title: The projective field of retinal bipolar cells and its modulation by visual context.
abstract: The receptive field of a sensory neuron spells out all the receptor inputs it receives. To understand a neuron's role in the circuit, one also needs to know its projective field, namely the outputs it sends to all downstream cells. Here we present the projective fields of the primary excitatory neurons in a sensory circuit. We stimulated single bipolar cells of the salamander retina and recorded simultaneously from a population of ganglion cells. Individual bipolar cell signals diverge through polysynaptic pathways into ganglion cells of many different types and over surprisingly large distance. However, the strength and polarity of the projection depend on the cell types involved. Furthermore, visual stimulation strongly modulates the bipolar cell projective field, in opposite direction for different cell types. In this way, the context from distant parts of the visual field can control the routing of signals in the inner retina.
authors: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors: Hiroki
authors: H
authors: Asari
authors: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: meister@caltech.edu.
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Meister
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000557:Ambystoma; D000818:Animals; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018684:Glycine Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D007814:Larva; D008469:Meclofenamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010852:Picrotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology*; D051245:Retinal Bipolar Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013331:Strychnine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D018684:Glycine Agents; D008469:Meclofenamic Acid; D010852:Picrotoxin; D013331:Strychnine