bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of choroidal and ciliary nerve transection on choroidal blood flow, retinal health, and ocular enlargement
Authors: Shih Yung-Feng , Fitzgerald Malinda E. C. , Reiner Anton 
Published: June 2009

AbstractOur previous studies suggested that reduced choroidal blood flow (CBF) occurs with manipulations that yield myopic eye growth and that these reductions are primarily a consequence of the ocular enlargement. We could not entirely rule out the possibility, however, that reductions in CBF are at least to some extent antecedent and causal to the ocular enlargement. We therefore in the present study examined the effects on eye size of artificially reducing CBF by unilaterally transecting the choroidal nerves of the ciliary ganglion in four-day-old chicks. For comparison, we also transected the ciliary nerves in a second group of chicks or transected both ciliary and choroidal nerves in a third group of chicks. The effects of the nerve transections were evaluated in comparison to the effects of the orbital surgery itself (without nerve transection) in a fourth group termed the sham-operated control group. Two weeks after transection, CBF was measured using laser Doppler velocimetry, the ocular axial, nasotemporal and dorsoventral lengths were measured, and the eyes weighed.The results showed that CBF in birds with either choroidal nerve cuts or choroidal plus ciliary nerve cuts was greatly reduced in the treated eye (20–40% of nontreated eye). The treated eyes of these birds also showed gross depigmentation and histologically evident loss of the outer retina, most typically in the temporal retina. Birds with ciliary nerve cuts showed increased CBF in both eyes (131% right eye and 154% left eye compared to shams). Since ciliary nerve cuts yield fixed dilated pupils, increased CBF with ciliary nerve cuts appears consistent with the previously reported involvement of the choroidal nerves within a neural circuit subserving light-mediated upregulation of CBF. Clear effects on eye size were observed in the treated eyes in each group. The sham surgery alone yielded slight enlargement of the right eye compared to left eye, particularly in the axial dimension. In the choroidal nerve and the both nerve cut groups, nasotemporal and dorsoventral elongation were slightly diminished in the treated eyes compared to the sham-treated eyes. In contrast, enlargement of the right eye was slightly enhanced in the ciliary nerve cut group compared to the sham-treated eyes. The overall results suggest that large decreases in CBF do not enhance myopic eye growth, although large increases in CBF may.
GABAAreceptors in the retina of the cat: An immunohistochemical study of wholemounts, sections, and dissociated cells
Authors: Hughes Thomas E. , Grönert Ulrike , Karten Harvey J. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractGamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter used by many neurons of the mammalian retina. To identify the synaptic targets of these cells, we undertook an immunohistochemical study with a monoclonal antibody that recognizes the GABAAreceptors (62−3G1, generously donated by A. de Blas). This antibody labels the somata of at least one group of amacrine cells in the inner nuclear layer. It also labels two groups of somata in the ganglion cell layer: one small and the other much larger. The small cells are likely to be displaced amacrine cells based on their size, although some could be gamma ganglion cells. The much larger receptor-positive cells are clearly ganglion cells, based both on their size and the antibody labeling of the initial portion of their axon. In the peripheral retina, the size of these large somata suggests that many are beta ganglion cells. However, at any point across the retina the density of these cells never exceeded 50% of the density of beta cells as a whole.The antibody also labels a dense plexus of processes that extends throughout the inner plexiform layer (IPL), with a marked concentration in the inner third of the layer. This is the portion of the IPL in which the rod bipolar cells terminate. It is difficult to recognize processes of individual cells in the IPL, so retinae were dissociated. The rod bipolar cells were identified by protein kinase C immunoreactivity (Negishi et al., 1988; Karschin & Wässle, 1990). They were not labeled by the GABAAreceptor antibody. This is surprising in light of tight-seal, whole cell voltage-clamp recordings that have shown that the rod bipolars express functional GABAAreceptors. One possible explanation is that the antibody recognizes only a subset of the GABAAreceptors.
Temporal dynamics of contrast gain in single cells of the cat striate cortex
Authors: Bonds A.B. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe response amplitude of cat striate cortical cells is usually reduced after exposure to high-contrast stimuli. The temporal characteristics and contrast sensitivity of this phenomenon were explored by stimulating cortical cells with drifting gratings in which contrast sequentially incremented and decremented in stepwise fashion over time. All responses showed a clear hysteresis, in which contrast gain dropped on average 0.36 log unit and then returned to baseline values within 60 s. Noticeable gain adjustments were seen in as little as 3 s and with peak contrasts as low as 3%. Contrast adaptation was absent in responses from LGN cells. Adaptation was found to depend on temporal frequency of stimulation, with greater and more rapid adaptation at higher temporal frequencies. Two different tests showed that the mechanism controlling response reduction was influenced primarily by stimulus contrast rather than response amplitude. These results support the existence of a rapid and sensitive cortically based system that normalizes the output of cortical cells as a function of local mean contrast. Control of the adaptation appears to arise at least in part across a population of cells, which is consistent with the idea that the gain control serves to limit the information converging from many cells onto subsequent processing areas.
Spatial and temporal coherence in cortico-cortical connections: A cross-correlation study in areas 17 and 18 in the cat
Authors: Nelson J. I. , Salin P. A. , Munk M. H.-J. , Arzi M. , Bullier J. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractVisual cortical areas are richly but selectively connected by “patchy” projections. We characterized these connections physiologically with cross-correlograms (CCHs), calculated for neuron pairs or small groups located one each in visual areas 17 and 18 of the cat. The CCHs were then compared to the visuotopic and orientation match of the neurons' receptive fields (RFs).For both spontaneous and visually driven activity, most non-flat correlograms were centered; i.e. the most likely temporal relationship between spikes in the two areas is a synchronous one. Although spikes are most likely to occur simultaneously, area 17 spikes may occur before area 18 orvice versa, giving the cross-correlogram peak a finite width (temporal dispersion). Cross-correlograms fell into one of three groups according to their full-width at half peak height: 1–8 ms (modal width, 3 ms), 15–65 ms (modal width 30 ms), or 100–1000 ms (modal width 400 ms). These classificatory groups are nonoverlapping; the three types of coupling appeared singly and in combination.Neurons whose receptive fields (RFs) are nonoverlapping or cross-oriented may yet be coupled, but the coupling is more likely to be the broadest type of coupling than the medium-dispersed type. The sharpest type of coupling is found exclusively between neurons with at least partially overlapping RFs and mostly between neurons whose stimulus orientation preferences matched to within 22.5 deg. The maximum spatial dispersion observed in the RFs of coupled neurons compares well with the maximum divergence seen anatomically in the A18/A17 projection system.We suggest three different mechanisms to produce each of the three different degrees of observed spatial and temporal coherence. All mechanisms use common input of cortical origin. For medium and broad coupling, this common input arises from cell assemblies split between both sides of the 17/18 projection system, but acting synchronously. Such distributed common-input cell assemblies are a means of overcoming sparse connectivity and achieving synaptic transmission in the pyramidal network.
Broadband temporal stimuli decrease the integration time of neurons in cat striate cortex
Authors: Reid R.C. , Victor J.D. , Shapley R.M. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractWe have studied the responses of striate cortical neurons to stimuli whose contrast is modulated in time by either a single sinusoid or by the sum of eight sinusoids. The sum-of-sinusoids stimulus resembles white noise and has been used to study the linear and nonlinear dynamics of retinal ganglion cells (Victor et al., 1977). In cortical neurons, we have found different linear and second-order responses to single-sinusoid and sum-of-sinusoids inputs. Specifically, while the responsivity near the optimal temporal frequency is lower for the sum-of-sinusoids stimulus, the responsivity at higher temporal frequencies is relatively greater. Along with this change in the response amplitudes, there is a systematic change in the time course of responses. For complex cells, the integration time, the effective delay due to a combination of actual delays and low-pass filter stages, changes from a median of 85 ms with single sinusoids to 57 ms with a sum of sinusoids. For simple cells, the integration times for single sinusoids range from 44–100 ms, but cluster tightly around 40 ms for the sum-of-sinusoids stimulus. The change in time constant would argue that the increased sensitivity to high frequencies cannot be explained by a static threshold, but must be caused by a fundamental alteration in the response dynamics. These effects are not seen in the retina (Shapley & Victor, 1981) and are most likely cortical in origin.
