Introduction
Ganglioncelllayer:Locatedintheinnermostlayeroftheretina,itiscomposedofmultipolarganglioncells.Itsdendritesaremainlyconnectedwithbipolarcellsandcanalsopassthroughapodocytes.Lateralconnection;itsaxonsextendtotheopticnerveheadandpassthroughthelaminatoformtheopticnerve.
Transmittingsignals
Thereareseveraldifferenttypesofganglioncellsthattransmitbrightnesssignals,andtheyareexcitedbybipolarcells,horizontalcells,andapodocytesindifferentsituations.Asmallnumberofganglioncellsmainlyrespondtotheintensity(brightness)ofthelightthathitsthephotoreceptors.Aslongasthebrightnessishigh,thefrequencyofimpulsesfromthesecellsisalwayshigherthanthenaturalfrequencyoffiringimpulses.Itisthesignalsemittedbythesecellsthatletthebrainknowthetotalbrightnessofthesceneitsees.
Transmitthesignalaboutthecontrastinthevisualscene-intheprocessoflateralinhibition,mostganglioncellshardlyrespondtotheactuallevelofbrightnessinthescene,butonlyreacttotheedgeofthecontrastinthescene.Becausethisisthemainwaytheformofthesceneistransmittedtothebrain,thefollowingexplainshowthisprocessoccurs.
Whenuniformlighthitstheentireretina(thatis,whenallphotoreceptorsareequallyexcitedbytheincidentlight),thecontrasttypeganglioncellsareneitherexcitednorinhibited.Thisisbecausethesignalstransmitteddirectlyfromthephotoreceptorsthroughthebipolarcellsareexcitatory,whilethesignalstransmittedfromthesurroundingphotoreceptorsthroughthehorizontalcellsareinhibited.Thesetworeactionsoffseteachother.Onthecontrary,ifthereisacontrastedge,thephotoreceptorsononesideoftheedgeareexcited,andthephotoreceptorsontheothersideoftheedgearenotexcited,thereisnodirectoffsetbytheexcitatorysignalofthebipolarcellandthehorizontalcellinhibitorysignal.Theresultisthattheganglioncellsonthebrightsideareexcited,whilethedarksideissuppressed.
Thebalanceprocessoftheexcitatorysignalandtheinhibitorysignalisexactlythesameasthelateralinhibitionduringthetransmissionofvariousothersensorysignals.Thisprocessisamechanismusedbythenervoussystemtoenhancecontrast.
Receptivefield
Twotypesofganglioncells:ON-centeredtype,OFF-centeredtype
ON-centeredtype
WhenWhenalightspothitsthecenterofthereceptivefield,thefiringofthisganglioncellsuddenlyincreases.(Thedistributedareaisacirclewiththecenterofthefieldofviewasthedot.ThisareaiscalledtheONarea);outsidethissmallcenter,thereisanannularrangearoundthem.Inthisarea,ifthesamesmalllightspotisusedtostimulateit,theoppositeeffectwilloccur.Ifthelightspotfallscompletelyontheringarea,thebackgroundemissionstopscompletely.ThisareaiscalledtheOFFarea.Fromthispointofview,ON-centeredcellsbelongtothe“light-givingtype(thelightspotisgiveninthecenterofthefieldofviewtoproduce[ON])”.ForON-centeredganglioncells,thelightenergyfalling(giving)intheONareaisSee,thelightfalling(giving)intheOFFzoneisinvisible.
OFF-centeredtype
Whenthelightspotisremovedfromthecenterofthereceptivefield,itwillemitstrongly.(ThesmallcircularareaemittedistheONarea).Onthecontrary,ifthelightisinthecenterofthefieldofview,itstopsemitting.Outsidethissmallcentralcirculararea,thereisanannularrangearoundthem.Inthisring-shapedarea,ifthesmalllightspotisremoved,thedistributionwillstop.ThisareaiscalledtheOFFarea.Fromthispointofview,OFF-centeredcellsbelongtothe“light-extractedtype(thelightspotinthecenterofthefieldofviewisremovedtoproduceemission,andthelightwillstopemitting[OFF])".ForOFF-centeredganglioncells,ThelightevacuatedintheONareacanbeseen,andthelightevacuatedintheOFFareaisinvisible.Inthesameway,thelightfallingintheONareaisinvisible,andthelightfallingintheOFFareacanbeseen.
Visualreceptivefieldreferstoacertainareaorrangeontheomentum.Whenitisstimulated,itcanactivatetheactivityoftheinterlayernervecellsthatareconnectedtothevisualsystemandthisarea.Thisareaontheomentumisthereceptivefieldofthesenervecells.Thereceptivefieldofaganglioncellisonlyintheareaconnectedtoitontheretina.Towhatextentanervenodeisconnectedtotheretina,thelargestreceptivefieldisthesize.