The proportion and size of GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the magnocellular and parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the rhesus monkey.
Neurons containing GABA-immunoreactivity in LGN of the macaque monkey were analyzed quantitatively in semithin (1 micron) sections. The percentage of GABA(+) cells per unit area of the sections was 26% in the magnocellular layers and 19% in the parvocellular layers. However, the percentage of GABA(+) cells in a unit volume of LGN, calculated by a stereological method that takes into account the observed difference in size of labeled and unlabeled somata, was 35% in the magnocellular layers and 25% in the parvocellular layers. GABA(+) somata in the magnocellular layers were significantly larger than those in the parvocellular layers. The possible role of GABAergic cells in inhibitory mechanisms of receptive fields of parvo- and magnocellular neurons are discussed in the light of current knowledge of the physiology and neural circuits of macaque LGN.
D000818:Animals; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D014794:Visual Fields; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase