ganglion cell type in every mammalian retina and probably subserve some fundamental task(s) in visual performance. Some general rules about the construction principles of ganglion cell classes are inferred from the alpha cells, stressing the importance of population parameters for the definition of a class. The principle, that a functionally and morphologically homogeneous population should have a regular arrangement and a complete and even coverage of the retina to perform its part in image processing at each retinal location, is especially evident across species and across ganglion cell types.
引用
收藏
页码:155 / 169
页数:15
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