John Dowling’s The Retina, published in 1987, quickly became the most widely recognized introduction to the structure and function of retinal cells. In this Revised Edition, Dowling draws on twenty-five years of new research to produce an interdisciplinary synthesis focused on how retinal function contributes to our understanding of brain mechanisms. The retina is a part of the brain pushed out into the eye during development. It retains many characteristics of other brain regions and hence has yielded significant insights on brain mechanisms. Visual processing begins there as a result of neuronal interactions in two synaptic layers that initiate an analysis of space, color, and movement. In humans, visual signals from 126 million photoreceptors funnel down to one million ganglion cells that convey at least a dozen representations of a visual scene to higher brain regions. The Revised Edition calls attention to general principles applicable to all vertebrate retinas, while showing how the visual needs of different animals are reflected in their retinal variations. It includes completely new chapters on color vision and retinal degenerations and genetics, as well as sections on retinal development and visual pigment biochemistry, and presents the latest knowledge and theories on how the retina is organized anatomically, physiologically, and pharmacologically. The clarity of writing and illustration that made The Retina a book of choice for a quarter century among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, vision researchers, and teachers of upper-level courses on vision is retained in Dowling’s new easy-to-read Revised Edition. Contents: Preface to the Revised Edition Preface (1987) 1. Approaches to the Brain Invertebrates: Simpler Nervous Systems Vertebrates: The Visual System The Approachable Retina Retinal Development and Evolution 2. Retinal Cells and Information Processing Cellular Organization Classification of Retinal Neurons Photoreceptor Cells Horizontal Cells Bipolar Cells Amacrine Cells Interplexiform Cells Ganglion Cells Retinal Processing Ganglion Cell Receptive Fields 3. Wiring of the Retina Retinal Synapses Conventional Synapses Ribbon Synapses Basal Junctions Gap Junctions Other Junctions Synaptic Organization Outer Plexiform Layer Photoreceptor Terminals Horizontal Cells Interplexiform Cells Inner Plexiform Layer Bipolar Cells Amacrine Cells Centrifugal Fibers Glial Cells Müller Cells Astrocytes and Microglia Comparative Aspects of Synaptic Organization Physiological Correlations Generalized Schemes of the Synaptic Organization of the Vertebrate Retina Central Primate Retina 4. Neuronal Responses Intracellular Recordings Receptors: Light Responses and Their Interactions Horizontal Cells: Electrical Coupling and Receptive Field Size Bipolar Cells: Center-Surround Organization Amacrine Cells: Transient and Sustained Responses Interplexiform Cells Ganglion Cells Functional Organization of the Retina On- and Off-center Ganglion Cells Directionally Selective Ganglion Cells Intrinsically Light-Sensitive Ganglion Cells Generation of Other Types of Ganglion Cell Receptive Fields and Responses 5. Synaptic Mechanisms and Chemistry Distal Retinal Synaptic Mechanisms Retinal Neurotransmission Photoreceptors and L-Glutamate Horizontal Cells Bipolar Cells Amacrine Cells GABA and Glycine Neuromodulation Monoamines and Dopamine Dopaminergic Interplexiform Cells in Teleosts Diverse Effects of Dopamine Unconventional Neuromodulators Cannabinoids Peptides 6. Photoreceptor Mechanisms and Visual Adaptation Discovery of the Visual Pigments Vision and Vitamin A The Action of Light and Visual Pigment Intermediates Regeneration of Visual Pigments Phototransduction Visual Adaptation Photochemical Dark Adaptation Photoreceptor Light Adaptation Network Mechanisms 7. Color Vision Cones and Color Vision Evolution of Color Vision Color Blindness Visual Pigment Gene Families Neural Processing of Color Red/Green Opponency Blue/Yellow Opponency Color Mechanisms in Other Species 8. Retinal Degenerations, Electroretinography, and Genetics Nutritional Night Blindness and Vitamin A Deficiency Studying Retinal Degenerations: The Electroretinogram The b-Wave The a-Wave The c-Wave Minor Components: The Oscillatory Potentials Inherited Retinal Degenerations Retinitis Pigmentosa Animal Models Inducing Retinal Mutations Chemical Screens Conclusions 9. Retinal and Brain Mechanisms Local-Circuit Neurons Graded-Potential Neurons Electrical Coupling Neurotransmitters and Neuromodulators Novel Synaptic Mechanisms Receptive Field Mechanisms Unsolved Problems and the Future Epilogue References Index About the Author: John E. Dowling is Gordon and Llura Gund Professor of Neurosciences at Harvard University, and Professor of Ophthalmology (Neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, The American Philosophical Society, and The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he also has won The Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research, the Paul Kayser International Eye Research Award of the International Society for Eye Research, and the Glenn A. Fry Medal in Physiological Optics. |