Specificity of cone inputs to macaque retinal ganglion cells

The specificity of cone inputs to ganglion cells has implications for the development of retinal connections and the nature of information transmitted to higher areas of the brain. We introduce a rapid and precise method for measuring signs and magnitudes of cone inputs to visual neurons. Colors of stimuli are modulated around circumferences of three color planes in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. For each neuron, the projection of the preferred vector in each plane was estimated by averaging the response phases to clockwise and counterclockwise modulation. The signs and weights of cone inputs were derived directly from the preferred vectors. The efficiency of the method enables us to measure cone inputs at different temporal frequencies and short-wavelength-sensitive (S) cone adaptation levels. The results show that S-cone inputs to the parvocellular and magnocellular ganglion cells are negligible, which implies underlying connectional specificity in the retinal circuitry.