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Eye and Early Vision – Part II. PSY 295 – Sensation & Perception Christopher DiMattina , PhD. Photoreceptors. Rhodopsin. Found in the photoreceptor outer segment membrane Contains a molecule which absorbs light
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Eye and Early Vision – Part II PSY 295 – Sensation & Perception Christopher DiMattina, PhD
Rhodopsin • Found in the photoreceptor outer segment membrane • Contains a molecule which absorbs light • Initiates a complex process which results in hyperpolarization of the photoreceptor
Retinal Circuitry • Photoreceptors (input) • Interneurons (processing) • Retinal ganglion cells (output)
Bipolar cells • Receive input from photoreceptors • Diffuse bipolar cellsintegrate from many cones • Midget bipolar cells receive input from single cone
Discuss • Where in the retina might we expect to find the midget bipolar cells? How about diffuse bipolars? • What is the trade-off between acuity and sensitivityin the two different kinds of bipolar cells?
Horizontal and amacrine cells • Horizontal and amacrine cells implement lateral inhibition • Makes bipolar cells and ganglion cells sensitive to contrast
Center-surround circuit • Direct pathway from photoreceptors causes activation or inhibition from center region (on/off) • Indirect pathway from horizontal cells causes opposite effect in surround (on/off)
Web activity: Retinal structure • http://sites.sinauer.com/wolfe3e/chap2/retstructureF.htm
Retinal ganglion cells • Retinal ganglion cells are the output of the retina • First retinal cells which fire action potentials
P and M cells • Midget bipolar cells project to parvocellular (P) ganglion cells • Diffuse bipolar cells project to magnocellular (M) ganglion cells
Receptive field • What is the definition of receptive field?? • This is a central concept in sensory neuroscience
Ganglion cell receptive fields • Have a center-surround organization (Kuffler 1953)
Web: Receptive field mapping • http://sites.sinauer.com/wolfe3e/chap2/ganglionF.htm
Spatial frequency filtering • Center-surround organization makes retinal ganglion cells into spatial frequency filters
Contrast coding • Retinal ganglion cells are sensitive to contrast, or difference in luminance between adjacent regions
Detecting edges • Center-surround receptive fields can be used to detect edges
AMD • age-related macular degeneration • leading cause of visual impairment among elderly
AMD • Dry AMD – macula cones die (more common) • Wet AMD – abnormal blood vessels leak blood and fluid, displacing the macula • result is a large scotoma
Retinitis pigmentosa • Hereditary disease caused by death of photoreceptors and degeneration of pigment epithelium • First affects rods in the periphery – patient may report problems with peripheral night vision (stargazing)
Summary • The eye is a fancy camera which focuses light on the retina • The retina is the first stage of vision in the brain • The retina performs sophisticated computations • The eye and retina are subject to various medical disorders