Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Here we review evidence that loss of photoreceptors due to degenerative retinal disease causes an increase in the rate of spontaneous ganglion spike discharge. Information about persistent spike activity is important since it is expected to add noise to the communication between the eye and the brai...

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Main Authors: David J. Margolis, Peter B. Detwiler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:Journal of Ophthalmology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/507037
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author David J. Margolis
Peter B. Detwiler
author_facet David J. Margolis
Peter B. Detwiler
author_sort David J. Margolis
collection DOAJ
description Here we review evidence that loss of photoreceptors due to degenerative retinal disease causes an increase in the rate of spontaneous ganglion spike discharge. Information about persistent spike activity is important since it is expected to add noise to the communication between the eye and the brain and thus impact the design and effective use of retinal prosthetics for restoring visual function in patients blinded by disease. Patch-clamp recordings from identified types of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells in the adult (36–210 d old) rd1 mouse show that the ongoing oscillatory spike activity in both cell types is driven by strong rhythmic synaptic input from presynaptic neurons that is blocked by CNQX. The recurrent synaptic activity may arise in a negative feedback loop between a bipolar cell and an amacrine cell that exhibits resonant behavior and oscillations in membrane potential when the normal balance between excitation and inhibition is disrupted by the absence of photoreceptor input.
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spelling doaj-art-5bca8d629ec845eab21a9092b355509d2025-02-03T05:58:17ZengWileyJournal of Ophthalmology2090-004X2090-00582011-01-01201110.1155/2011/507037507037Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis PigmentosaDavid J. Margolis0Peter B. Detwiler1Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USAProgram in Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USAHere we review evidence that loss of photoreceptors due to degenerative retinal disease causes an increase in the rate of spontaneous ganglion spike discharge. Information about persistent spike activity is important since it is expected to add noise to the communication between the eye and the brain and thus impact the design and effective use of retinal prosthetics for restoring visual function in patients blinded by disease. Patch-clamp recordings from identified types of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells in the adult (36–210 d old) rd1 mouse show that the ongoing oscillatory spike activity in both cell types is driven by strong rhythmic synaptic input from presynaptic neurons that is blocked by CNQX. The recurrent synaptic activity may arise in a negative feedback loop between a bipolar cell and an amacrine cell that exhibits resonant behavior and oscillations in membrane potential when the normal balance between excitation and inhibition is disrupted by the absence of photoreceptor input.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/507037
spellingShingle David J. Margolis
Peter B. Detwiler
Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
Journal of Ophthalmology
title Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
title_full Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
title_fullStr Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
title_full_unstemmed Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
title_short Cellular Origin of Spontaneous Ganglion Cell Spike Activity in Animal Models of Retinitis Pigmentosa
title_sort cellular origin of spontaneous ganglion cell spike activity in animal models of retinitis pigmentosa
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/507037
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