Premium
Morphology of physiologically identified X‐, Y‐, and W‐type retinal ganglion cells of the cat
Author(s) -
Saito HideAki
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.902210304
Subject(s) - lucifer yellow , biology , receptive field , retina , giant retinal ganglion cells , retinal , depolarization , intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells , parasol cell , neuroscience , bistratified cell , hyperpolarization (physics) , anatomy , stimulus (psychology) , biophysics , retinal ganglion cell , intracellular , microbiology and biotechnology , gap junction , chemistry , psychology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , psychotherapist
Abstract Retinal ganglion cells of the cat have been classified physiologically into X‐, Y,‐ and W‐cells, on the basis of the receptive field properties, and morphologically into α‐, β‐, and γ‐cells. In order to study directly the correspondence between these classifications, intracellular recordings from the ganglion cells in supervised eye‐cup preparations were made with the aid of microelectrodes filled with Lucifer yellow CH. The cells were stained after their photic responses were studied under mesopic adaptation. X‐cells, showing sustained depolarization (on‐center cells) or hyperpolarization (off‐center cells) in response to a spot of light had medium‐sized round somata and spread bushy dendrites within a narrow retinal area. On the other hand, on‐center and off‐center Y‐cells, showing transient responses to the spot stimulus, had large somata and widely expanded thick dendrites which were sparsely branched. W‐cells which showed weak sustained responses had widely extended thin and winding dendrites, despite a small somal size. These morphological features of Y‐, X‐, and sustained W‐cells correspond well to those of α‐, b̃‐, and δ‐cells (a subtype of γ‐cells), respectively. The hypothesis of “morphology reflecting function” is strongly supported.