Visual System Flashcards
Lecture 1
Dark and Light Responses
What is the fovea?
Specific region of the retina upon which light focuses.
What type of photoreceptive cells are present in the eye?
Rod and Cone cells.
Which layer are rod and cone cells in?
Outer nuclear layer.
How are rod and cone cells connected to each other?
By horizontal cells.
Where are horizontal cells?
Outer plexiform layer.
What do rod and cone cells synapse onto to convey information?
Bipolar cells.
Where are bipolar cells?
Inner nuclear layer.
How are bipolar cells connected to each other?
By Amacrine cells.
Where are amacrine cells?
Inner plexiform layer.
What do bipolar cells synapse onto to convey information?
Ganglion cells.
Where are ganglion cells?
Ganglion cell layer.
Where is visual information carried from ganglion cells?
To the optic nerve, then lateral geniculate nucleus, then visual cortex.
What is the blind spot?
Optic disc made up of ganglion cells.
How is the light prevented from reflecting from the retina?
Pigmented epithelium posterior to cone and rod cells absorbs the light that hasn’t activated photosensitive cells.
What is the function of the interconnecting cillium?
Part of the centriole.
Describe the effect of light on rod cells.
Light hits rhosopsin on the rod cell’s disc. Rhodopsin activates Transducin G-protein which converts GTP to GDP, powering cGMP phosphodiesterase. Phosphodiesterase converts cGMP (from Guanylyl Cyclase) to 5’-GMP. Rod cell’s sodium channels require high cGMP concentration to open and cause sodium influx (3 molecules at once).
Under what conditions are rod cells more likely to be depolarised?
During the dark.
How is the light circuit signal amplified?
1 rhodopsin activates 100s of transducins. Phosphodiesterase converts 1000s cGMPs/sec.
Describe the effect of light on rhodopsin.
Light induces a conformational change of all-trans retinal to 11-cis retinal by swiveling of the chain around the 11C=C12 bond.
Describe the dark current in a rod cell.
Sodium enters outer segment via cGMP gated channels. Sodium pumped out in exchange for potassium in the inner segment by the Na/K pump. Potassium efflux via potassium selective channels in the inner segment.
What sodium channel type is used in rod cells?
CNGB1A