Difference between revisions of "Starburst Amacrine Cell"

Revision as of 22:36, 25 March 2012

Amacrine cells operate at the inner plexiform layer (IPL), the second synaptic retinal layer where bipolar cells and retinal ganglion cells form synapses. There are about 40 different types of amacrine cells, most lacking axons. Like horizontal cells, amacrine cells work laterally affecting the output from bipolar cells, however, their tasks are often more specialized. Each type of amacrine cell connects with a particular type of bipolar cell, and generally has a particular type of neurotransmitter. One such population, AII, 'piggybacks' rod bipolar cells onto the cone bipolar circuitry. It connects rod bipolar cell output with cone bipolar cell input, and from there the signal can travel to the respective ganglion cells. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amacrine_cell)

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Physiology

Visual response properties

Cellular biophysics

Anatomy

Location

Shape

Connections

Molecules

History

In 1976, it was first discovered that there were cells in the rabbit retina that secreted acetylcholine. The most likely candidates were bipolar cells and amacrine cells. Later that same year, it was shown that ganglion cells formed the postsynaptic component of that connection.

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Open Questions

1. ↑ reference 1976