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Retinal ganglion cell topography and spatial resolution of two parrot species: budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) and Bourke's parrot (Neopsephotus bourkii).

Mitkus, Mindaugas LU ; Chaib, Sandra ; Lind, Olle LU and Kelber, Almut LU (2014) In Journal of Comparative Physiology A 200(5). p.371-384
Abstract
Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) isodensity maps indicate important regions in an animal's visual field. These maps can also be combined with measures of focal length to estimate the theoretical visual acuity. Here we present the RGC isodensity maps and anatomical spatial resolving power in three budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) and two Bourke's parrots (Neopsephotus bourkii). Because RGCs were stacked in several layers, we modified the Nissl staining procedure to assess the cell number in the whole-mounted and cross-sectioned tissue of the same retinal specimen. The retinal topography showed surprising variation; however, both parrot species had an area centralis without discernable fovea. Budgerigars also had a putative area nasalis... (More)
Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) isodensity maps indicate important regions in an animal's visual field. These maps can also be combined with measures of focal length to estimate the theoretical visual acuity. Here we present the RGC isodensity maps and anatomical spatial resolving power in three budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) and two Bourke's parrots (Neopsephotus bourkii). Because RGCs were stacked in several layers, we modified the Nissl staining procedure to assess the cell number in the whole-mounted and cross-sectioned tissue of the same retinal specimen. The retinal topography showed surprising variation; however, both parrot species had an area centralis without discernable fovea. Budgerigars also had a putative area nasalis never reported in birds before. The peak RGC density was 22,300-34,200 cells/mm(2) in budgerigars and 18,100-38,000 cells/mm(2) in Bourke's parrots. The maximum visual acuity based on RGCs and focal length was 6.9 cyc/deg in budgerigars and 9.2 cyc/deg in Bourke's parrots. These results are lower than earlier behavioural estimates. Our findings illustrate that retinal topography is not a very fixed trait and that theoretical visual acuity estimations based on RGC density can be lower than the behavioural performance of the bird. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Comparative Physiology A
volume
200
issue
5
pages
371 - 384
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • pmid:24677162
  • wos:000334915100003
  • scopus:84899482424
  • pmid:24677162
ISSN
1432-1351
DOI
10.1007/s00359-014-0894-2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2a47ded9-9512-4662-bd8d-8356642bd519 (old id 4379541)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:26:00
date last changed
2022-04-27 22:02:58
@article{2a47ded9-9512-4662-bd8d-8356642bd519,
  abstract     = {{Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) isodensity maps indicate important regions in an animal's visual field. These maps can also be combined with measures of focal length to estimate the theoretical visual acuity. Here we present the RGC isodensity maps and anatomical spatial resolving power in three budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) and two Bourke's parrots (Neopsephotus bourkii). Because RGCs were stacked in several layers, we modified the Nissl staining procedure to assess the cell number in the whole-mounted and cross-sectioned tissue of the same retinal specimen. The retinal topography showed surprising variation; however, both parrot species had an area centralis without discernable fovea. Budgerigars also had a putative area nasalis never reported in birds before. The peak RGC density was 22,300-34,200 cells/mm(2) in budgerigars and 18,100-38,000 cells/mm(2) in Bourke's parrots. The maximum visual acuity based on RGCs and focal length was 6.9 cyc/deg in budgerigars and 9.2 cyc/deg in Bourke's parrots. These results are lower than earlier behavioural estimates. Our findings illustrate that retinal topography is not a very fixed trait and that theoretical visual acuity estimations based on RGC density can be lower than the behavioural performance of the bird.}},
  author       = {{Mitkus, Mindaugas and Chaib, Sandra and Lind, Olle and Kelber, Almut}},
  issn         = {{1432-1351}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{371--384}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Comparative Physiology A}},
  title        = {{Retinal ganglion cell topography and spatial resolution of two parrot species: budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) and Bourke's parrot (Neopsephotus bourkii).}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0894-2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00359-014-0894-2}},
  volume       = {{200}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}