Difference Between Amacrine and Horizontal Cells

Like horizontal cells, amacrine cells work laterally, but whereas horizontal cells are connected to the output of rod and cone cells, amacrine cells affect the output from bipolar cells, and are often more specialized.

1. What are amacrine cells?
2. Are horizontal cells interneurons?
3. Which of the following is the function of amacrine cells?
4. Are horizontal cells inhibitory?
5. What are ganglion cells?
6. How do horizontal cells work?
7. What do horizontal cells release?
8. What are horizontal cells responsible for?
9. What do horizontal cells synapse with?
10. What is the function of bipolar cells?
11. Do horizontal cells produce action potentials?
12. What is the inner plexiform layer?

What are amacrine cells?

Amacrine cells of the vertebrate retina are interneurons that interact at the second synaptic level of the vertically direct pathways consisting of the photoreceptor-bipolar-ganglion cell chain.

Are horizontal cells interneurons?

Horizontal cells (HCs) and amacrine cells (ACs), two types of retinal interneurons, modulate the information flow from photoreceptors (PRs) to bipolar cells (BCs) in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) and from BCs to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the inner plexiform layer (IPL), respectively.

Which of the following is the function of amacrine cells?

The AII amacrine cells are the major carriers of rod signals to the ganglion cells in the retina. As such, they play a role in speeding up the slow potential rod messages for presentation to ganglion cells (18, 31). Their distribution in the retina suggests that they tile the complete retina (32).

Are horizontal cells inhibitory?

Horizontal cells provide inhibitory feedback to rod and cone photoreceptors. They are thought to be important for the antagonistic center-surround property of the receptive fields of many types of retinal ganglion cells.

What are ganglion cells?

Ganglion cells are the projection neurons of the vertebrate retina, conveying information from other retinal neurons to the rest of the brain. ... Their axons run in a separate layer on the inner surface of the retina, collect at the optic disk, and then exit the eye as the optic nerve.

How do horizontal cells work?

Horizontal cells receive input from multiple photoreceptor cells. They use that input to integrate signaling from different populations of photoreceptor cells, make adjustments to the signals that will be sent to bipolar cells, and regulate activity in photoreceptor cells themselves.

What do horizontal cells release?

Functional properties Horizontal cells are depolarized by the release of glutamate from photoreceptors, which happens in the absence of light. Depolarization of a horizontal cell causes it to release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA on an adjacent photoreceptor.

What are horizontal cells responsible for?

They help integrate and regulate the input from multiple photoreceptor cells. Among their functions, horizontal cells are responsible for allowing eyes to adjust to see well under both bright and dim light conditions.

What do horizontal cells synapse with?

Horizontal cells form feedback synapses with cones and feedforward synapses with CBCs. However, the exact computational role of HCs is still debated. Along with performing global signaling within their laterally coupled network, HCs also provide local, cone-specific feedback.

What is the function of bipolar cells?

Bipolar cells are one of the main retinal interneurons and provide the main pathways from photoreceptors to ganglion cells, i.e. the shortest and most direct pathways between the input and output of visual signals in the retina.

Do horizontal cells produce action potentials?

The same is true for retinal bipolar cells, horizontal cells, and many amacrine cells, which are equally tiny. The cells of the outer retina do not need to make action potentials, because electrotonic decrements are very small. In contrast, the retinal ganglion cell must send an axon several centimeters to the brain.

What is the inner plexiform layer?

The inner plexiform layer (IPL; also inner synaptic layer) consists of synaptic connections between the axons of bipolar cells and dendrites of ganglion cells. The IPL contains the synapse between the second-order and third-order neuron in the visual pathway (see Figure 4-15).