Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:06:01.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Neurophysiology of central retinal degeneration in cat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

W.R. Levick  and
L.N. Thibos
W.R. Levick
Affiliation:
Visual Neurosciences Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
L.N. Thibos
Affiliation:
Department of Visual Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Receptive fields of ganglion cells have been studied in cats possessing a chronic, arrested lesion of central retinal degeneration. Lesions were characterized by an ophthalmoscopically sharp border separating apparently normal retina from the region of the lesion. Under direct ophthalmoscopic guidance, a succession of recordings was obtained from ganglion cells having cell bodies at various positions relative to the lesion. Cells located more than 1 deg outside the ophthalmoscopic border had normal visual sensitivity as assessed by area-threshold experiments. Inside the lesion cells within 1 deg of the border had reduced sensitivity which often precluded functional classification by the usual visual tests. Ganglion cells located more than 1 deg inside the border of large lesions were blind and some had abnormal patterns of maintained discharge of action potentials. Nevertheless, the antidromic latencies of these blind cells fell into the familiar conduction groups (T1/T2/T3). Receptive-field maps of cells near the border of the lesion often appeared truncated, with the missing portion of the field covered by the lesion. These observations were consistent with the abnormal form of area-thresholdcurves. Altlhough the responsiveness of cells near the lesion was abnormally low for grating stimuli, cutoff spatial frequency and orientation bias of these cells were within normal limits.

Keywords

Retinal degenerationBlindnessCatRetinaReceptive fields
Type
Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , May 1993 , pp. 499 - 509
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barlow, H.B. (1953). Summation and inhibition in the frog’s retina. Journal of Physiology 119, 69–88.Google Scholar
Bellhorn, R.W., Acuirre, G.D. & Bellhorn, M.B. (1974). Feline central retinal degeneration. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 13, 608–616.Google ScholarPubMed
Bellhorn, R.W. & Fischer, C.A. (1970). Feline central retinal degeneration. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 157, 842–849.Google ScholarPubMed
Bishop, P.O., Burke, W. & Davis, R. (1962 a). Single-unit recording from antidromically activated optic radiation neurones. Journal of Physiology 162, 432–450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bishop, P.O., Kozak, W. & Vakkur, G.J. (1962 b). Some quantitative aspects of the cat’s eye: Axis and plane of reference, visual field coordinates, and optics. Journal of Physiology 163, 466–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair, J.R., Gaur, V., Laedtke, T.W.Li, L., Liu, Y., Sheedlo, H., Yamaouchi, K. & Turner, J.E. (1991). In oculo transplantation studies involving the neural retina and its pigment epithelium. Progress in Retinal Research 10, 69–88.Google Scholar
Bolz, J., Wässle, H. & Thier, P. (1984). Pharmacological modulation of ON- and OFF-centre ganglion cells in the cat retina. Neuroscience 12, 875–885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boycott, B.B., Peichl, L. & Wässle, H. (1978). Morphological types of horizontal cell in the retina of the domestic cat. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (London) 203, 229–245.Google ScholarPubMed
Boycott, B.B. & Wässle, H. (1974). The morphological types of ganglion cells of the domestic cat’s retina Journal of Physiology 240, 397–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleland, B.G., Dubin, M.W. & Levick, W.R. (1971). Sustained and transient neurones in the cat’s retina and lateral geniculate nucleus. Journal of Physiology 217, 473–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleland, B.G., Levick, W.R. & Sanderson, K.J. (1973). Properties of sustained and transient ganglion cells in the cat retina. Journal of Physiology 228, 649–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleland, B.G., Harding, T. & Tulunay-Keesey, U. (1979). Visual resolution and receptive-field size: Examination of two kinds of cat retinal ganglion cell. Science 205, 1015–1017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleland, B.G. & Enroth-Cugell, C. (1968). Quantitative aspects of sensitivity and summation in the cat retina. Journal of Physiology 198, 17–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cleland, B.G. & Levick, W.R. (1974). Brisk and sluggish concentrically organized ganglion cells in the cat’s retina. Journal of Physiology 240, 421–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dacey, D. (1985). Wide-spreading terminal axons in the inner plexiform layer of the cat’s retina: Evidence for intrinsic axon collaterals of retinal ganglion cells. Journal of Comparative Neurology 242, 247–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dacey, D. (1988). Dopamine-accumulating retinal neurons revealed by in vitro fluorescence display a unique morphology. Science 240, 1196–1198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dowling, J.E. & Boycott, B.B. (1966). Organization of the primate retina: Electron microscopy. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (London) 166, 80–111.Google Scholar
Fukuda, Y. & Stone, J. (1974). Retinal distribution and central projections of Y-, X-, and W-cells of the cat’s retina. Journal of Neurophysiology 37, 749–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallego, A. & Cruz, J. (1965). Mammalian retina: Associational nerve cells in the ganglion cell layer. Science 150, 1313–1314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geggel, H.S., Ament, M.E., Heckenlively, J.R., Martin, D.A. & Kopple, J.D. (1985). Nutritional requirement for taurine in patients receiving long-term parenteral nutrition. New England Journal of Medicine 312, 142–146.Google Scholar
Gouras, P., Du, J., Gelanze, M., Kwun, R., Kieldbye, H. & Lopez, R. (1991). Transplantation of photoreceptors labeled with tritiated thymidine into RCS rats. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 32, 1704–1707.Google ScholarPubMed
Hamasaki, D.I. & Maguire, G.W. (1985). A neural pathway for the shift response in the cat. Brain Research 337, 51–58.Google Scholar
Hayes, K.C., Carey, R.E. & Schmidt, S.Y. (1975 a). Retinal degeneration associated with taurine deficiency in the cat. Science 188, 949–951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, K.C., Rabin, A.R. & Berson, E.L. (1975 b). An ultrastructural study of nutritionally induced and reversed retinal degeneration in cats. American Journal of Pathology 78, 505–524.Google ScholarPubMed
Hughes, A. (1981). Population magnitudes and distribution of the major modal classes of cat retinal ganglion cell as estimated from HRP filling and a systematic survey of the soma diameter spectra for classical neurones. Journal of Comparative Neurology 197, 303–339.Google Scholar
Jacobson, S.G., Kemp, C.M., Borruat, F.-X., Chaitin, M.H. & Faulkner, D.J. (1987). Rhodopsin topography and rod-mediated function in cats with the retinal degeneration of taurine deficiency. Experimental Eye Research 45, 481–490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirk, D.L., Cleland, B.G., Wässle, H. & Levick, W.R. (1975). Axonal conduction latencies of cat retinal ganglion cells in central and peripheral retina. Experimental Brain Research 23, 85–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolb, H., Nelson, R. & Mariani, A.P. (1981). Amacrine cells, bipolar cells and ganglion cells of the cat retina: A Golgi study. Vision Research 21, 1081–1114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuffler, S.W. (1953). Discharge patterns and functional organization of mammalian retina. Journal of Neurophysiology 16, 37–68.Google Scholar
Lake, N. (1986). Electroretinographic deficits in rats treated with guanidinoethyl sulfonate, a depletor of taurine. Experimental Eye Research 42, 87–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. (1972). Another tungsten microelectrode. Medical and Biological Engineering 10, 510–515.Google Scholar
Levick, W.R. & Cleland, B.G. (1974). Receptive fields of cat retinal ganglion cells having slowly conducting axons. Brain Research 74, 156–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. & Thibos, L.N. (1982). Analysis of orientation bias in cat retina. Journal of Physiology 329, 243–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. & Thibos, L.N. (1983). Receptive fields of cat ganglion cells: Classification and construction. Progress in Retinal Research 2, 267–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levick, W.R. & Zacks, J.L. (1970). Responses of cat retinal ganglion cells to brief flashes of light. Journal of Physiology 206, 677–700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mangel, S.C. (1991). Analysis of the horizontal cell contribution to the receptive-field surround of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. Journal of Physiology 442, 211–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangel, S.C. & Miller, R.F. (1987). Horizontal cells contribute to the receptive-field surround of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. Brain Research 414, 182–186.Google Scholar
