In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 97, No. 24 ( 2000-11-21), p. 13454-13459
Abstract:
We describe experiments on behaving rats with electrodes implanted
on the cornea, in the optic chiasm, and on the visual cortex; in addition, two red light-emitting diodes (LED) are permanently attached
to the skull over the left eye. Recordings timelocked to the LED flashes reveal both the local events at each electrode site and the
orderly transfer of visual information from retina to cortex. The major finding is that every stimulus, regardless of its luminance, duration,
or the state of retinal light adaptation, elicits an optic nerve volley with a latency of about 10 ms and a duration of about 300 ms. This
phenomenon has not been reported previously, so far as we are aware. We conclude that the retina, which originates from the forebrain of the
developing embryo, behaves like a typical brain structure: it translates, within a few hundred milliseconds, the chemical information
in each pattern of bleached photoreceptors into a corresponding pattern of ganglion cell neuronal information that leaves via the optic nerve.
The attributes of each rat ganglion cell appear to include whether the retinal neuropile calls on it to leave after a stimulus and, if so
when, within a 300-ms poststimulus epoch. The resulting retinal analysis of the scene, on arrival at the cortical level, is presumed to
participate importantly in the creation of visual perceptual experiences.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0027-8424
,
1091-6490
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.240448697
Language:
English
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publication Date:
2000
detail.hit.zdb_id:
209104-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1461794-8
SSG:
11
SSG:
12
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