Progress in Sensory Physiology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-iii

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2. Sensory Structures in the Viscera

   • N. Mei

   Pages 1-42

3. Schematic Eye Models in Vertebrates

   • G. R. Martin

   Pages 43-81

4. Organization of the Outer Plexiform Layer of the Tetrapoda Retina

   • A. Gallego

   Pages 83-114

5. Back Matter

   Pages 115-118

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The study of the functional organization of the first synapse of the centripetal visual pathway at the outer plexiform layer level (OPL) ought to be made through the application of combined histological, electrophysiological, and neurochemical techniques. A large amount of new evidence has been accumu­ lated in the past 20 years on the structure of the retina and on the electrical responses of retinal cells to light stimulus. Also, recently, many substances considered as neurotransmitters in the brain have been found in the retina. The goal of the study of retinal function is to integrate the data obtained by structural and electrophysiological techniques and to identify and determine the role played by neurotransmitters or neuromodulators in the function of the retina. In this study it is important to realize the morphological and biochemical diversi­ ty displayed by the visual cells in the vertebrate retina which, according to Cresci­ telli (1972), has been produced "through the interaction of natural selection with diversity in the photic environment." The evidence obtained shows that bipolar and especially horizontal cells, closely related to visual cells, display morphologi­ cal and probably biochemical differences among classes, genus, and even species according to the photic environment. These differences give peculiarities to the organization of the OPL, which must be taken into account when studying a par­ ticular retina with electrophysiological or neurochemical techniques.

• brain
• cells
• physiology
• retina
• vertebrates

• Fysiologiska Institutionen II, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 60, Sweden

  David Ottoson

• Zoologisches Institut, Universität München, München 2, Germany

  Hansjochem Autrum

• Department of Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA

  Edward R. Perl

• Physiologisches Institut der Universität, Würzburg, Germany

  Robert F. Schmidt

• Department of Neurophysiology, University of Tokyo, Institute of Brain Research, Bunkyo Ku, Tokyo, Japan

  Hiroshi Shimazu

• The Marine Biomedical Institute, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, USA

  William D. Willis

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