Understanding of visual neural circuits based on the operant conditioning

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In current year, we Attempted to achieve two purposes in our subject, that is, (1) estimation of color discrimination in chick by using of techniques of operant conditioning and (2) elucidation of morphological characteristics of retinal ganglion cells projecting to F-lamina in chick rectum. For the first purpose, we improved the devise for operant conditioning to make the experiment more precise, a starting pedal was newly furnished to the device and a cue pedal was hidden from chick before the test. As a result, we could understand that chick cares for the relation between the food of reward and the position of a cue color pedal rather than the relation between the food and a pre-imprinted cue color(chicks show strong preference for the color that they see first after hatched). This result suggested that chick cared more strongly for information of position in the space innately than acquired imprinting information. In second purpose, we labeled RGCs with antibody against AChR, which send axons to F-lamina of tectum and with florescence axonal tracer, DiI. The labeled RGCs showed the morphological properties of Group IIc, IIIs, and IVc. Particular, Group IVc related to the moving object projected exclusively to F-lamina.