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Short-wavelength cone-opponent retinal ganglion cells in mammals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2014

DAVID W. MARSHAK  and
STEPHEN L. MILLS
DAVID W. MARSHAK*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas
STEPHEN L. MILLS
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas
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Abstract

In all of the mammalian species studied to date, the short-wavelength-sensitive (S) cones and the S-cone bipolar cells that receive their input are very similar, but the retinal ganglion cells that receive synapses from the S-cone bipolar cells appear to be quite different. Here, we review the literature on mammalian retinal ganglion cells that respond selectively to stimulation of S-cones and respond with opposite polarity to longer wavelength stimuli. There are at least three basic mechanisms to generate these color-opponent responses, including: (1) opponency is generated in the outer plexiform layer by horizontal cells and is conveyed to the ganglion cells via S-cone bipolar cells, (2) inputs from bipolar cells with different cone inputs and opposite response polarity converge directly on the ganglion cells, and (3) inputs from S-cone bipolar cells are inverted by S-cone amacrine cells. These are not mutually exclusive; some mammalian ganglion cells that respond selectively to S-cone stimulation seem to utilize at least two of them. Based on these findings, we suggest that the small bistratified ganglion cells described in primates are not the ancestral type, as proposed previously. Instead, the known types of ganglion cells in this pathway evolved from monostratified ancestral types and became bistratified in some mammalian lineages.

Keywords

Color visionBlueEvolutionPrimateNeuronal types
Type
Review Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 31 , Issue 2: Short Wavelength-Sensitive Cones and the Processing of Their Signals , March 2014 , pp. 165 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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