20.3 Vision Flashcards
(121 cards)
What is some evidence that the eye is the dominant sense?
About one-third of the human cerebral cortex is devoted to visual analysis.
Describe the function and distribution of rods and cones in the eye.
Cones:
- Colour vision
- Centre of the eye (in fovea)
Rods:
- Night vision
- Periphery of eye
(Just remember: CCC)
Draw the histological structure of the retina.
What are the two main types of modulator cells in the retina? Describe the position of each.
- Horizontal cells -> Connect laterally between pedicles of the photoreceptor cells
- Amacrine cells -> Connect across ganglion cells
Describe the different classes of interneuron in the retina.
- Bipolar cells -> Connect between photoreceptors and ganglion cells
- Horizontal cells -> Connect laterally between pedicles of the photoreceptor cells
- Amacrine cells -> Connect across ganglion cells
What are the output neurons in the retina called (i.e. those going out from the retina as the optic nerve)?
Ganglion cells
Aside from neurons, what are some other cell types in the retina?
- Astrocytes
- Muller glial cells [EXTRA]
- Pigment epithelial cells
What is the function of horizontal cells in the retina?
- Increase contrast via lateral inhibition -> Leading to centre-surround receptive fields.
- Adapting both to bright and dim light conditions.
Horizontal cells provide inhibitory feedback to rod and cone photoreceptors.
What is the function of amacrine cells in the retina?
- Intercept retinal ganglion cells and/or bipolar cells
- Create functional subunits within the receptive fields of many ganglion cells
- Vertical communication within the retinal layers
- Paracrine functions -> e.g. Release of dopamine and acetylcholine
- Through their connections with other retinal cells at synapses and release of neurotransmitters, contribute to the detection of directional motion, modulate light adaption and circadian rhythm, and control high sensitivity in scotopic vision through connections with rod and cone bipolar cells
What is the function of Muller glial cells?
Maintain the structural and functional stability of retinal cells:
- Uptake of neurotransmitters
- Removal of debris
- Regulation of K+ levels
- Storage of glycogen
- Electrical insulation of receptors and other neurons
- Mechanical support of the neural retina
Summarise the basic circuitry of the retina.
- There is a straight-through pathway from receptor to bipolar cell to ganglion cell
- There are also two lateral pathways:
- Horizontal cells communicate between receptors (sending signals between them)
- Amacrine cells serve a similar function between ganglion cells
What are the two types of bipolar cells? How do they work?
ON bipolar cells:
- When the photoreceptors are activated and hyperpolarise, ON bipolar cells depolarise
- They synapse in sublamina B of the inner plexiform layer
OFF bipolar cells:
- When the photoreceptors are activated and hyperpolarise, ON bipolar cells hyperpolarise
- They synapse in sublamina A of the inner plexiform layer
It is worth noting that the photoreceptors all release glutamate, it is just the way the bipolar cells respond to it that differs (different receptors?)
What are the two types of ganglion cells (in terms of morphology)?
- Magnocellular
- Parvocellular
Note that each of these can be either ON or OFF-centre cells.
Compare magnocellular and parvocellular ganglion cells in the retina.
Magnocellular:
- Transient responses
- High temporal resolution
- Low spatial resolution
- Monochrome
Parvocellular:
- Sustained responses
- Low temporal resolution
- High spatial resolution
- Colour
In other words, magnocellular cells are useful for detecting movement, while parvocellular are useful for detecting colour, texture and depth.
Give some examples of retinal disease.
What is diabetic retinopathy?
- High blood glucose damaged blood vessels
- This causes proliferation of blood vessels, which become swollen and damage the retina
- There is loss of vision
What is macular degeneration?
[IMPORTANT]
- Damage to the macula (part of the retina) that occurs with age.
- The pathophysiology is not known, but theories have been suggested, relating to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammatory processes.
- This results in blurred or no vision in the centre of the visual field.
What vessel supplies blood to the retina?
- Central artery of the retina
- Branches off the ophthalmic artery, running inferior to the optic nerve within its dural sheath on the way to the eyeball
- Supplies the inner layers of the retina
What cells are involved in the generation of centre-surround receptive fields in the retina? How?
[IMPORTANT]
- Horizontal cells
- When exposed to light, a photoreceptor releases less glutamate onto the horizontal cell
- This causes hyperpolarisation of the horizontal cell
- The horizontal cell is connected to other adjacent photoreceptors and leads to their depolarisation (remember that activation of photoreceptors leads to hyperpolarisation)
- Thus, horizontal cells provide negative feedback to nearby photoreceptors, meaning that a spot of light will have a ring of inhibition around it.
*this establishes an antagonistic receptive field surround.
What neurotransmitter do photoreceptors release?
[IMPORTANT]
phototransduction leads to modulation of glutamate release from terminal
What is phototransduction?
The process through which photons are converted into electrical signals in photoreceptors.
How does phototransduction in photoreceptors work?
[IMPORTANT]
Light causes HYPERPOLARISATION of the photoreceptors:
- Light causes isomerisation of photopigment
- This leads to transducin (G-protein) activation
- Transducin activates a phosphodiesterase (PDE)
- PDE reduces levels of cGMP
- Reduced cGMP causes sodium channels to close
- Therefore, the membrane is hyperpolarised
This enables large and adjustable amplification.
What is dark current?
[IMPORTANT]
- It is the depolarising inwards sodium current in photoreceptors while it is dark.
- Upon sensing light, the sodium channels are closed and the current stops.
What are the main photopigments found in rods and cones of the retina?
[IMPORTANT]
- Rods -> Rhodopsin
- Cones -> Other opsins (3 different types -> Red, green and blue)