The human retina has a cone-enriched rim
Authors: Williams Robert W. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractVideo-enhanced imaging of retinal wholemounts reveals an abrupt change in the composition of the photoreceptor mosaic at the edge of the human retina. Cone densities rise threefold and rod densities fall tenfold in a 1-mm-wide peripheral band. Antibodies directed against cones confirm the identification of the major subtypes of photoreceptors within this peripheral band. The cone-enriched rim is most highly developed along the nasal retinal margin, an area where the extreme lateral periphery of the visual field is imaged. This rim of cones may function as part of a rapid-acting alert mechanism under conditions of moderate and bright illumination.
Brightness perception, illusory contours, and corticogeniculate feedback
Authors: Gove Alan , Grossberg Stephen , Mingolla Ennio 
Published: June 2009

AbstractA neural network model is developed to explain how visual thalamocortical interactions give rise to boundary percepts such as illusory contours and surface percepts such as filled-in brightnesses. Top-down feedback interactions are needed in addition to bottom-up feed-forward interactions to simulate these data. One feedback loop is modeled between lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and cortical area V1, and another within cortical areas V1 and V2. The first feedback loop realizes a matching process which enhances LGN cell activities that are consistent with those of active cortical cells, and suppresses LGN activities that are not. This corticogeniculate feedback, being endstopped and oriented, also enhances LGN ON cell activations at the ends of thin dark lines, thereby leading to enhanced cortical brightness percepts when the lines group into closed illusory contours. The second feedback loop generates boundary representations, including illusory contours, that coherently bind distributed cortical features together. Brightness percepts form within the surface representations through a diffusive filling-in process that is contained by resistive gating signals from the boundary representations. The model is used to simulate illusory contours and surface brightnesses induced by Ehrenstein disks, Kanizsa squares, Glass patterns, and cafe wall patterns in single contrast, reverse contrast, and mixed contrast configurations. These examples illustrate how boundary and surface mechanisms can generate percepts that are highly context-sensitive, including how illusory contours can be amodally recognized without being seen, how model simple cells in V1 respond preferentially to luminance discontinuities using inputs from both LGN ON and OFF cells, how model bipole cells in V2 with two colinear receptive fields can help to complete curved illusory contours, how short-range simple cell groupings and long-range bipole cell groupings can sometimes generate different outcomes, and how model double-opponent, filling-in and boundary segmentation mechanisms in V4 interact to generate surface brightness percepts in which filling-in of enhanced brightness and darkness can occur before the net brightness distribution is computed by double-opponent interactions.
Centrifugal innervation of the rat retina
Authors: Schütte Michael 
Published: June 2009

AbstractCentrifugal fibers innervating the retina have been shown in all classes of vertebrate, except for mammals where conventional tract-tracing methods have not been able to unmistakably demonstrate their existence. In a previous study, a unilateral, intravitreal injection of 5, 7-dihydroxytryptamine was used to reveal indoleamine-accumulating centrifugal fibers which were visualized by an immunoreaction against serotonin. In the present study, I employed a modification of this method to stain retinopetal neurons in the rat. Terminals were located preferentially in the outer retina; labeled fibers could be traced back along an ipsilateral pathway to somata in the dorso-caudal portions of the chiasm or the medio-lateral preoptic area, and thence towards the suprachiasmatic nuclei. The unique beaded appearance of the fibers distinguishes them from retinal ganglion cell axons. The labeling of central cell bodies strongly suggests that they possess terminals in the retina. Thus, at least some mammalian retinas receive centrifugal innervation. This indoleamine-accumulating retinopetal pathway may be involved in retinal melatonin synthesis, coordination of circadian rhythms, and interocular phenomena.
