Visual Systems

Question 1

What 3 types of stimuli does the visual system localise?

Answer 1

Food
Predators
Mates

Question 2

What are the ways in which the visual system processes?

Answer 2

There is a positive feedforward, negative feedback and negative feedforwards

Question 3

What are visual hemifields? What sides of the brain do they supply?

Answer 3

These are areas in the eye which detect light

Each eye has a left and right hemifield

Each hemifield supplies the opposite side of the brain with information

So The left hemifields (so the left side of both eyes retinas) supplies the right primary visual cortex and the right hemifields supply the left visual cortex.

Question 4

Where is information from the retina and photoreceptors sent before the left and right visual cortices?

Answer 4

It is first sent to the LGN

The lateral Geniculate nucleus

This pre processes visual information and these neurones are very deep in the brain

Information THEN goes to the visual cortex.

Question 5

Once visual information has reached the primary cortex, this information is send along two different streams to other regions of the brain.

What are these streams and what regions of the brain is the information sent to? And what is the difference between these two streams??

Answer 5

The ventral stream is used by the body to process object identity.

The ventral stream sends information to the inferior temporal cortex which helps with object recognition.

The dorsal stream is used for spatial recognition ( identifying where in space an object is)

This stream sends information from the primary cortex to the posterior parietal cortex.

Question 6

What does the pupil and lens of the eye do?

What is special about the fovea? In comparison to the rest of the retina?

And where do you find most rod cells in the eye?

Answer 6

The pupil regulates the amount of light that falls in the retina
The lens focuses images onto the fovea

The fovea is the part of the retina with the highest visual acuity

The rest of the retina (non-fovea) contains rods and has a smaller visual acuity

You have more rods in the non fovea part of the retina THAN in the fovea!

Question 7

Features of the retina? And what are muller cells?

Answer 7

The retina is a thick and not that transparent tissue

In the retina you have muller cells (on the outer most surface of the retina)

These act as light guides and help to transmit light through tissue.

Question 8

The retina has 3 layers of feedforward neurones

What are these neurones called?

What do these neurones do?

Answer 8

These neurones are called photoreceptors, bipolar cells and ganglion cells.

These neurones send information in sequence to the primary visual cortex via the optic nerve

Information is gathered in photoreceptors, this then goes to bipolar cells and then to ganglion cells. This then sends information to the optic nerve to go to the brain

Question 9

What are the two inhibitory neurones - negative feedback neurones in the brain?

Answer 9

These are the horizontal cells and amacrine cells. These are neurones which inhibit signals being sent

Note in some cases horizontal cells can help with information sent, they still do inhibit, but they inhibit to a lesser degree when connected to multiple photoreceptors

Question 10

What are the two layers of synapsing in the retina?

Answer 10

The outer plexiform layer:
- this contains synapses between photoreceptors, bipolar cells and horizontal cells

The inner plexiform layer?
- contains synapses between the amacrine cells, ganglion and bipolar cells

Question 11

What are the two different types of photoreceptors?

What happens when you shine a light on them?

What is the difference between the two types of photoreceptors?

Answer 11

The two different types of photorecptors located on the retina are rods and cones

When a light is shone on them they hyperpolarise, which causes the membrane potential to drop

Difference? Cones are activated by bright light

Rods are activated by dim light

Question 12

What part of the cones and rods experience phototransduction?

Answer 12

The outer segments of these photoreceptors

Question 13

How does cyclic GMP affect phototransduction?

What channels does it usually keep open when they are in high amounts

And how does a reduction in GMP allow for signalling

Answer 13

Cyclic GMP (not AMP) activates channels on photoreceptors

Normally when there is no light, these channels remain activated and open, as there is alot of CGMP in the cytoplasm

These channels help the photoreceptors to hyperpolarise when they shut. This happens when the amount of cGMP is reduced. When hyperpolarised these cells can send signals to bipolar cells.

CGMP is reduced by the enzyme phosphodiesterase.

Question 14

How is phosphodiesterase activated?

