Dopamine-containing amacrine cells of rhesus monkey retina parallel rods in spatial distribution.
Dopamine-containing amacrine cells of rhesus monkey were found everywhere outside of the foveola in whole, flat retinas by the formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde fluorescent method. There were about 7500 such cells in a single retina and their density, determined by cell counts and measured by a nearest neighbor method, was minimal in foveal and peripheral regions and maximal at 3 mm from the center of the fovea. Compared to density distributions of other retinal neuron types, dopamine-containing amacrine cells correlated only with rods, which also had a peak density at 3 mm eccentricity. Cones and ganglion cells peaked in the foveal pit, or within 1 mm of it, respectively. As the distribution of dopamine-containing cells followed that of rods, it is suggested that dopamine could be involved in the rod neuronal circuitry of primates.
D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
D004298:Dopamine