Abstract
The orderly projection of the visual space onto the visual ganglia and of the planes of the four visual ganglia onto each other is briefly reviewed. The variation of the size of some of the elements in the eye and of the ganglia is then described. This variation follows different gradients for different elements. The gradient of the size of the lenses in the cornea and that of the thickness of the L3 fiber in the lamina have a similar shape, with a maximum near the anterior border of the eye. The thickness of L1 and L2 follow a different rule. A correlation of these gradients with some variations of the efficiency of visual stimuli in different regions of the visual field leads to a tentative proposal for the role of the laminar neurons L1, L2 and L3 in perception.
This paper is organized in tow section. In the first, I shall collect information about the structures of the eye and the visual ganglia of the fly, insofar as they fit into the periodic scheme which makes the mapping of the various levels onto each other possible. In the second part, on the background of this periodic structure we shall discuss some striking quantitative variations which follow warious gradients throughout the visual system. This second part is largely drawm from a paper written together with H. HAUSER, which is now in press.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AUTRUM, H., ZETTLER, F., JAERVILEHTO, M.; Postsynaptic potentials from a single monopolar neuron of the ganglion opticum I of the blowfly Calliphora. Z. vergl. Physiol. 70, 414–424 (1970).
BOSCHEK, C.B.; On the fine structure of the peripheral retina and lamina ganglionaris of the fly Musca domestica. Z. Zeilforsch. 118, 369–409 (1971).
BRAITENBERG, V.; Ordnung und Orientierung der Elemente im Sehsystem der Fliege. Kybernetik 7 (6), 235 – 242 (1970).
CAJAL, S.R. and SANCHEZ, D.: Contribucion al conocimiento de los centros nerviosos de los insectos. Parte 1, Retina y centros opticos. Trab. Lab. Invest. Biol. Univ. Madr. 13, 1–168(1915).
CAMPOS-ORTEGA, J.A., Strausfeld, N.J.; The columnar organization of the second synaptic region of the visual system of Musca domestica L. I. Receptor terminals in the medulla. Z. Zeilforsch. 124, 561–585 (1972).
HORRIDGE, G.A., MEINERTZHAGEN, I.A.; The accuracy of the patterns of connexions of the first — and second — order neurons of the visual system of Calliphora. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 175, 69–82(1970).
JAERVILEHTO, M., ZETTLER, F.: Localized intracellular potentials from pre- and postsynaptic components in the external plexiform layer of an insect retina. Z. vergl. Physiol. 75, 422–449(1971).
KIRSCHFELD, K.: Die Projektion der optischen Umwelt auf das Raster der Rhabdomere im Komplexauge von Musca. Exp. Brain Res. 3, 248–270 (1967).
KIRSCHFELD, K.; Absorption properties of photopigments in single rods, cones and rhabdomeres. Rendiconti S.I.F. XLIII, Ed. W. Reichardt, Academic Press, London and New York, 116–136 (1969).
SCHOLES, J.: Electrical responses of the retinal receptors and the lamina in the visual system of the fly Musca. Kybernetik 6 (4), 149–162 (1969).
STRAUSFELD, N.J.; The organization of the insect visual system (light microscopy). I. Projections and arrangements of neurons in the lamina ganglionaris of Diptera. Z. Zellforsch. 121, 377–441 (1971).
TRUJILLO-CENOZ, O.; Some aspects of the structural organization of the intermediate retina of Dipterans. J. Ultrastr. Res. 13, 1–33 (1965).
TRUJILLO-CENOZ, O., MELAMED, J.; Electron microscope observations on the peripheral and intermediate retinas of Dipterans. In; The functional organization of the compound eye, Ed. CG. Bernhard, Pergamon Press, London (1966).
TRUJILLO-CENOZ, O.; Some aspects of the structural organization of the medulla in muscoid flies. J. Ultrastr. Res. 27, 533–553 (1969).
ZETTLER, F., JAERVILEHTO, M.; Decrement-free conduction of graded potentials along the axon of a monopolar neuron. Z. vergl. Physiol. 75, 402–421 (1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1972 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Braitenberg, V. (1972). Periodic Structures and Structural Gradients in the Visual Ganglia of the Fly. In: Wehner, R. (eds) Information Processing in the Visual Systems of Anthropods. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65477-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65477-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-06020-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-65477-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive