Spatio-temporal vision of macaques with severe loss of P beta retinal ganglion cells.
Anatomical and physiological studies indicate major structural and functional differences between the two parallel retinogeniculate visual pathways in the macaque. We have examined the contribution of these pathways to achromatic visual capacities by behaviorally testing spatio-temporal vision in monkeys with severe damage to the P beta (medium cell) pathway. This loss was produced by systemic administration of a neurotoxicant, acrylamide monomer, a treatment that apparently spares other visual system neurons. Monkeys dosed with acrylamide showed large reductions of contrast sensitivity at high spatial as well as low temporal frequencies. On the other hand, they had normal sensitivity for stimuli of high temporal, low spatial frequency. In addition, dosed monkeys retained normal flicker resolution thresholds for unpatterned stimuli. These findings suggest that the medium cell retinogeniculate pathway contributes primarily to the detection of higher spatial, lower temporal frequencies, while the large cell pathway is involved primarily in sensitivity to lower spatial and higher temporal frequencies.
D020106:Acrylamide; D000178:Acrylamides / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D008254:Macaca nemestrina; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology
D000178:Acrylamides; D020106:Acrylamide