Abstract
Retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons in the principal layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus have very similar, center-surround receptive fields. Although some geniculate neurons are dominated by a single retinal afferent, others receive both strong and weak inputs from several retinal afferents. In the present study, experiments were performed in the cat that examined the specificity and strength of monosynaptic connections between retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons. The responses of 205 pairs of retinal ganglion cells and geniculate neurons with overlapping receptive-field centers or surrounds were studied. Receptive fields were mapped quantitatively using a white-noise stimulus; connectivity was assessed by cross-correlating the retinal and geniculate spike trains. Of the 205 pairs, 12 were determined to have monosynaptic connections. Both the likelihood that cells were connected and the strength of connections increased with increasing similarity between retinal and geniculate receptive fields. Connections were never found between cells with <50% spatial overlap between their centers. The results suggest that although geniculate neurons often receive input from several retinal afferents, these multiple afferents represent a select subset of the retinal ganglion cells with overlapping receptive-field centers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3527-3540 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Neurophysiology |
| Volume | 82 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| State | Published - 1999 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Specificity and strength of retinogeniculate connections. / Usrey, William Martin; Reppas, John B.; Reid, R. Clay.
In: Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol. 82, No. 6, 1999, p. 3527-3540.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Specificity and strength of retinogeniculate connections
AU - Usrey, William Martin
AU - Reppas, John B.
AU - Reid, R. Clay
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - Retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons in the principal layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus have very similar, center-surround receptive fields. Although some geniculate neurons are dominated by a single retinal afferent, others receive both strong and weak inputs from several retinal afferents. In the present study, experiments were performed in the cat that examined the specificity and strength of monosynaptic connections between retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons. The responses of 205 pairs of retinal ganglion cells and geniculate neurons with overlapping receptive-field centers or surrounds were studied. Receptive fields were mapped quantitatively using a white-noise stimulus; connectivity was assessed by cross-correlating the retinal and geniculate spike trains. Of the 205 pairs, 12 were determined to have monosynaptic connections. Both the likelihood that cells were connected and the strength of connections increased with increasing similarity between retinal and geniculate receptive fields. Connections were never found between cells with <50% spatial overlap between their centers. The results suggest that although geniculate neurons often receive input from several retinal afferents, these multiple afferents represent a select subset of the retinal ganglion cells with overlapping receptive-field centers.
AB - Retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons in the principal layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus have very similar, center-surround receptive fields. Although some geniculate neurons are dominated by a single retinal afferent, others receive both strong and weak inputs from several retinal afferents. In the present study, experiments were performed in the cat that examined the specificity and strength of monosynaptic connections between retinal ganglion cells and their target neurons. The responses of 205 pairs of retinal ganglion cells and geniculate neurons with overlapping receptive-field centers or surrounds were studied. Receptive fields were mapped quantitatively using a white-noise stimulus; connectivity was assessed by cross-correlating the retinal and geniculate spike trains. Of the 205 pairs, 12 were determined to have monosynaptic connections. Both the likelihood that cells were connected and the strength of connections increased with increasing similarity between retinal and geniculate receptive fields. Connections were never found between cells with <50% spatial overlap between their centers. The results suggest that although geniculate neurons often receive input from several retinal afferents, these multiple afferents represent a select subset of the retinal ganglion cells with overlapping receptive-field centers.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 10601479
AN - SCOPUS:0033381703
VL - 82
SP - 3527
EP - 3540
JO - Journal of Neurophysiology
JF - Journal of Neurophysiology
SN - 0022-3077
IS - 6
ER -