In the
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
of the
eye
An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system.
In higher organisms, the ey ...
, the ganglion cell layer (ganglionic layer) is a layer of the
retina
The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...
that consists of
retinal ganglion cell
A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface (the ganglion cell layer) of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptor cell, photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: Bipolar ...
s and displaced
amacrine cells.
The cells are somewhat
flask-shaped; the rounded internal surface of each resting on the
stratum opticum, and sending off an
axon
An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences) is a long, slender cellular extensions, projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, ...
which is prolonged into it.
From the opposite end numerous dendrites extend into the
inner plexiform layer, where they branch and form flattened arborizations at different levels.
The ganglion cells vary much in size, and the
dendrites
A dendrite (from Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree") or dendron is a branched cytoplasmic process that extends from a nerve cell that propagates the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma ...
of the smaller ones as a rule arborize in the inner plexiform layer as soon as they enter it; while those of the larger cells ramify close to the
inner nuclear layer.
See also
*
Retinal nerve fiber layer
The retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) or nerve fiber layer, stratum opticum, is part of the anatomy of the eye.
Physical structure
The RNFL formed by the expansion of the fibers of the optic nerve; it is thickest near the optic disc, gradually d ...
References
External links
*
Human eye anatomy
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