[Continued activity of retinal neurons under the influence of strychnine and picrotoxin]

Action and localization of glycine and taurine in the cat retina

The effects on retinal ganglion cells of iontophoretically applied glycine, taurine and strychnine were studied in the optically intact eye of the cat. Glycine and taurine suppressed the light-evoked discharge of all on-centre and off-centre brisk ganglion cells, regardless of the visual stimulus used. Strychnine blocked the action of externally applied glycine and taurine. The light-evoked response of all ganglion cells was raised by strychnine. The tonic discharge of the light response was suppressed or raised by the drugs more than the phasic response. A population of amacrine cells, which was heavily labelled by [3H]glycine, did not take up [3H]taurine. [3H]taurine was only weakly accumulated by inner nuclear layer neurones and was predominantly located in the outer retina.

Cells accumulating 3h-glycine in the goldfish retina

Glycine accumulating neurons occur among amacrine cells of the goldfish retina with processes distributed in the inner plexiform layer. Similar cells also occur, although much more rarely, among the horizontal cells and in the outer plexiform layer. The latter cells are readily observable only after heavy labelling. They may emit processes ending close to the photoreceptor terminals.

Effects of some amino acids (GABA, glycine, taurine) and of their antagonists (picrotoxin, strychnine) on spatial and temporal features of frog retinal ganglion cell responses

When intravitreally injected in the frog, GABA reduced the receptive field area of transient retinal ganglion cells, and it decreased the response duration and the number of spikes both at ON and at OFF. Conversely, its antagonist picrotoxin provoked an increase in the duration of both ON and OFF discharges as well as a marked increase in the number of spikes. Furthermore, picrotoxin provoked a marked increase in the size of the receptive field of both sustained and ON-OFF cells by abolishing the inhibition exerted by the surround upon the centre of the field. Glycine and taurine did not affect the size of the receptive field of these ganglion cells. They had no effect on the responses of sustained ganglion cells, while they totally suppressed OFF discharges of transient ganglion cells, without modifying their ON discharges. Conversely, their antagonist strychnine totally suppressed the ON dishcarges while the OFF discharges were still recorded, though with a reduced number of spikes and an increased latency, An histoautoradiographic study, carried out in parallel, showed that GABA is taken up by both horizontal cells and amacrine cells, while glycine and taurine are taken up by the amacrine cells only.

Differential effects of convulsants on visually evoked responses in the albino rat

Visually evoked responses (VERs) were recorded from primary visual cortex in unanesthetized albino rats during pharmacological modulation by one of the following convulsant agents: Physostigmine, picrotoxin, strychnine and Metrazol. The data were analyzed in terms of effects on VER components. The rat VER consists of six distinct waves constituted by three positive peaks (P1--P3) and three negative peaks (N1--N3). Results indicate a differential convulsant action on VER components. The administration of picrotoxin, resulted in a suppression of the peak amplitude of P1--N1 and delayed peak latencies of all components. Strychnine reliably shortened P1, N1 and P2 peak latencies, significantly increased N3 peak latency and only suppressed P3--N3 amplitude. Physostigmine essentially suppressed all component amplitudes but only increased peak latencies for P2 and P3 components. Metrazol, in general, was found to be relatively ineffective in the alteration of any VER component in a systematic manner. The data are discussed in terms of differential modes of convulsant action on the visual system. The results are likewise discussed with respect to their implications for convulsant modulation of photically evoked after-discharges.

A second order model of the optic generator potential and its relation to Stevens' power function

The component PIII of the electroretinogram representing the optic generator potential was recorded after stimulation with short stimuli with different light intensity. It is shown that the impulse response function of a linear second order model with intensity-dependent coefficients can be well fit to the recordings. Two of its parameters, after logarithmic transformations, are linearly dependent on the luminance while the third parameter varies only within a small interval. It is therefore possible to describe the relation between PIII and luminance in a linearized second order model. Furthermore, both the type of the function relating the gain of the model to the luminance and its exponent are nearly identical with the psychophysic function relating luminance to subjective brightness. Further physiological implications are also considered.

The involvement of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the organization of cat retinal ganglion cell receptive fields. A study with picrotoxin and bicuculline

The effects of picrotoxin and bicuculline upon the discharge pattern of center-surround organized cat retinal ganglion cells of X and Y type were studied. All experiments were carried out under scotopic or possibly low mesopic conditions; mostly but not exclusively on-center cells were studied. Stimuli were chosen so that responses were either; (a) "purely" central; (b) surround dominated; or (c) clearly mixed but center dominated. In each case a pre-drug control response was estaboished, the drug was administered intravenously, and its subsequent effect upon the response was observed. In Y cells both picrotoxin and bicucullin caused the center-driven component of the response to become somewhat reduced in magnitude, while the surround component was substantially reduced. There was thus a change in center-surround balance in favor of the center-driven component. Responses of X cells remained virtually unaffected by both picrotoxin and bicuculline.