Document Detail


Complementary roles of two excitatory pathways in retinal directional selectivity.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  9839976     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The two major excitatory synapses onto ON-OFF directionally selective (DS) ganglion cells of the rabbit retina appear to be nicotinic cholinergic and NMDA glutamatergic. Blockade of either of these synapses with antagonists does not eliminate directional selectivity. This suggests that these synapses may have complementary roles in the computation of the direction of motion. To test this hypothesis, quantitative features of the DS cell excitatory pathways were determined by collecting responses, under nicotinic and/or NMDA blockade, to a sweeping bar, hyperacute apparent motions, or a drifting sinusoidal grating. Sweeping bar responses were reduced, but directional selectivity not eliminated, by blockade of either excitatory path, as previously shown (Cohen & Miller, 1995; Kittila & Massey, 1997). However, residual responses under combined blockades were not statistically significantly DS. NMDA blockade reduced responses more than nicotinic blockade for each protocol, and shifted hyperacute motion thresholds to higher values. This supported the notion that glutamate provides the main excitatory drive to DS cells, that is, the one responsible for contrast sensitivity. In turn, nicotinic, but not NMDA blockade eliminated directional selectivity to a drifting low spatial-frequency sinusoidal grating in these cells. This suggested that acetylcholine (ACh) is the main excitatory input with regards to directional selectivity for some textured stimuli, that is, those with multiple peaks in their spatial luminance profile. Moreover, nicotinic blockade raised the low temporal-frequency cutoff of the grating responses, consistent with the proposal that preferred-direction facilitation, which is temporally sustained, is dependent on the cholinergic input. These different properties of the NMDA and nicotinic pathways are consistent with a recently proposed two-asymmetric-pathways model of directional selectivity.
Authors:
N M Grzywacz; D K Merwine; F R Amthor
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Visual neuroscience     Volume:  15     ISSN:  0952-5238     ISO Abbreviation:  Vis. Neurosci.     Publication Date:    1998 Nov-Dec
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1999-02-26     Completed Date:  1999-02-26     Revised Date:  2007-11-14    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8809466     Medline TA:  Vis Neurosci     Country:  ENGLAND    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1119-27     Citation Subset:  IM; S    
Affiliation:
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / analogs & derivatives,  pharmacology
Animals
Curare / pharmacology
Drug Combinations
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / pharmacology
Motion Perception / drug effects,  physiology*
N-Methylaspartate / antagonists & inhibitors
Nicotinic Antagonists / pharmacology
Photic Stimulation / methods
Rabbits
Retina / physiology*
Retinal Ganglion Cells / physiology
Visual Pathways / physiology*
Visual Perception / drug effects,  physiology*
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
EY05070/EY/NEI NIH HHS; EY08921/EY/NEI NIH HHS; EY11170/EY/NEI NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Drug Combinations; 0/Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; 0/Nicotinic Antagonists; 6384-92-5/N-Methylaspartate; 76726-92-6/2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate; 8063-06-7/Curare; 85797-13-3/2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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