Synaptic transmission from rods to horizontal cells in dark-adapted tiger salamander retina
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Patch Clamp Recordings from Mouse Retinal Neurons in a Dark-adapted Slice Preparation
Published on: September 12, 2010
1Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
Abstract:
Synaptic transmission between rods and horizontal cells (HCs) was studied by simultaneously recording from the pre- and postsynaptic cells in the living retinal slices of the larval tiger salamander. Voltage tails after the termination of a flash were observed in dark-adapted rods and HC somata, but not in cones. These simultaneously recorded voltage tails were used to isolate the rod input from the cone input to the HCs. The rod voltage versus the HC voltage in the response tails yielded the input-output relation of the rod-HC synapse. Two factors, a luminance-dependent signal delay between the rod and HC responses and a voltage-dependent depolarizing current in the HCs, complicate the analysis of the rod-HC synapse. A single input-output relation of the rod-HC synapse was obtained after these two factors had been corrected. The rod-HC synapse was approximately linear near the rod dark potential (-40 mV) with a synaptic gain around 12, but it became progressively nonlinear at more hyperpolarized potentials. The synaptic gain at Vrod = -50 mV was about 0.65.
Related Concept Videos
The Retina
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory organs,...
Anatomy of the Eyeball
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

