Rod and cone interaction in dark-adapted monkey ganglion cells

Abstract

1. Rod-cone interaction has been studied by analysing the response latency of large ganglion cells in the perifovea of dark-adapted Rhesus monkey retina.2. Both rod and cone signals have been found to converge on such cells. The cone system is less sensitive but much faster than that of the rods so that the cones determine latency whenever stimuli become suprathreshold for them. Responses to dimmer stimuli are determined entirely by the rods.3. The earliest signals to excite the ganglion cell leave a transitory refractoriness in their wake. Therefore when both rods and cones are stimulated simultaneously, the earlier cone signal, arriving at the ganglion cell, has a greater chance of producing excitation than the later rod signals.