Which of the following statements about retinal neurons is correct?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Retinal ganglion cells are classically divided into ON-center and OFF-center types: ON-center ganglion cells increase firing when light falls in the center of their receptive field, whereas OFF-center ganglion cells increase firing when the center is dark (i.e., they are inhibited by light in the center).

Relevant concepts:
- Photoreceptors (rods and cones) release glutamate in darkness and reduce release in light.
- Bipolar cells come in ON and OFF varieties; ON bipolars use a sign-inverting metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR6) so they depolarize when light reduces glutamate, while OFF bipolars have ionotropic glutamate receptors and hyperpolarize when light reduces glutamate.
- Horizontal cells create the antagonistic surround of receptive fields (lateral inhibition), shaping center-surround organization.
- Ganglion cells integrate bipolar input and thus exhibit ON or OFF center responses.

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. In the center of an ON pathway: light → cones/rods reduce glutamate → ON bipolar depolarizes (due to mGluR6 closure) → ON ganglion increases firing. The opposite occurs for OFF pathways.
2. The center-surround antagonism is mediated by horizontal cells providing inhibitory feedback to photoreceptors and bipolar cells, producing opposite responses in surround vs center.
3. Therefore some ganglion cells respond to center light (ON-center) and others are inhibited (OFF-center), matching the stated option.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- Horizontal cells are primarily inhibitory interneurons (use GABA); they are not divided into excitatory glutamatergic and inhibitory GABAergic classes as stated.
- There are multiple cone bipolar cell types (several types connect to cones), while rod bipolar cells are more limited; the claim that only one bipolar type receives cone input is false.
- Bipolar cells generally transmit via graded potentials; they do not typically generate action potentials (spiking) in the way ganglion cells do, so the ON/ OFF distinction is not based on spiking vs graded signaling.

Conclusion: The correct statement is that some retinal ganglion cells are ON-center and others are OFF-center, which matches the provided answer.

Which of the following statements about retinal neurons is correct?Single choice

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