Antidromically activated direction selective ganglion cells of the rabbit.

To determine the conduction velocities and the retinofugal projections of the direction selective ganglion cells of the rabbit retina, these cells were stimulated antidromically from the chiasma opticum (CH), the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the superior colliculus (SC). The cells showed conduction velocities of 20-8 m/sec. The range of the latencies showed a significant overlap with the latencies of the transient and sustained ON and OFF-cells. Approximately 25% of the cells in the rabbit's retina are described as being direction selective. These cells show a maximal response to the movement of a stimulus in the "preferred direction" but little or no response to movements in the opposite direction ("null direction") [1].