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Morphological types of ganglion cells in the dog and wolf retina
Author(s) -
Peichl Leo
Publication year - 1992
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.903240411
Subject(s) - retina , parasol cell , lucifer yellow , giant retinal ganglion cells , ganglion , biology , receptive field , inner plexiform layer , bistratified cell , cell type , anatomy , neuroscience , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , retinal ganglion cell , intracellular , gap junction , genetics
The morphological types of ganglion cells in the dog and wolf retina were studied by intracellular staining with Lucifer Yellow. These retinae contain a range of ganglion cell types that closely correspond to those found in cat retina: alpha cells with large somata and large, relatively densely branched dendritic trees; beta cells with medium‐sized somata and small, densely branched dendritic trees; and a variety of other types with smaller somata and varying dendritic branching patterns and dendritic field sizes. The correspondence of canine and cat ganglion cell types strengthens the view that there is a common set of ganglion cell types in carnivores. Alpha and beta cell dendritic trees of dog and wolf are monostratified in either the inner or the outer part of the inner plexiform layer, suggesting an on/off dichotomy in the response to light. Dendritic field sizes of dog alpha and beta cells increase from the central area to peripheral retina: alpha cell fields from 160–200 μm to about 1,100 μm diameter, and beta cell fields from 25 μm to about 360 μm diameter. These sizes are quantitatively very similar to those found in cat retina. The close qualitative and quantitative morphological correspondence of cat and dog ganglion cells suggests that they are also functionally very similar. It is likely that dog alpha cells have brisk‐transient (Y), and dog beta cells brisk‐sustained (X) concentric receptive fields. From the smallest beta cell sizes it is concluded that the visual acuity of the dog may be as good as that of the Cat.