In vivo chromatic and spatial tuning of foveolar retinal ganglion cells in Macaca fascicularis

The primate fovea is specialized for high acuity chromatic vision, with the highest density of cone photoreceptors and a disproportionately large representation in visual cortex. The unique visual properties conferred by the fovea are conveyed to the brain by retinal ganglion cells, the somas of which lie at the margin of the foveal pit. Microelectrode recordings of these centermost retinal ganglion cells have been challenging due to the fragility of the fovea in the excised retina. Here we overcome this challenge by combining high resolution fluorescence adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy with calcium imaging to optically record functional responses of foveal retinal ganglion cells in the living eye. We use this approach to study the chromatic responses and spatial transfer functions of retinal ganglion cells using spatially uniform fields modulated in different directions in color space and monochromatic drifting gratings. We recorded from over 350 cells across three Macaca fascicularis primates over a time period of weeks to months. We find that the majority of the L vs. M cone opponent cells serving the most central foveolar cones have spatial transfer functions that peak at high spatial frequencies (20–40 c/deg), reflecting strong surround inhibition that sacrifices sensitivity at low spatial frequencies but preserves the transmission of fine detail in the retinal image. In addition, we fit to the drifting grating data a detailed model of how ganglion cell responses draw on the cone mosaic to derive receptive field properties of L vs. M cone opponent cells at the very center of the foveola. The fits are consistent with the hypothesis that foveal midget ganglion cells are specialized to preserve information at the resolution of the cone mosaic. By characterizing the functional properties of retinal ganglion cells in vivo through adaptive optics, we characterize the response characteristics of these cells in situ.