Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

M and L cones in macaque fovea connect to midget ganglion cells by different numbers of excitatory synapses

  • Letter
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

VISUAL acuity depends on the fine-grained neural image set by the foveal cone mosaic1–3. To preserve this spatial detail, cones transmit through non-divergent pathways: cone → midget bipolar cell → midget ganglion cell. Adequate gain must be established along each pathway; crosstalk and sources of variation between pathways must be minimized. These requirements raise fundamental questions regarding the synaptic connections: (1) how many synapses from bipolar to ganglion cell transmit a cone signal and with what degree of crosstalk between adjacent pathways; (2) how accurately these connections are reproduced across the mosaic; and (3) whether the midget circuits for middle (M) and long (L) wavelength sensitive cones are the same. We report here that the midget ganglion cell collects without crosstalk either 28 ±4 or 47 ± 3 midget bipolar synapses. Two cone types are defined by this difference; being about equal in number and distributing randomly in small clusters of like type, they are probably M and L.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Williams, D. R. Trends Neurosci. 9, 193–198 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. DeValois, R. L., Morgan, H. & Snodderly, D. M. Vis. Res. 14, 75–81 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Merigan, W. H. & Katz, L. M. Vis. Res. 30, 985–991 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kolb, H. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 258, 261–283 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Nelson, R., Famiglietti, E. V. & Kolb, H. J. Neurophysiol. 41, 472–483 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dacey, D. & Lee, B. B. Nature 367, 731–735 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Polyak, S. L. The Retina (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, 1941).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Boycott, B. B. & Dowling, J. E. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 255, 109–184 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kolb, H. & Dekorver, L. J. comp. Neurol. 303, 617–636 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Dowling, J. E. & Boycott, B. B. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 166, 80–111 (1966).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mendenhall, W., Wackerly, D. D. & Scheaffer, R. L. Mathematical Statistics with Applications 4th edn 708–715 (Duxbury, Belmont, CA, 1990).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. Giacomelli, F., Wiener, J., Kruskal, J. B., Pomeranz, J. V. & Loud, A. V. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 19, 426–433 (1971).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dacey, D. M. & Petersen, M. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 89, 9666–9670 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. McGuire, B. A., Stevens, J. K. & Sterling, P. J. Neurosci. 4, 2920–2938 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Cohen, E. & Sterling, P. Eur. J. Neurosci. 4, 506–520 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Anhelt, P., Keri, C. & Kolb, H. J. comp. Neurol. 293, 39–53 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Wässle, H., Boycott, B. B. & Röhrenbeck, J. Eur. J. Neurosci. 1, 421–435 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mollon, J. D. & Bowmaker, J. K. Nature 360, 677–679 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Klug, K., Tsukamoto, Y., Sterling, P. & Schein, S. J. Soc. for Neurosci. Abstr. 352.5 (Anaheim, CA, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Klug, K., Tsukamoto, Y., Sterling, P. & Schein, S. J. ARVO Abstr. 1398 (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Sarasota, FL, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mariani, A. P. Nature 308, 184–186 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Kouyama, N. & Marshak, D. W. J. Neurosci. 12, 1233–1252 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Tsukamoto, Y., Masarachia, P., Schein, S. J. & Sterling, P. Vis. Res. 32, 1809–1815 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Smith, R. G. J. Neurosci. Meth. 21, 55–69 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Stanley J. Schein: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA

  2. Yoshihiko Tsukamoto: Department of Anatomy, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, 663 Hyogo, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA

    David J. Calkins, Stanley J. Schein, Yoshihiko Tsukamoto & Peter Sterling

Authors
  1. David J. Calkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stanley J. Schein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshihiko Tsukamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter Sterling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Calkins, D., Schein, S., Tsukamoto, Y. et al. M and L cones in macaque fovea connect to midget ganglion cells by different numbers of excitatory synapses. Nature 371, 70–72 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/371070a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/371070a0

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation