Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T22:18:18.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Lagged Y cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

David N. Mastronarde ,
Allen L. Humphrey  and
Alan B. Saul
David N. Mastronarde
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder
Allen L. Humphrey
Affiliation:
Department of Neurobiology, Anatomy, and Cell Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh
Alan B. Saul
Affiliation:
Department of Neurobiology, Anatomy, and Cell Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report on the existence of lagged Y (YL) cells in the A laminae of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and on criteria for identifying them using visual and electrical stimulation. Like the lagged X (XL) cells described previously (Mastronarde, 1987a; Humphrey & Weller, 1988a), YL cells responded to a spot stimulus with an initial dip in firing and a delayed latency to discharge after spot onset, and an anomalously prolonged firing after spot offset. However, the cells received excitatory input from retinal Y rather than X afferents, and showed nonlinear spatial summation and other Y-like receptive-field properties. Three YL cells tested for antidromic activation from visual cortex were found to be relay cells, with long conduction latencies similar to those of XL cells.

Simultaneous recordings of a YL cell and its retinal Y afferents show striking parallels between lagged X and Y cells in retinogeniculate functional connectivity, and suggest that the YL-cell response profile reflects inhibitory processes occurring within the LGN. The YL cells comprised -5% of Y cells and -1% of all cells in the A laminae. Although infrequently encountered in the LGN, they may be roughly as numerous as Y cells in the retina, and hence could fulfill an important role in vision.

Keywords

InhibitionX cellsY cellsLagged cellsNonlagged cells
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 191 - 200
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dubin, M.W. & Cleland, B.G. (1977). Organization of visual inputs to interneurons of lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Journal of Neurophysiology 40, 410–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedlander, M.J., Lin, C.-S., Stanford, L.R. & Sherman, S.M. (1981). Morphology of functionally identified neurons in lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Journal of Neurophysiology 46, 80–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartveit, E. & Heggelund, P. (1990a). Neurotransmitter receptors mediating excitatory input to cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus II: Nonlagged cells. Journal of Neurophysiology 63, 1361–1372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartveit, E. & Heggelund, P. (1990b). Brainstem modulation of lagged and nonlagged cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 16, 159.Google Scholar
Heggelund, P. & Hartveit, E. (1990). Neurotransmitter receptors mediating excitatory input to cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus, I: Lagged cells. Journal of Neurophysiology 63, 1347–1360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Humphrey, A.L. (1987). Stimulation of the brainstem reticular formation differentially affects two groups of X-cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 13, 203.Google Scholar
Humphrey, A.L. & Weller, R.E. (1988a). Functionally distinct groups of X-cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 268, 429–447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Humphrey, A.L. & Weller, R.E. (1988b). Structural correlates of functionally distinct X-cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 268, 448–468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. (1972). Another tungsten microelectrode. Medical and Biological Engineering 10, 510–515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindström, S. (1983). Interneurones in the lateral geniculate nucleus with monosynaptic input from retinal ganglion cells. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 119, 101–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindström, S. & Wróbel, A. (1990). Private inhibitory systems for the X and Y pathways in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Journal of Physiology 429, 259–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madarasz, M., Gerle, J., Hajdu, F., Somogyi, G. & Tömböl, T. (1978). Quantitative histological studies on the lateral geniculate nucleus in the cat, II: Cell numbers and densities in the several layers. Journal für Hirnforschung 19, 159–164.Google ScholarPubMed
Madarász, M., Somogyi, J., Silakov, V.L. & Hámori, J. (1983). Residual neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus of adult cats following chronic disconnection from the cortex. Experimental Brain Research 52, 363–374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mastronarde, D.N. (1987a). Two types of single-input X-cells in cat lateral geniculate nucleus, I: Receptive-field properties and classification of cells. Journal of Neurophysiology 57, 357–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastronarde, D.N. (1987b). Two types of single-input X-cells in cat lateral geniculate nucleus, II: Retinal inputs and the generation of receptive-field properties. Journal of Neurophysiology 57, 381–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastronarde, D.N. (1988). Divergence of retinal input into functionally different cell classes in the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Mastronarde, D.N., Thibeault, M.A. & Dubin, M.W. (1984). Non-uniform postnatal growth of the cat retina. Journal of Comparative Neurology 228, 598–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saul, A.B. & Humphrey, A.L. (1990a). Spatial and temporal response properties of lagged and nonlagged cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. Journal of Neurophysiology 64, 206–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saul, A.B. & Humphrey, A.L. (1990b). Evidence of lagged-type geniculate input to visual cortex. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 16, 1218.Google Scholar
Sherman, S.M. & Friedlander, M.J. (1988). Identification of X versus Y properties for interneurons in the A-laminae of the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus. Experimental Brain Research 73, 384–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sillito, A.M., Murphy, P.C., Salt, T.E. & Moody, C.I. (1990). Dependence of retinogeniculate transmission in cat on NMDA receptors. Journal of Neurophysiology 63, 347–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uhlrich, D.J., Tamamaki, N. & Sherman, S.M. (1990). Brainstem control of response modes in neurons of the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 87, 2560–2563.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed