QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, March 7, 2007, 27(10):2636-2645; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4610-06.2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Beaudoin, D. L. Articles by Demb, J. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beaudoin, D. L. Articles by Demb, J. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Cellular Basis for Contrast Gain Control over the Receptive Field Center of Mammalian Retinal Ganglion Cells

Deborah L. Beaudoin,¹ Bart G. Borghuis,² and Jonathan B. Demb¹

¹Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, and ²Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Jonathan B. Demb, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. Email: jdemb{at}umich.edu

Retinal ganglion cells fire spikes to an appropriate contrast presented over their receptive field center. These center responses undergo dynamic changes in sensitivity depending on the ongoing level of contrast, a process known as "contrast gain control." Extracellular recordings suggested that gain control is driven by a single wide-field mechanism, extending across the center and beyond, that depends on inhibitory interneurons: amacrine cells. However, recordings in salamander suggested that the excitatory bipolar cells, which drive the center, may themselves show gain control independently of amacrine cell mechanisms. Here, we tested in mammalian ganglion cells whether amacrine cells are critical for gain control over the receptive field center. We made extracellular and whole-cell recordings of guinea pig Y-type cells in vitro and quantified the gain change between contrasts using a linear–nonlinear analysis. For spikes, tripling contrast reduced gain by 40%. With spikes blocked, ganglion cells showed similar levels of gain control in membrane currents and voltages and under conditions of low and high calcium buffering: tripling contrast reduced gain by 20–25%. Gain control persisted under voltage-clamp conditions that minimize inhibitory conductances and pharmacological conditions that block inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors. Gain control depended on adequate stimulation, not of ganglion cells but of presynaptic bipolar cells. Furthermore, horizontal cell measurements showed a lack of gain control in photoreceptor synaptic release. Thus, the mechanism for gain control over the ganglion cell receptive field center, as measured in the subthreshold response, originates in the presynaptic bipolar cells and does not require amacrine cell signaling.

Key words: adaptation; whole-cell recording; amacrine cell; bipolar cell; intracellular recording; vision

---

Received Oct. 24, 2006; revised Jan. 19, 2007; accepted Feb. 5, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Jonathan B. Demb, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. Email: jdemb{at}umich.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. J. Camp, C. Tailby, and S. G. Solomon Adaptable Mechanisms That Regulate the Contrast Response of Neurons in the Primate Lateral Geniculate Nucleus J. Neurosci., April 15, 2009; 29(15): 5009 - 5021. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. L. Passaglia, D. K. Freeman, and J. B. Troy Effects of Remote Stimulation on the Modulated Activity of Cat Retinal Ganglion Cells J. Neurosci., February 25, 2009; 29(8): 2467 - 2476. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. L. Beaudoin, M. B. Manookin, and J. B. Demb Distinct expressions of contrast gain control in parallel synaptic pathways converging on a retinal ganglion cell J. Physiol., November 15, 2008; 586(22): 5487 - 5502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. B. Demb Functional circuitry of visual adaptation in the retina J. Physiol., September 15, 2008; 586(18): 4377 - 4384. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Kerschensteiner, H. Liu, C. W. Cheng, J. Demas, S. H. Cheng, C.-c. Hui, R. L. Chow, and R. O. L. Wong Genetic Control of Circuit Function: Vsx1 and Irx5 Transcription Factors Regulate Contrast Adaptation in the Mouse Retina J. Neurosci., March 5, 2008; 28(10): 2342 - 2352. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. S. Gaudry and P. Reinagel Benefits of Contrast Normalization Demonstrated in Neurons and Model Cells J. Neurosci., July 25, 2007; 27(30): 8071 - 8079. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. A. Zaghloul, M. B. Manookin, B. G. Borghuis, K. Boahen, and J. B. Demb Functional Circuitry for Peripheral Suppression in Mammalian Y-Type Retinal Ganglion Cells J Neurophysiol, June 1, 2007; 97(6): 4327 - 4340. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help