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Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 2303-2320, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience
The ON-alpha ganglion cell of the cat retina and its presynaptic cell types
MA Freed and P Sterling
University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Department of Anatomy, Philadelphia 19104.
Anatomical circuits converging onto the ON-alpha (Y) ganglion cell were
studied by computer-assisted reconstruction of substantial portions of 2
alpha cells from electron micrographs of serial sections. The alpha cells
in the area centralis were labeled by a Golgi-like retrograde filling with
horseradish peroxidase, and certain presynaptic amacrine processes were
labeled by uptake of 3H-glycine. About 4400 synapses contacted the alpha
cell. Eighty-six percent were from amacrine cells; the rest were from
bipolar cells. About one-quarter of the amacrine synapses were specifically
labeled by 3H-glycine and probably belong to the A4 amacrine. The bipolar
inputs were provided by several types: cone bipolar CBb1 (85%), cone
bipolar CBb5 (2%), the rod bipolar (5%), and some unidentified cone
bipolars (11%). Contacts from each type occurred in specific strata, with
the consequence that they tended to form spots or annulli over the alpha
dendritic field. The CBb1 bipolars formed a moderately dense array
(8000/mm2), with a nearest-neighbor distance of 8.6 +/- 1.3 microns. Most
members of the array (84%) contacted the alpha cell, providing 1-7 synapses
(average, 2.7 +/- 1.6). The placement of contacts from an individual CBb1
followed certain rules: they were restricted to a parent branch of the
alpha arbor or to 2 daughter branches, but almost never crossed a branch of
the alpha arbor. The synaptic territory of an individual CBb1 was not
shared with other b1s (or cone bipolars of any sort), although it was
shared with amacrine contacts. Rod bipolar cells also formed a very dense
array (54,500/mm2) in the alpha dendritic field, but only a few of these
(3%) contacted the alpha cell. The concentric receptive field of the CBb1,
combined with the spatial organization of its array, is used to predict the
CBb1 contribution to the alpha cell receptive field; this contribution
resembles the spatial and temporal organization of the alpha receptive
field itself.
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