Retinal ganglion cell density and cortical magnification factor in the primate

doi:10.1016/0042-6989(90)90166-I

Vision Research

Volume 30, Issue 11, 1990, Pages 1897-1911

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6989(90)90166-I Get rights and content

Abstract

The question of whether the large area occupied by the primate fovea in the visual cortex (VI) is the result of a selective amplification of the central visual field, or whether it merely reflects the ganglion cell density of the retina, has been a subject of debate for many years. Measurements of the ganglion cell densities are made difficult by lateral displacements of cells around the fovea and the occurrence of amacrine cells in the ganglion cell layer. We have now identified and counted these amacrine cells by GABA immunocytochemistry and by retrograde degeneration of ganglion cells. By reconstructing the fovea from vertical and horizontal serial sections, we were able to measure the densities of cones, cone pedicles and ganglion cells within the same retina. We found 3–4 ganglion cells for every foveal cone. This ratio decreased to one ganglion cell per cone at an eccentricity of 15–20 deg (3–4 mm) and in peripheral retina there are more cones than ganglion cells. The ganglion cell density changes by a factor of 1000–4000 between peripheral and central retina. A comparable gradient has been reported for the representation of the peripheral and central visual field in VI. We suggest that ganglion cell density can fully account for the cortical magnification factor and there is no need to postulate a selective amplification of the foveal representation.

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Retinal ganglion cell density and cortical magnification factor in the primate

Abstract

Neuroscience Letters

Vision Research

Vision Research

Vision Research

Neuroscience

Vision Research

Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Vision Research

American Journal of Ophthalmology

Vision Research

Brain Research

Vision Research

Estimation of nuclear population from microtome sections

Anatomy Record

Organization of the primate retina: Light microscopy

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series B

Cone connections of the horizontal cells of the rhesus monkey's retina

Cholinergic amacrine cells of the rabbit retina contain glutamate decarboxylase and γ-aminobutyrate immunoreactivity

The projection of the retina on to striate and prestriate cortex in the squirrel monkey Saimiri sciureus

Journal of Neurophysiology

Distribution of cones in human and monkey retina: Individual variability and radial asymmetry

Science

The representation of the visual field on the cerebral cortex in monkey

Journal of Physiology, London

Magnification factor and receptive field size in foveal striate cortex of the monkey

Experimental Brain Research

The neural representation of visual space

Nature, London

Non-linear projection of the retinal image in a wide-angle schematic eye

British Journal of Ophthalmology

GABA-like immuno-reactivity in the macaque monkey retina: a light and electron microscopic study

Journal of Comparative Neurology

Stereology of arbitrary particles: A review of unbiased number and size estimators and the presentation of some new ones

Journal of Microscopy

Uniformity of monkey striate cortex: A parallel relationship between field size, scatter, and magnification factor

Journal of Comparative Neurology

A newly identified population of presumptive microneurones in the cat retinal ganglion cell layer

Nature, London

Immunocytochemical studies on astroglia of the cat retina under normal and pathological conditions

Journal of Comparative Neurology

Organization of the outer plexiform layer of the primate retina. Electron microscopy of Golgi-impregnated cells

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B

A second type of midget bipolar cell in the primate retina

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B

GABA-immunoreactive synaptic plexus in the nerve fiber layer of primate retina

Visual Neuroscience