Growth-related changes in the receptive field properties of retinal ganglion cells in goldfish

Abstract

Intraocular recordings were made from retinal ganglion cells of small ( 140 mm) intact, submerged goldfish while stimuli were presented on a tangent screen. Very few cells recorded in either small or large fish responded selectively to direction of stimulus movement, suggesting that this property is first processed more centrally. Color and spatial opponent cells were encountered with the same frequency, respectively, in small and large animals, but orientation units were encountered much more frequently in large fish. If not caused by electrode sampling bias, this supports the idea that the density of amacrine cell synapses is positively correlated with receptive field complexity.