Na+- and Cl−-dependent neurotransmitter transporters in bovine retina: Identification and localization byin situhybridization histochemistry
Authors: Jones Eugenia M. C. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe physiological actions of biogenic amine and amino-acid neurotransmitters are terminated by their removal from the synaptic cleft by specific high-affinity transport proteins. The members of the Na+- and Cl−-dependent neurotransmitter transporter family expressed in bovine retina and responsible for the uptake of biogenic amine and amino-acid neurotransmitters were identified using a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction-based approach. cDNA clones encoding bovine homologues of glycine (GLYT-1), γ-aminobutyric acid (GAT-1) creatine (CreaT), and orphan (NTT4) transporters were identified using this strategy. The expression pattern of mRNAs encoding these proteins in the retina was determined byin situhybridization histochemistry GLYT-1 CreaT NTT4 and GAT-1 mRNAs were expressed in the retina by cells in the inner nuclear inner plex, iform and ganglion cell layers They were not expressed at detectable levels in the photoreceptor cells whose cell bodies are in the outer nuclear layer and are the most abundant cell type in the retina GLYT-1 mRNA was present exclusively in the proximal inner nuclear layer GAT-1 mRNA was localized to both the inner nuclear and ganglion cell layers CreaT mRNA was expressed in all cell types in the retina except photoreceptors and NTT4 mRNA was expressed by a sub subpoulation of cells in the ganglion cell laver. Elucidation of the expression pattern of these neurotransmitter transporter mRNAs in the retina provides a basis for studies of the role of glycine γ-aminobutyric acid and creatine transporters in retinal function.
Visual cortex neurons in monkey and cat: Effect of contrast on the spatial and temporal phase transfer functions
Authors: Albrecht Duane G. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe responses of simple cells (recorded from within the striate visual cortex) were measured as a function of the contrast and the frequency of sine-wave grating patterns in order to explore the effect of contrast on the spatial and temporal phase transfer functions and on the spatiotemporal receptive field. In general, as the contrast increased, the phase of the response advanced by approximately 45 ms (approximately one-quarter of a cycle for frequencies near 5 Hz), although the exact value varied from cell to cell. The dynamics of this phase-advance were similar to the dynamics of the amplitude: the amplitude and the phase increased in an accelerating fashion at lower contrasts and then saturated at higher contrasts. Further, the gain for both the amplitude and the phase appeared to be governed by the magnitude of the contrast rather than the magnitude of the response. For the spatial phase transfer function, variations in contrast had little or no systematic effect; all of the phase responses clustered around a single straight line, with a common slope and intercept. This implies that the phase-advance was not due to a change in the spatial properties of the neuron; it also implies that the phase-advance was not systematically related to the magnitude of the response amplitude. On the other hand, for the temporal phase transfer function, the phase responses fell on five straight lines, related to the five steps in contrast. As the contrast increased, the phase responses advanced such that both the slope and the intercept were affected. This implies that the phase-advance was a result of contrast-induced changes in both the response latency and the shape/symmetry of the temporal receptive field.
The morphology and physiology of a “mini-ommatidium” in the median optic nerve of Limulus polyphemus
Authors: Samie Faramarz H. , Jinks Robert N. , Weiner William W. , Chamberlain Steven C. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractExamination of the Limulus median optic nerve with low-magnification light microscopy allows clear visualization of an ultraviolet-sensitive mini-ommatidium enshrouded by pigment cells, glial cells, and guanophores. Serial 1-μm sections of median optic nerves containing mini-ommatidia revealed the presence of a single, heavily pigmented photoreceptor (retinular) cell and a single, unpigmented arhabdomeric cell. Computer-assisted serial reconstructions from 1-μm sections confirmed the presence of two cells, each bearing a nucleus, and two axons leaving the mini-ommatidium. The retinular cell is morphologically similar to retinular cells from the median and lateral eyes. Its rhabdomere appears to be a continuous sheet of microvilli with much infolding. The structure of the arhabdomeric cell is nearly identical to those found in the median ocellus. As in other photoreceptors in Limulus, the retinular cell of the mini-ommatidium is innervated by efferent fibers from the brain. Each mini-ommatidium generates a single train of nerve impulses in response to light, presumably from the arhabdomeric cell. Measurement of the spectral sensitivity of the mini-ommatidium based upon a constant-response criterion indicated that the retinular cell is maximally sensitive to near ultraviolet light with λmax = 380 nm. Comparison of intensity-response functions revealed that those of the mini-ommatidium are significantly steeper than those of the ocellus almost certainly as the result of neural processing in the ocellus which is absent in the mini-ommatidium.
Asymmetric retinal growth in the adult teleost green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Authors: Cameron David A. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractPrevious studies on fish retina have suggested that a curved, non-fused embryonic fissure is associated with, and perhaps caused by, asymmetric growth along the retina's marginal germinal zone (where neurons and Miiller glia are added appositionally throughout life). In this report retinal growth was measured directly in adult green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), which has a curved, non-fused embryonic fissure. Growth was asymmetric in both small and large fish: ventral and nasal retina grew more than temporal and dorsal retina. This asymmetry was due to different net rates of cellular addition, rather than differential passive expansion. The absolute rates of retinal growth in the centroperipheral direction were roughly exponential functions of fish size—smaller fish grow faster than large fish—but the area of new retina added per unit time did not vary with fish size. Visual implications of asymmetric retinal growth are evaluated.
Dendritic integration in ganglion cells of the mudpuppy retina
Authors: Velte T.J. , Miller R.F. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractComputer simulations were carried out to evaluate the influence of varying the membrane resistance (Rm) on the dendritic integration capacity of three classes of ganglion cells in the mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) retina. Three broadly different morphological classes of ganglion cells were selected for this study and represent the range of dendritic tree sizes found in the ganglion cell population of this species. Simulations were conducted on anatomical data obtained from cells stained with horseradish peroxidase; each cell was traced, using a computer as an entry device and later converted to a compartmental (electrical) representation of the cell. Computer-simulation analysis used a time-variant conductance change which was similar in waveform to light-activated bipolar cell input. The simulated membrane resistance for each cell varied between 5000 and 100,000 Ω cm2, and conductance changes were introduced into different regions of the soma-dendritic tree to evaluate dendritic integration efficiency. When higher values of Rm are used, even the largest cells become electrotonically compact and attenuation of voltage responses is minimized from distal to soma regions. Responses were less attenuated from proximal to distal regions of the cell because of the favorable impedance matching, and because less current is required to polarize small “sealed” dendritic terminations. Steady-state responses integrate more effectively than transient responses, particularly when Rm is high, since transient responses were more attenuated by the membrane capacitance. The possibility that Rm is a dynamic property of retinal ganglion cells is discussed in view of the functional organization of dendritic integration efficiency as Rm fluctuates from low to high values.
Extra-receptive-field motion facilitation in on-off directionally selective ganglion cells of the rabbit retina
Authors: Amthor Franklin R. , Grzywacz Norberto M. , Merwine David K. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe excitatory receptive-field centers of On-Off directionally selective (DS) ganglioncells of the rabbit retina correspond closely to the lateral extent of their dendritic arborizations. Some investigators have hypothesized from this that theories for directionalselectivity that entail a lateral spread of excitation from outside the ganglion cell dendritic tree, such as from starburst amacrine cells, are therefore untenable. We show herethat significant motion facilitation is conducted from well outside the classical excitatory receptive-field center (and, therefore, dendritic arborization) of On-Off DS ganglioncells for preferred-direction, but not null-direction moving stimuli. These results are consistent with a role in directional selectivity for cells with processes lying beyond the On-Off ganglion cell's excitatory receptive-field center. These results also highlight the fundamental distinction in retinal ganglion cell receptive-field organization between classical excitatory mechanisms and those that facilitate other excitation without producing directly observable excitation by themselves.