Mcilwain, J.T. (1964). Receptive fields of optic tract axons and lateral geniculate cells: Peripheral extent and barbiturate sensitivity. Journal of Neurophysiology 27, 1154–1173.Google Scholar
Mcilwain, J.T. (1966). Some evidence concerning the physiological basis of the periphery effect in the cat’s retina. Experimental Brain Research 1, 265–271.Google Scholar
Nelson, R., Kolb, H., Robinson, M.M. & Mariani, A.P. (1981). Neural circuitry of the cat retina: Cone pathways to ganglion cells. Vision Research 21, 1527–1536.Google Scholar
Rabin, A.R., Hayes, K.C. & Berson, E.L. (1973). Cone and rod responses in nutritionally induced retinal degeneration in the cat. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 12, 694–704.Google ScholarPubMed
Schiller, P.H. (1982). Central connections of the retinal ON and OFF pathways. Nature 297, 580–583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, S.Y., Berson, E.L. & Hayes, K.C. (1976). Retinal degeneration in cats fed casein. I. Taurine deficiency. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 15, 47–52.Google ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, S.Y., Berson, E.L., Watson, G. & Huang, C. (1977). Retinal degeneration in cats fed casein. III. Taurine deficiency and ERG amplitudes. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 16, 673–678.Google Scholar
Silverman, M.S., Hughes, S.E., Valentino, T.L. & Liu, Y. (1992). Photoreceptor transplantation: Anatomic, electrophysiologic, and behavioral evidence for the functional reconstruction of retinas lacking photoreceptors. Experimental Neurology 115, 87–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silverman, M.S. & Hughes, S.E. (1989). Transplantation of photoreceptors to light-damaged retina. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 30, 1684–1690.Google Scholar
Slaughter, M.M. & Miller, R.F. (1981). 2-Amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid: A new pharmacological tool for retina research. Science 211, 182–185.Google Scholar
Steinberg, R.H., Reid, M. & Lacey, PL. (1973). The distribution of rods and cones in the retina of the cat (Felis domesticus). Journal of Comparative Neurology 148, 229–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, J. & Hollander, H. (1971). Optic nerve axon diameters measured in the cat retina: Some functional considerations. Experimental Brain Research 13, 498–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sturman, J.A., Wen, G.Y., Wisniewski, H.M. & Neuringer, M.D. (1984). Retinal degeneration in primates raised on a synthetic human infant formula. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 1, 121–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thibos, L.N. & Levick, W.R. (1983). Spatial-frequency characteristics of brisk and sluggish ganglion cells of the cat’s retina. Experimental Brain Research 51, 16–22.Google Scholar
Thibos, L.N. & Levick, W.R. (1985). Orientation bias of brisk-transient y-cells of the cat retina for drifting and alternating gratings. Experimental Brain Research 58, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thibos, L.N. & Werblin, F.S. (1978 a). Response properties of the steady antagonistic surround in the mudpuppy retina. Journal of Physiology 278, 79–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thibos, L.N. & Werblin, F.S. (1978 b). Properties of surround antagonism elicited by spinning windmill patterns in the mudpuppy retina. Journal of Physiology 278, 101–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaney, D.I., Peichl, L. & Boycott, B.B. (1988). Neurofibrillar long-range amacrine cells in mammalian retinae. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (London) 235, 203–219.Google ScholarPubMed
Wässle, H., Voigt, T. & Patel, B. (1987). Morphological and immu-nocytochemical identification of indoleamine-accumulating neurons in the cat retina. Journal of Neuroscience 7, 1574–1585.Google Scholar
Werblin, F.S. (1974). Control of retinal sensitivity: II. Lateral interactions at the outer plexiform layer. Journal of General Physiology 63, 62–87.Google Scholar
Werblin, F.S. & Copenhagen, D. (1974). Control of retinal sensitivity: III. Lateral interactions at the inner plexiform layer. Journal of General Physiology 63, 88–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werblin, F.S. & Dowling, J.E. (1969). Organization of the retina of the mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus. II. Intracellular recording. Journal of Neurophysiology 32, 339–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiesel, T.N. (1960). Receptive fields of ganglion cells in the cat’s retina. Journal of Physiology 153, 583–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed