The significance of antidromic potentiation and induced activity in the retina

Abstract

It is argued that 'The significance of antidromic potentiation and induced activity in the retina' (the title of this article) concerns two identical effects and that both are the outward sign of the existence of a specific organization in the retina. For this reason they can serve as a valuable criterion for identifying activity in this organization. This activity is assumed to be in the nature of a self-excitation by positive feedback in the amacrine circuits of certain Y-cells. Relevant literature has been reviewed. These Y-cells, whose spectral response curve is of the dominator type, play a prominent role in stimulation by intermittent light and in the perception of luminosity. Several properties of intermittent stimulation are mentioned and held to motivate a renewal of the attention of visual experimenters to 'flicker' and its after-effects.