Retinal function: From Cajal drawings to present physiological techniques

Abstract

AbstractIn this Special Interest Symposium we want to present to the European scientific community of retinal researchers the book LA RETINA DE LOS VERTEBADOS. The book was originally published by Santiago Ramón y Cajal in 1892 only in French. Two years later it was translated into German by Richard Greeff and in 1972 it was translated into English by Sylvia Thorpe and Mitchell Glickstein, but it has never been translated into Spanish. We now present the Spanish edition of “La Retina de los Vertebrados” in the context of current knowledge of the functions of retinal neurons. Cajal Figure is widely recognized by physiologists and retinal specialists. However, Cajal's work on the retina and, above all, his masterpiece, “La Retina de los Vertebrados” is not fully known by all the researchers currently working on the physiology of the retina.In addition, this presentation to the members of EVER, intends to highlight the importance of Cajal's studies in order to understand the physiological mechanisms of the retina. Some classic schemes of retinal cells and their connections will be shown, in which Cajal suggests a series of specific functions for each neuronal element of the retina. In the present work, it will be considered how the methodological advances over the years, and the modern techniques of functional exploration of the nervous system, have allowed us to demonstrate that the functional aspects suggested by Cajal more than one century ago were correct.