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Electrical coupling between red and green cones in primate retina

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 745–750 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Color vision in humans and other Old World primates depends on differences in the absorption properties of three spectral types of cone photoreceptors. Primate cones are linked by gap junctions, but it is not known to what extent the various cone types are electrically coupled through these junctions. Here we show, by using a combination of dye labeling and electrical recordings in the retina of macaque monkeys, that neighboring red and green cones are homologously and heterologously coupled by nonrectifying gap junctions. This indiscriminate coupling blurs the differences between red- and green-cone signals. The average junctional conductance is about 650 pS. Our calculations indicate that coupling between red and green cones may cause a modest decrease in human color discrimination with a comparable increase in luminance discrimination.

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Figure 1: Dye coupling between cones.
Figure 2: Electrical coupling between adjacent red and green cones is indiscriminate.
Figure 3: Temporal frequency characteristics of electrical coupling.
Figure 4: Cone spectral sensitivity is altered by electrical coupling between red and green cones.
Figure 5: Collected results of spectral sensitivity measurements.
Figure 6: Blue cones do not receive electrical input from other types of cones.
Figure 7: Predicted effects of cone-cone coupling on human wavelength discrimination.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Baylor, D. Copenhagen, P. Li, W. Makous, D. Schneeweis and M. Tessier-Lavigne for comments on the manuscript, D. Copenhagen for valuable assistance with confocal microscopy and S. Massey for discussions on dye labeling. This work was supported by grants EY07642, EY07001 and EY07120 from the NIH and a grant from That Man May See, Inc. Additional support was received from Research to Prevent Blindness.

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  1. Departments of Ophthalmology and Physiology, University of California, 10 Kirkham Street, San Francisco, 94143-0730, California, USA

    Eric P Hornstein, Jan Verweij & Julie L Schnapf

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Correspondence to Eric P Hornstein or Julie L Schnapf.

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Hornstein, E., Verweij, J. & Schnapf, J. Electrical coupling between red and green cones in primate retina. Nat Neurosci 7, 745–750 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1274

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