Polarization sensitivity: Two models for information processing in the crayfish visual system

Photoreceptor sensitivity to the e-vector of polarized light was measured with micropipettes filled with Lucifer Yellow. The terminals of the dye injected cells were located in the two plexiform layers of the lamina ganglionaris (first optic ganglion). Receptors with greater sensitivity to horizontally polarized light projected their terminals to the proximal plexiform layer (epl2) and those with greater sensitivity to vertically polarized light projected their terminals to the distal plexiform layer (epl 1). The e-vector sensitivity of several other cell types was also measured with micropipettes filled with Lucifer Yellow. The sensitivity to rotating polarized light was also measured in several cell types in the lamina ganglionaris and the chiasm. Tangential cells Tan1 and Tan 2 were recorded from and filled with dye for morphological identification. T-neurons (T1), which are single cartridge cells, were also impaled and their response to both rotating and stationary polarized light was measured. From the results presented a new model of information channeling is proposed. The model suggests that extracolumnar units are primary channels of polarization sensitivity information to the SFs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.