Ganglion cells in the goldfish retina: correlation of light-evoked response and morphology

Goldfish retinal ganglion cells were intracellularly stained with horseradish peroxidase after recording their responses to a predetermined set of test stimuli. Depolarizing responses were elicited by cells differing in shapes and sizes of their somata and dendritic fields; these cells were mostly bistratified in the inner plexiform layer (sublamina b and distal sublamina a). Hyperpolarizing responses were generated by cells monostratified in a, and by cells bistratified in a and at the a/b border. Responses that were hyperpolarizing to long wavelengths and involving large superimposed depolarizations for short wavelengths were recorded from cells with somata displaced in the inner nuclear layer. The latter cell group had wide, elliptical dendritic fields (confined to the distal sublamina a) and very fine axons. The ganglion cell types recorded are compared with morphological classification schemes proposed from earlier studies. Possible "structure-function" relations are also discussed.