[On--off impulse activity of carp retina amacrine cells]

Abstract

Properties of spontaneous and light-evoked spikes of the "on--off" amacrine cells of the carp retina were studied. It was assumed that the dendrites of amacrine cells generated spike potentials and conducted them to the cell body. The data obtained suggest that the dendrites of amacrine cells have many spike-generation zones and that the transient depolarization component of the amacrine response to light is the compound spike consisting of many separate spikes generated in different parts of the dendritic arborization of cells. Possible functional role of dendritic spikes is discussed in respect to morphological properties of the "on--off" amacrine cells of the teleost fish retina.