retinal bipolar cells
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Please help … Physiology?
How retinal rods "stimulate" bipolar cells, where they receive the light?
reducing the amount of glutamate release. In the dark retinal photoreceptor glutamate release that act to inhibit some cells bipolar (while stimulating others). When exposed to light the amount of glutamate released by the photoreceptor cells is reduced. In some bipolar cells that leads to a reduction in potassium current (glutamate opens a potassium channel) and therefore the relative depolarization (stimulation). These are the cells in the center. Other cells (outside the cells in the heart) are stimulated by glutamate, which opens a sodium channel leading to depolarization (stimulus) of the cell. By Therefore, in response to light, which decreases glutamate, these bipolar cells is disabled.