The projective field of single bipolar cells in the retina

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The projective field of single bipolar cells in the retina Hiroki Asari1* and Markus Meister2 1 Harvard University, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, United States 2 Harvard University, United States The vertebrate retina contains about 10 types of bipolar cells that convey information from photoreceptors to retinal ganglion cells. Previous studies suggest that they form parallel channels, and that each bipolar cell type contributes a specific visual message to select types of ganglion cells. Here we test this hypothesis by determining the full projective field of a single bipolar cell, specifically the responses it elicits in the population of ganglion cells. In the isolated salamander retina, we controlled bipolar cell activity with an intracellular electrode while recording the firing of ganglion cells with a multi-electrode array and manipulating the intervening circuitry pharmacologically. We found that excitation of a single bipolar cell altered the responses of many ganglion cells. The effect was generally excitatory at short distances and inhibitory at longer distances. Electrical synapses among bipolar cells contributed substantially to the lateral spread of excitation, whereas amacrine cells suppressed the excitatory spread and mediated the inhibitory effects. Within the excitatory region, different ganglion cells showed distinct temporal response patterns. A sustained depolarization of the bipolar cell produced a transient burst of spikes in some ganglion cells but sustained firing in others. This range of response kinetics resulted primarily from the interactions of individual bipolar cell terminals with amacrine cells. Our results highlight the diversity of neuronal circuits that distribute signals from a bipolar cell to various ganglion cells, and suggest considerable cross-talk between bipolar cell channels through gap junctions and via amacrine cells. Conference: Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2010, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, 25 Feb - 2 Mar, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster session I Citation: Asari H and Meister M (2010). The projective field of single bipolar cells in the retina. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.03.00145 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 02 Mar 2010; Published Online: 02 Mar 2010. * Correspondence: Hiroki Asari, Harvard University, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Paris, United States, asari@fas.harvard.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Hiroki Asari Markus Meister Google Hiroki Asari Markus Meister Google Scholar Hiroki Asari Markus Meister PubMed Hiroki Asari Markus Meister Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.