Kaplan E, Shapley R M
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Apr;83(8):2755-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.8.2755.
Previously, we discovered that the broadband cells in the two magnocellular (large cell) layers of the monkey lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) are much more sensitive to luminance contrast than are the color-sensitive cells in the four parvocellular (small cell) layers. We now report that this large difference in contrast sensitivity is due not to LGN circuitry but to differences in sensitivity of the retinal ganglion cells that provide excitatory synaptic input to the LGN neurons. This means that the parallel analysis of color and luminance in the visual scene begins in the retina, probably at a retinal site distal to the ganglion cells.
此前,我们发现,猴子外侧膝状核(LGN)的两个大细胞层中的宽带细胞对亮度对比度的敏感度远高于四个小细胞层中的颜色敏感细胞。我们现在报告,这种对比度敏感度的巨大差异并非源于LGN的神经回路,而是源于为LGN神经元提供兴奋性突触输入的视网膜神经节细胞的敏感度差异。这意味着视觉场景中颜色和亮度的并行分析始于视网膜,可能始于神经节细胞远端的视网膜部位。