Neuronal Circuitry Of The Local Edge Detector Retinal Ganglion Cell

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Neuronal Circuitry of the Local Edge Detector Retinal Ganglion Cell

Author : Thomas Lee Russell
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 102 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (769 download)

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Book Synopsis Neuronal Circuitry of the Local Edge Detector Retinal Ganglion Cell by : Thomas Lee Russell

Download or read book Neuronal Circuitry of the Local Edge Detector Retinal Ganglion Cell written by Thomas Lee Russell and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Detection of visual borders is an essential function for transforming the visual scene into perceivable boundaries. Avian predators, for example, are able to recognize complex textured borders of conspicuous prey. It has been suggested that the process of border perception begins as early as in the retina through a class of ganglion cell, the local edge detector (LED), which responds selectively to luminance edges. But what neuronal circuitry is used to accomplish this, and can this circuitry also be used to detect complex textured borders? Here we use patch-clamp electrophysiology to show that selectivity to luminance edges in the LED is accomplished by surround-originated feedback inhibition that suppresses excitation via GABAa and GABAc receptors. Furthermore, we find that excitatory circuitry has several characteristics that facilitate independent responses of individual bipolar cells to features as small as one-eighth the size of the LED's receptive field. This enables the LED to respond to areas of texture even if they contain no net luminance change. We observed that feedback inhibition is similarly activated by small features, which in turn causes excitation not only to respond selectively to luminance edges, but also to boundaries of luminance-neutral texture in synthetic and natural scenes, as well as a noise-suppression function suggested by modeling. We also characterized direct feedforward inhibition to the LED, and found it to be cospatial with excitation, glycinergic, and sensitive to small features as well. These characteristics enable the suppression of spikes during rapid luminance shifts, encoding an "edge in time". Our results suggest mechanisms by which three kinds of edges can be encoded by the retina and transmitted through a specialized channel to higher visual areas in the brain.

Webvision

Author : Helga Kolb
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (53 download)

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Book Synopsis Webvision by : Helga Kolb

Download or read book Webvision written by Helga Kolb and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The New Visual Neurosciences

Author : John S. Werner
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262019167
Total Pages : 1693 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis The New Visual Neurosciences by : John S. Werner

Download or read book The New Visual Neurosciences written by John S. Werner and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-10-25 with total page 1693 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive review of contemporary research in the vision sciences, reflecting the rapid advances of recent years. Visual science is the model system for neuroscience, its findings relevant to all other areas. This essential reference to contemporary visual neuroscience covers the extraordinary range of the field today, from molecules and cell assemblies to systems and therapies. It provides a state-of-the art companion to the earlier book The Visual Neurosciences (MIT Press, 2003). This volume covers the dramatic advances made in the last decade, offering new topics, new authors, and new chapters. The New Visual Neurosciences assembles groundbreaking research, written by international authorities. Many of the 112 chapters treat seminal topics not included in the earlier book. These new topics include retinal feature detection; cortical connectomics; new approaches to mid-level vision and spatiotemporal perception; the latest understanding of how multimodal integration contributes to visual perception; new theoretical work on the role of neural oscillations in information processing; and new molecular and genetic techniques for understanding visual system development. An entirely new section covers invertebrate vision, reflecting the importance of this research in understanding fundamental principles of visual processing. Another new section treats translational visual neuroscience, covering recent progress in novel treatment modalities for optic nerve disorders, macular degeneration, and retinal cell replacement. The New Visual Neurosciences is an indispensable reference for students, teachers, researchers, clinicians, and anyone interested in contemporary neuroscience. Associate Editors Marie Burns, Joy Geng, Mark Goldman, James Handa, Andrew Ishida, George R. Mangun, Kimberley McAllister, Bruno Olshausen, Gregg Recanzone, Mandyam Srinivasan, W.Martin Usrey, Michael Webster, David Whitney Sections Retinal Mechanisms and Processes Organization of Visual Pathways Subcortical Processing Processing in Primary Visual Cortex Brightness and Color Pattern, Surface, and Shape Objects and Scenes Time, Motion, and Depth Eye Movements Cortical Mechanisms of Attention, Cognition, and Multimodal Integration Invertebrate Vision Theoretical Perspectives Molecular and Developmental Processes Translational Visual Neuroscience

Encoding Visual Features by Parallel Ganglion Cell Initiated Pathways in the Healthy, Diseased and Artificial Retina

Author : Béla Völgyi
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2889631052
Total Pages : 115 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (896 download)

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Book Synopsis Encoding Visual Features by Parallel Ganglion Cell Initiated Pathways in the Healthy, Diseased and Artificial Retina by : Béla Völgyi

Download or read book Encoding Visual Features by Parallel Ganglion Cell Initiated Pathways in the Healthy, Diseased and Artificial Retina written by Béla Völgyi and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2019-10-16 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Photons are sensed by retinal photoreceptors whose matrix-like distribution underlies the transformation of illumination patterns of the visual scene into photoreceptor activity patterns in a visuotopic fashion. Activity of neighboring photoreceptors then are compared by secondary bipolar cells to decipher information regarding luminosity- and color-contrast. Bipolar cells achieve this by comparing signals received directly from their center receptive field with those come from spatially offset surrounding receptive field areas mediated by inhibitory, sign-inverting horizontal cells. This information is ultimately sent to retinal ganglion cells, the output neurons of the retina. In addition to the excitatory bipolar cell inputs, spatial and temporal features of ganglion cell activation are robustly modified by inner retinal amacrine cells through inhibitory chemical and/or excitatory electrical synaptic inputs. Ganglion cells sample various bipolar cell subtypes in their dendritic field and utilize collected inputs to generate a spike output code on luminosity-contrast, color-contrast, object motion, background motion, motion direction, changes in background illumination in a subtype specific manner. Ganglion cells in each subtype cover the retinal surface economically, thus collective information across the population provide a feature pattern and through time a feature movie to the brain. Some of these movies are utilized for image perception, whereas others are sent to accessory visual brain centers to control eye-movement, pupil contraction or circadian entrainment. A large body of information has been revealed in the past decade regarding this field, however much of the details still remain unknown or even enigmatic, including: (i) the precise description of neural circuits that serve each ganglion cell subtype to generate a specific feature movie; (ii) the estimation of the number of various ganglion cell subtypes that partake in image forming and non-image forming signaling towards the brain; (iii) the description of changes in the inputs, morphology and signaling of retinal ganglion cells when the tissue is under stress or undergoes disease related degenerative processes; (iv) the comparison of ganglion cell classes with those of the human retina and finally, (v) the practical use of all the above information to establish retina inspired visual algorithms to suit computer, drone and/or robotic vision. Therefore, research articles in this issue were collected to touch upon each of these topics and highlight recent advances of the related field.

Eye, Retina, and Visual System of the Mouse

Author : Leo M. Chalupa
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 026203381X
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Eye, Retina, and Visual System of the Mouse by : Leo M. Chalupa

Download or read book Eye, Retina, and Visual System of the Mouse written by Leo M. Chalupa and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive guide to current research captures the first wave of studies in the field, with fifty-nine chapters by leading scholars that demonstrate the usefulness of mouse models as a bridge between experimental and clinical research. The opening chapters introduce the mouse as a species and research model, discussing such topics as the mouse's evolutionary history and the mammalian visual system. Subsequent sections explore more specialized subjects, considering optics, psychophysics, and the visual behaviors of mice; the organization of the adult mouse eye and central visual system; the development of the mouse eye (including comparisons to human development); the development and plasticity of retinal projections and visuotopic maps; mouse models for human eye disease (including glaucoma and cataracts); and the application of advanced genomic technologies (including gene therapy and genetic knockouts) to the mouse visual system. Readers of this reference will see th.

Development and Organization of the Retina

Author : Leo M. Chalupa
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1461553334
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (615 download)

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Book Synopsis Development and Organization of the Retina by : Leo M. Chalupa

Download or read book Development and Organization of the Retina written by Leo M. Chalupa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development and Organization of the Retina offers an invaluable survey of contemporary research issues and methods dealing with the retina and retinal projections. The book's 19 chapters report on investigations into two areas: research into the organization of the mature retina and work on developmental issues. A sampling of chapter topics includes -- embryonic patterning of cone subtypes in the mammalian retina -- synaptic transmission between retinal neurons -- scaling the retina, macro and micro -- retinal ganglion cell axonal transport, and more.

Sensory Neural Networks

Author : Bahram Nabet
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 1351357891
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis Sensory Neural Networks by : Bahram Nabet

Download or read book Sensory Neural Networks written by Bahram Nabet and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sensory information is detected and transformed by sensory neural networks before reaching higher levels of processing. These networks need to perform significant processing tasks while being compatible with the following levels. Lateral inhibition is a mechanism of local neuronal interaction that produces significant global properties. This book discusses those sensory neural networks influenced by nonlinear lateral inhibition. It features biological bases of lateral inhibition models, computational properties of these models that stress their short term adaptive behavior, their relation to recent activity in neural networks and connectionist systems, their use for image processing applications, and their application to motion detection. Descriptions from different technologies of analog hardware implementations of these classes of networks are described and results from implementations that corroborate theoretical analysis and show technologically desirable applications are presented. The book also uses nonlinear mathematical techniques to analyze temporal and spatial behavior of models presented within the text. Sensory Neural Networks: Lateral Inhibition is an interdisciplinary work that will prove useful to neural network theorists, biologists, circuit designers, and vision scientists.

Neural Engineering

Author : Chris Eliasmith
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262550604
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (56 download)

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Book Synopsis Neural Engineering by : Chris Eliasmith

Download or read book Neural Engineering written by Chris Eliasmith and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A synthesis of current approaches to adapting engineering tools to the study of neurobiological systems.

The Visual Neurosciences

Author : John Simon Werner
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262033089
Total Pages : 975 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis The Visual Neurosciences by : John Simon Werner

Download or read book The Visual Neurosciences written by John Simon Werner and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 975 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential reference book for visual science.

Parallel Processing in the Visual System

Author : Jonathan Stone
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1468444336
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (684 download)

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Book Synopsis Parallel Processing in the Visual System by : Jonathan Stone

Download or read book Parallel Processing in the Visual System written by Jonathan Stone and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-08 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-sixties, John Robson and Christina Enroth-Cugell, without realizing what they were doing, set off a virtual revolution in the study of the visual system. They were trying to apply the methods of linear systems analysis (which were already being used to describe the optics of the eye and the psychophysical performance of the human visual system) to the properties of retinal ganglion cells in the cat. Their idea was to stimulate the retina with patterns of stripes and to look at the way that the signals from the center and the antagonistic surround of the respective field of each ganglion cell (first described by Stephen Kuffier) interact to generate the cell's responses. Many of the ganglion cells behaved themselves very nicely and John and Christina got into the habit (they now say) of calling them I (interesting) cells. However. to their annoyance, the majority of neurons they recorded had nasty, nonlinear properties that couldn't be predicted on the basis of simple summ4tion of light within the center and the surround. These uncoop erative ganglion cells, which Enroth-Cugell and Robson at first called D (dull) cells, produced transient bursts of impulses every time the distribution of light falling on the receptive field was changed, even if the total light flux was unaltered.

Motion Processing in the Mouse Retina

Author : Tahnbee Kim
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 111 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis Motion Processing in the Mouse Retina by : Tahnbee Kim

