FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF RETINAL GANGLION CELLS

拟议的实验将检查视觉的基本方面， 哺乳动物视网膜的信息处理。 神经节细胞 猫的视网膜可以分为少数几类，或 子系统，根据其视觉特征和中央 轴突的投射。 建立每个视网膜子系统的作用 plays游戏is a important重要target目标for understanding理解how the sensory感官and motor运动 视觉系统的组成部分工作。 了解每一个视网膜 子系统的性能，反过来，将提供一个合理的基础， 开发诊断和治疗疾病的新技术 如视神经炎、弱视和斜视。 实验 拟采用的办法是基于这样一种想法，即 神经节细胞至少部分地由其视觉特性决定。 要研究的基本重要性质是检测 正弦光栅。 光栅不仅可用于定义神经节 细胞性能，它们也作为有效的探针的基本 傅立叶理论框架内的感受野结构 分析. 实验将有两个相互关联的目标。 首先是比较 研究八个不同的班级如何集中组织起来， 神经节细胞（开/关，活跃/迟缓，持续/短暂）在以下方面不同： 他们对光栅的敏感度 每个类的代表细胞将是 分离用于研究，将微电极引入眼睛中， 麻痹和麻醉的动物。 将测量对比敏感度 对于一系列覆盖空间光谱的光栅， 频率和方向。 将比较 不同类型的细胞在固定视网膜位置的性能， 同样在相同类别但在不同视网膜位置的细胞之间。 第二个目标是研究功能之间的关系， 感受野和结构树突野。 解剖描述 树突状树将获得从染色，整体安装 神经生理学检查结束时视网膜的准备 意见。 然后将功能性研究的特定细胞 通过光学显微镜鉴定，结果与 树突状区域 感兴趣的特定特征将是 不对称的领域和系统模式。

The proposed experiments will examine fundamental aspects of visual information processing by the mammalian retina. Ganglion cells of the cat's retina may be separated into a small number of classes, or sub-systems, according to their visual characteristics and the central projection of their axons. Establishing the role each retinal sub-system plays is an important goal for understanding how the sensory and motor components of the visual system work. Knowing what and how each retinal sub-system performs, in turn, will provide a rational basis for future development of new techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders such as optic neuritis, amblyopia and strabismus. The experimental approach to be adopted is based on the idea that the functional role of a ganglion cell is determined, at least in part, by its visual properties. The property of fundamental importance to be investigated is the detection of sinusoidal gratings. Not only are gratings useful for defining ganglion cell performance, they also serve as effective probes of the basic structure of receptive fields within the theoretical framework of Fourier analysis. Experiments will have two interrelated aims. First will be a comparative study of how the eight different classes of concentrically-organized ganglion cells (on/off, brisk/sluggish, sustained/transient) differ in their sensitivity to gratings. Representative cells of each class will be isolated for study with a microelectrode introduced into the eye of a paralyzed and anesthetized animal. Contrast sensitivity will be measured for a series of gratings which cover the full spectrum of spatial frequencies and orientations. Comparisons will be drawn between the performance of different types of cells at a fixed retinal location and also between cells of the same class but at different retinal locations. The second aim will be to investigate the relationship between functional receptive fields and structural dendritic fields. Anatomical descriptions of dendritic trees will be obtained from the stained, whole-mount preparation of the retina at the termination of neurophysiological observations. Specific cells which were studied functionally will then be identified by light microscopy and the results correlated with the form of the dendritic field. Particular features of interest will be the shapes of the fields and systematic patterns of asymmetry.