title: Imaging light responses of foveal ganglion cells in the living macaque eye.
abstract: The fovea dominates primate vision, and its anatomy and perceptual abilities are well studied, but its physiology has been little explored because of limitations of current physiological methods. In this study, we adapted a novel in vivo imaging method, originally developed in mouse retina, to explore foveal physiology in the macaque, which permits the repeated imaging of the functional response of many retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) simultaneously. A genetically encoded calcium indicator, G-CaMP5, was inserted into foveal RGCs, followed by calcium imaging of the displacement of foveal RGCs from their receptive fields, and their intensity-response functions. The spatial offset of foveal RGCs from their cone inputs makes this method especially appropriate for fovea by permitting imaging of RGC responses without excessive light adaptation of cones. This new method will permit the tracking of visual development, progression of retinal disease, or therapeutic interventions, such as insertion of visual prostheses.
authors.affiliation: Flaum Eye Institute, Center for Visual Science, and Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Masella
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dalkara
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Flannery
authors.forename: David V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Schaffer
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Merigan
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D000229:Dependovirus / Q000235:genetics; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005123:Eye / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D008027:Light; D055537:Light Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000502:physiology; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000528:radiation effects*; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes
keywords: calcium imaging; in vivo adaptive optics imaging; intrinsic signal imaging; primate fovea; retinal ganglion cells