The ganglion cell and cone distributions in the monkey's retina: implications for central magnification factors.

The distribution of cones and ganglion cells was determined in whole-mounted monkey retinae. Ganglion cell density along the horizontal meridian was asymmetric, being up to three times greater in nasal retina. A similar but smaller asymmetry occurred with cones. The total number of ganglion cells varied from 1.4 to 1.8 X 10(6), agreeing well with counts of optic nerve axons. The variation of ganglion cell density with eccentricity indicates the magnification factor (MF) of the retina. This was compared with MF at the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and at striate cortex, revealing that the relative representation of the fovea increases substantially in both thalamus and cortex.