Difference between revisions of "Ganglion Cell"

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== Physiology ==
 
== Physiology ==
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Ganglion cells are the final output neurons of the vertebrate retina. The ganglion cell collects the electrical messages concerning the visual signal from the two layers of nerve cells preceding it in the retinal wiring scheme. A great deal of preprocessing has been accomplished by the neurons of the vertical pathways (photoreceptor to bipolar to ganglion cell chain), and by the lateral pathways (photoreceptor to horizontal cell to bipolar to amacrine to ganglion cell chain) before presentation to the ganglion cell and so it represents the ultimate signaller to the brain of retinal information. Ganglion cells are larger on average than most preceding retinal interneurons and have large diameter axons capable of passing the electrical signal, in the form of transient spike trains, to the retinal recipient areas of the brain many millimeters or centimeters distant from the retina. The optic nerve collects all the axons of the ganglion cells and this bundle of more than a million fibers (in man at least) then passes information to the next relay station in the brain for sorting and integrating into further information processing channels.
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===Visual response properties===
 
===Visual response properties===
 
===Cellular biophysics===
 
===Cellular biophysics===
  
 
==Anatomy==
 
==Anatomy==
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===Location===
 
===Location===
 
===Shape===
 
===Shape===

Revision as of 02:50, 5 April 2012

File:Ganglion.png
Two different views (side and bottom) of a type of retinal ganglion cell called W3.

Ganglion cells are the output cells of the retina. Their axons leave the eye and travel through the optic nerve to the brain, sending the processed visual stimulus to the lateral geniculate nucleus, forming synapses onto neurons that project to the primary visual cortex, where the stimulus can be further interpreted.


Introduction

A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface (the ganglion cell layer) of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and amacrine cells. Retinal ganglion cells collectively transmit image-forming and non-image forming visual information from the retina to several regions in the thalamus, hypothalamus, and mesencephalon, or midbrain.

Retinal ganglion cells vary significantly in terms of their size, connections, and responses to visual stimulation but they all share the defining property of having a long axon that extends into the brain. These axons form the optic nerve, optic chiasm, and optic tract. A small percentage of retinal ganglion cells contribute little or nothing to vision, but are themselves photosensitive; their axons form the retinohypothalamic tract and contribute to circadian rhythms and pupillary light reflex, the resizing of the pupil.



Physiology

Ganglion cells are the final output neurons of the vertebrate retina. The ganglion cell collects the electrical messages concerning the visual signal from the two layers of nerve cells preceding it in the retinal wiring scheme. A great deal of preprocessing has been accomplished by the neurons of the vertical pathways (photoreceptor to bipolar to ganglion cell chain), and by the lateral pathways (photoreceptor to horizontal cell to bipolar to amacrine to ganglion cell chain) before presentation to the ganglion cell and so it represents the ultimate signaller to the brain of retinal information. Ganglion cells are larger on average than most preceding retinal interneurons and have large diameter axons capable of passing the electrical signal, in the form of transient spike trains, to the retinal recipient areas of the brain many millimeters or centimeters distant from the retina. The optic nerve collects all the axons of the ganglion cells and this bundle of more than a million fibers (in man at least) then passes information to the next relay station in the brain for sorting and integrating into further information processing channels.

Visual response properties

Cellular biophysics

Anatomy

Location

Shape

Connections

Molecules

History

Open Questions

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinal_ganglion_cell http://eyewire.org/retina/