About this book
Introduction
This volume is a collection of essays which attempts to summarize the recent progress in the field of photoreceptor and retinal physiology. Reflecting the way in which research is organized, each author reports on the studies performed with the techniques with which he is most familiar: morpholo gical, chemical or physiological. The first chapters describe the structure of visual cells and the histological architecture of the retina. Next comes a summary of the laws governing photochemical reactions and a report on the biochemistry of photopigments. Four articles cover the optical properties of invertebrate eyes and the electrophysiology and the interactions of their photoreceptors. These are followed by a discussion of the properties of vertebrate eyes, including chapters on optics, on the electrical responses of rods and cones and on the functional organization of the retina. The final chapter provides an extensive review of retinal biochemistry and metabolism. Even though the experimental approach differs, all studies are directed toward the solution of two basic problems: transduction in the photoreceptors and orga nization (often called "information processing") in the retina. The central problem of photoreceptor cells is to determine how light produces a response. We know that illumination evokes electrical changes and we have recently learned a great deal about the features of these changes. The evidence indicates however that elaborate processes must be interposed between the ab sorption of photons by the pigment and the production of electric currents through the membrane. These intermediary cvents remain to be unraveled.
Keywords
Lichtsinn Netzhaut Organs biochemistry cells chemistry metabolism optics organizations physiology retina
Authors and affiliations
- I. Abramov
- P. O’Bryan
- C. G. Bernhard
- M. G. F. Fuortes
- G. Gemne
- P. Gouras
- H. K. Hartline
- A. Kropf
- W. R. Levick
- J. Z. Levinson
- D. Mauzerall
- F. Ratliff
- G. Seitz
- W. Sickel
- W. K. Stell
- T. Tomita
- O. Trujillo-Cenoz
- G. Westheimer
- A. I. Cohen
- 1.The Rockefeller UniversityNew YorkUSA
- 2.Fysiologiska Institutionen IIKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
- 3.National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUSA
- 4.Department of PhysiologyKarolinska InstitutetStockholm 60Sweden
- 5.Laboratory of Vision Research, National Eye InstituteNational Institutes of HealthBethesdaUSA
- 6.Dept. of ChemistryAmherst CollegeAmherstUSA
- 7.Department of Physiology, John Curtin School of Medical ResearchAustralian National UniversityCanberra CityAustralia
- 8.Dept. of PsychologyUniversity of MarylandCollege ParkUSA
- 9.Rockefeller UniversityNew YorkUSA
- 10.2. Zoologisches Institut der UniversitätErlangenGermany
- 11.Dept. of PhysiologyUniversity of CologneKöln 41Germany
- 12.Jules Stein Eye Institute, The Center for the Health SciencesUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesUSA
- 13.Department of PhysiologyKeio University School of MedicineShinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, TokyoJapan
- 14.Department of Ophthalmology and Visual ScienceYale University School of MedicineNew HavenUSA
- 15.Departamento de Ultrastructura CellularInstituto de Investigation de Ciencias BiologicasMontevideoUruguay
- 16.Department of Physiology-AnatomyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyUSA
- 17.Ophthalmology DepartmentWashington University Medical SchoolSt. LouisUSA
Editors and affiliations
- 1.National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUSA
Bibliographic information