Download or read book Motion Processing in the Mouse Retina written by Tahnbee Kim and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recognizing object motion is one of the essential visual functions for survival. Object motion information is first detected by the retina. Among approximately 30 different types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), some motion detecting RGCs (e.g. direction-selectivity, differential motion detection, edge detection) have been identified. However, except for the direction-selective retinal circuit, specific circuit components and underlying mechanisms of motion information processing in the retina are poorly understood. Recent findings show amacrine cells (ACs), inhibitory interneurons in the inner retina, often determine response properties of retinal outputs (e.g. direction selectivity). ACs are the most diverse neuronal class in the retina yet only a few types are thoroughly studied. Studying characteristics of specific AC types and their functional roles in the circuit is crucial to understanding how the retina processes object motion information. The second chapter of my thesis focuses on one type of AC, the VG3-AC, which expresses vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGluT3). In order to analyze VG3-ACs{u2019} receptive field properties, I first examined light responses of VG3-ACs in the flat-mounted retina to broad sets of visual stimuli under 2-photon guidance in VGluT3-Cre transgenic mice. My results demonstrate that VG3-ACs detect object motion. Furthermore, I explored the functional role of VG3-ACs in the retinal circuit. The activation pattern of a RGC type called W3-RGC, also known as local edge detecting RGC, exactly corresponded to responses of VG3-ACs. Anatomical reconstruction of the circuit elicited the connectivity between VG3- ACs and W3-RGCs. Then, by comparing wild-type and VGluT3 knock-out mice, I demonstrated that W3-RGCs receive object motion sensitive (OMS) glutamatergic input from VG3-ACs. Another interesting feature of this OMS circuit is the strong surround suppression occurring in the inner retina, which enables both VG3-ACs and W3-RGCs to remain silent to the global image motion. Pharmacological evidence suggested wide-field and/or spiking ACs are the source of the inhibition. The specific AC types, however, have not been identified. To address this question, in chapter 3, I explored candidate cell types using transgenic mouse lines expressing Cre recombinase, mainly tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-Cre transgenic mice. In 2-photon guided patch clamp recordings, response patterns of TH2-ACs to object motion visual stimuli corresponded to inhibitory inputs of both VG3-ACs and W3-RGCs. Through optogenetics, functional connectivity of TH2-ACs to VG3-ACs and W3-RGCs is tested. Then, in order to understand how TH2-ACs contribute to the OMS circuit, I generated conditional knockouts of the vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter (VIAAT) and evaluate responses of VG3-ACs and W3-RGCs to motion visual stimuli. The fourth chapter of my thesis investigated whether motion processing in the retina can alter visually guided behaviors of the animal. Looming visual stimuli, also called approaching motion visual stimuli, evoke defensive behaviors of the animal. Brain networks that mediate this defensive response have recently been identified. In the retina, however, it is unknown whether a single or multiple neural circuits contribute to encoding looming stimulus detection to drive such a behavior. Recent optogenetic studies demonstrated VG3- ACs connect to several downstream RGCs. W3-RGC and OFF[alpha]-RGC are two RGC types considered to receive glutamatergic input from VG3-ACs and to detect looming stimulus. Thus, I tested the responses of VG3-ACs to approaching motion visual stimuli and compared them to the excitatory input W3- and OFF[alpha]-RGCs receive. Then, I examined whether removing VG3-ACs in the mature retinal circuit affects responses of W3-RGCs and OFF[alpha] - RGCs, and defensive behaviors of the animal. Overall, my thesis work reveals characteristics of the VG3-AC type, contributions of VG3-AC in motion information processing in retinal circuits and in animal's defensive behavior, and underlying synaptic mechanisms of VG3-ACs in an aspect of their feature-selectively tuned excitatory input to downstream partners.

The Primate Visual System

Author : Jon H. Kaas
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 0203507592
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis The Primate Visual System by : Jon H. Kaas

Download or read book The Primate Visual System written by Jon H. Kaas and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2003-07-28 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last 20 years of research have been marked by exceptional progress in understanding the organization and functions of the primate visual system. This understanding has been based on the wide application of traditional and newly emerging methods for identifying the functionally significant subdivisions of the system, their interconnections, the

Development and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cell Circuits

Author : Nai-Wen Tien
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 103 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Development and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cell Circuits by : Nai-Wen Tien

Download or read book Development and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cell Circuits written by Nai-Wen Tien and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The function of our nervous system relies on specific patterns of synaptic connections between diverse neuronal cell types. My thesis research addressed how cell-type-specific patterns of connectivity emerge in the developing mouse retina and how they enable mature retinal neurons to detect specific sensory stimuli. Spike trains of the approximately 40 retinal ganglion cell (RGC) types in mammals encode specific features and events in the visual world, and are the sole source of visual information to the brain. Recent studies have begun to dissect the presynaptic circuits underlying diverse RGC light responses, but how cell-type-specific retinal circuits emerge during development is poorly understood. The first part of my dissertation explored the plasticity of the ON alpha (ON[alpha]-) RGC circuit. I found that developmental removal of the dominant excitatory input to ON[alpha]-RGCs triggers cell-type-specific rewiring, which precisely preserves ON[alpha]-RGCs' characteristic light responses including high contrast sensitivity. Spiking neurons, including RGCs, typically encode sensory information by increasing firing rates in the presence of preferred stimuli. Suppressed-by-Contrast (SbC-) RGCs are unique in that they signal changes in luminance (i.e., contrast) by decreasing rather than increasing spiking. Taking advantages of mouse genetics, in the second part of my thesis, I characterized SbC-RGCs' responses to complex stimuli and identified the synaptic mechanisms underlying their suppressive contrast encoding. Interestingly, I found that VGluT3-expressing amacrine cells (VG3-ACs) are dual transmitter neurons that release excitatory and inhibitory transmitters in a target-specific manner, and VG3-ACs specifically contributes to OFF inhibition to SbC-RGCs in response to small stimuli. Finally, using an intersectional transgenic approach, I preferentially labeled SbC-RGCs and mapped their central projections to explore the contribution of SbC-RGCs to vision.

Emergence of Functional Circuits in the Early Visual Pathway

Author : Jaeson Jang
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 9811900310
Total Pages : 138 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (119 download)

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Book Synopsis Emergence of Functional Circuits in the Early Visual Pathway by : Jaeson Jang

Download or read book Emergence of Functional Circuits in the Early Visual Pathway written by Jaeson Jang and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-04-29 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the emergence of diverse functional organizations in the visual pathway which could be spontaneously and solely initiated by the random feedforward wiring of neural circuits. It demonstrates that the structure of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cell (RGC) mosaics is projected onto V1 by retino-cortical feedforward mapping to induce higher cognitive functions. This book will be beneficial for both theoretical and experimental neuroscientists, as well as for researchers using brain-inspired neural network models.

Eye, Brain, and Vision

Author : David H. Hubel
Publisher : W. H. Freeman
ISBN 13 : 9780716760092
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Eye, Brain, and Vision by : David H. Hubel

Download or read book Eye, Brain, and Vision written by David H. Hubel and published by W. H. Freeman. This book was released on 1995-05-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over thirty years, Nobel Prize winner David H. Hubel has been at the forefront of research on questions of vision. In Eye, Brain, and Vision, he brings you to the edge of current knowledge about vision, and explores the tasks scientists face in deciphering the many remaining mysteries of vision and the workings of the human brain.

Vision

Author : David Marr
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262514621
Total Pages : 429 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Vision by : David Marr

Download or read book Vision written by David Marr and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-07-09 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available again, an influential book that offers a framework for understanding visual perception and considers fundamental questions about the brain and its functions. David Marr's posthumously published Vision (1982) influenced a generation of brain and cognitive scientists, inspiring many to enter the field. In Vision, Marr describes a general framework for understanding visual perception and touches on broader questions about how the brain and its functions can be studied and understood. Researchers from a range of brain and cognitive sciences have long valued Marr's creativity, intellectual power, and ability to integrate insights and data from neuroscience, psychology, and computation. This MIT Press edition makes Marr's influential work available to a new generation of students and scientists. In Marr's framework, the process of vision constructs a set of representations, starting from a description of the input image and culminating with a description of three-dimensional objects in the surrounding environment. A central theme, and one that has had far-reaching influence in both neuroscience and cognitive science, is the notion of different levels of analysis—in Marr's framework, the computational level, the algorithmic level, and the hardware implementation level. Now, thirty years later, the main problems that occupied Marr remain fundamental open problems in the study of perception. Vision provides inspiration for the continuing efforts to integrate knowledge from cognition and computation to understand vision and the brain.

Mapping Cellular and Synaptic Distributions in the Mouse Retina

Author : Adam Anthony Bleckert
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 189 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (893 download)

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Book Synopsis Mapping Cellular and Synaptic Distributions in the Mouse Retina by : Adam Anthony Bleckert

Download or read book Mapping Cellular and Synaptic Distributions in the Mouse Retina written by Adam Anthony Bleckert and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first step in perception occurs within the circuits of an organism's sensory systems. Throughout many sensory modalities, diverse arrays of neurons are often spatially organized to sample salient features and/or regions within the external environment. Furthermore, within a neuronal circuit, each individual neuron must form correct patterns of connectivity with its synaptic partners to perform the computations necessary to extract and encode these particular features or regions. This thesis attempts to demonstrate how mapping the distributions of the principle output neurons of the retina, the retinal ganglion cells, and their patterns of synaptic connectivity can provide insight to how information within the external environment is sampled and encoded from a synaptic to cellular circuit level within the first stage of the visual system. In Chapter 1, I provide an overview of the importance of understanding cellular and synaptic distributions across neuronal circuits, and how they are established during development. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that mapping the topographies of functionally and morphologically distinct types of retinal ganglion cells may reveal how visual space is sampled by the mouse retina. In Chapter 3, I utilize a combination of light and electron microscopy to demonstrate that the distributions of inhibitory and excitatory synaptic sites across individual retinal ganglion cells show spatial constraints that may reflect stereotyped patterns of local circuit connectivity. In chapter 4, I assess how inhibitory and excitatory patterns of synaptic connectivity onto individual retinal ganglion cells are established during development by selectively disrupting inhibitory neurotransmission in the retina. In Chapter 5, I summarize the results from each preceding chapter and provide some future directions for questions raised from this work.