Remember this is what breaks down cGMP in the photoreceptors of the retina, helping channels in these photoreceptors to close and allowing for hyperpolarisation

Answer 14

When light is shone on photoreceptors

The rhodopsin pigments (a pigment in rod cells) found here change their pigment conformation.

These then cause G protein coupled receptors on the photoreceptors membrane to be activated

The G alpha sub units the dissociate from the G protein and activates the phosphodiesterase

Thus The phosphodiesterase is activated when you shine a light on a photoreceptor.

Question 15

What does the phosphodiesterase do found in the cytoplasm of photoreceptors?

Answer 15

These decrease the amount of cGMP

This then causes the channels to close

When these channels are open they move sodium and calcium out / into the cell. This allows for depolarisation of the membrane. HOWEVER note signals from photoreceptors arent sent when the photoreceptors are polairsed. Instead they are sent when the cells hyperpolaise

Thus when the channels close the membrane is allowed to hyper polarise, which sends a signal to bipolar cells

Question 16

What happens when photoreceptors hyper polarise in terms of glutamate release? What cells detect glutamate release?

Answer 16

When photoreceptors have light shone on them

They activate and hyperpolarise.

glutamate is detected from bipolar and horizontal cells

When photoreceptors are hyper polarised they release less glutamate.
In the dark usually photoreceptors release alot of glutamate which excites bipolar cell. When there is light, these bipolar cells become less excited and

This LACK of excitement sends a signal

Question 17

What are the two types of bipolar cell?

Note each of these cells has a receptive field - this is the area on the neurone which is stimulated by light.

Answer 17

On centre bipolar cells:

• these have their receptive fields in the centre of them
• they depolarise when light stimulates them (via photoreceptors)

OFF centre cells?

• these hyperpolarise when stimulated by light
• their receptive fields are OFF so away from the centre of these cells

Question 18

What is important to understand about bipolar cells and how they have receptive fields?

Answer 18

At the synaptic junction, bipolar cells have lots of dendrites which from a circle

Stimulation via photoreceptors can either go to the centre of the circle or away from the centre.

Depending on the type of bipolar cell, stimulation can either cause the bipolar cell to hyperpolarise or depolarise.

Question 19

Why do off centre cells hyperpolarise?

Answer 19

Simple

As they receive less glutamate when photoreceptors are stimulated the bipolar cells channels dont stay open, they shut instead. Causing hyper polarisation

AND REMEMBER there are two types of bipolar cells!!!!
There is the the off and on centre bipolar cells. A photoreceptor might connect to and on or off centre bipolar cell

Question 20

Why do ON centre bipolar cells depolarise? Remember they have their receptive fields in the centre of the cell.

Answer 20

This is because the ON centre cells don’t produce a lot of inotropic receptors such as AMPa which respond to glutamate.

Instead they have metabotropic glutamate receptors. These are coupled to G proteins

Remember when photoreceptors become active, they release less glutamate, however they do produce a very SMALL amount

This small amount detected by the on centre cells causes a signalling cascade as there are the g proteins located on the on centre receptive field.

This cascade causes more channels to open (in regards to the on centre cells) when the reduced but small amount of glutamate hits the centre of these on cells. The cells thus open, not close, causing sodium to move into the bipolar cells and for an action potential to occur.

Question 21

What is the difference between on and off centre cells?

Answer 21

The on centre cells have metabotropic (inhibitory) ion channels
This means they have g proteins receptors in their membranes. Even if stimulated by a little glutamate this causes a signalling cascade and causes channels to further open for depolarisation to occur.

The OFF centre cells have ionotropic excitatory cells. These ionotropic channels shut when they receive too little stimulation i.e. from lack of gluatmates = this leads to HYPERPOLARISATION

Question 22

What happens if you stimulate different parts of an individual neurones in retina in ref to their dendrites or transduction zones?

Answer 22

Stimulating different parts of an individual neurone causes difference responses

And remember different parts of the dendritic tree at synpatic junctions at the outer and inner plexiform cortexes and at the photoreceptors transduction zones

Question 23

So what is the receptive field of a neurone?

Answer 23

Its the part of the neurone which gets stimulated!!

Question 24

How to see if a bipolar cell is an off or on type bipolar cell?

Answer 24

Use two different light stimuli on them

Use a spot of light (which is a bean in the centre of a circle)

Or an annular (which is a ring of light with the centre blacked out)

If the bipolar cells are ON centre cells, the you see a response of depolarisation when these cells have a SPOT shone on them shining at their centre (remember depolarisation is due to them having g protein coupled receptors which cause a cascade leading to opening of channels for depolarisation)

Whereas if they were off centre cells then there is no response from a spot of light test.

Question 25

Away from the fovea most bipolar cells receive input from a large number of photoreceptors.

How do the bipolar cells get their stimulation from photoreceptors?

Answer 25

So remember bipolar cells can be activated directly or indirectly from photoreceptors

Off centre cells are stimulated directly by photoreceptors causing them to hyperpolarise. (This just means the signals don’t go anything to reach the bipolar cells)

On centre cells are stimulated through horizontal cells

Question 26

Note off and on bipolar cells terminate (so their dendrites end) in different layers of the inner plexiform

How deep do off bipolar cells terminate? And what type of ganglion cells meet them in the same layer of the inner plexiform?

Answer 26

OFF bipolar cells terminate less deep than ON bipolar cells in the inner plexiform of bipolar cells

Here OFF ganglion cells begin in the same place as the OFF bipolar cells

Its visa versa for the ON ganglion cells.

Question 27

Amacrine cells? Where are they found? Where do they stratify (so where do they syanpse in the IPL) and what cells do they connect to?

Answer 27

Amacrine cells are found in the inner plexiform layer

They usually stratify in specific layers of the IPL or they can stratify (Synapse) everywhere within the IPL

They can either just bind to ON bipolar and ON ganglion cells. Or just OFF ganglion and bipolar cells. Or they can join both

Question 28

Whats with synpase stratification?

Answer 28

The synapses in the IPL stratify in different regions just so they can have specific functions.

Question 29

What do ganglion cells do?

Answer 29

They send information to the brain via the otpic nerve

There is more than 20 types

Question 30

Apart from ganglion cells either being on or OFF ganglion cells. What other differences do ganglion cells have to each other?

Answer 30

Some have very small in length but dense dendritic trees

Some have larger in length but less dendritic trees

Question 31

What does a large number of dendritic trees mean?

Answer 31

Careful with this question. This isn’t in reference to length! Its in reference to a ganglion having a MORE dense dendritic tree

These ganglion make more connections with more bipolar neurones

This will probably help this for high acuity and more sensitivity in the eye. This will allow for better response in DIM conditions.

Question 32

What are less dense but longer dendritic trees good at?

Answer 32

Detecting movement in a big area

Question 33

G15 neurone? Ganglion 15 that is

Answer 33

Good at detetcing motion in a particular direction. They have very isometric dendritic trees.

One side has more dendrites than the other

Question 34

Ganglion on and off cells?

Answer 34

Same principles as bipolar cells

Question 35

What happens if you shine a light on the whole of the ganglion cells via diffuse light?

Answer 35

You get very little response. They EITHER respond to light directly on the centre or arround the edges.

Question 36

Two major classes of ganglion cells?

Answer 36

Parvocellular and magnocellular

Question 37

Features of parvocellular ganglion cells?

Answer 37

Have short dendritic trees

Have a low sensitivity to light

Question 38

Features of magnocellular trees?

Answer 38

Have longer dendritic trees
Very isometric
Highly sensitive to light

Question 39

What are the similarities and differences of magnocellular and parvocellular cells?
And what do both cells do?

Answer 39

Parvocellular cells = distinguish shape and colour

Magnocellular cells = detect motion

They have the same centre surround morphologies (as in some are ON centre ganglions and some are OFF centre)

However
Parvocellular cells are sustained cells, they keep spiking when you shine a light on them
Magnocellular cells are transient, they spike initially when stimulated but then they will stop spiking.