EVIDENCE THAT RETINAL GANGLION-CELL DENSITY AFFECTS FOVEAL DEVELOPMENT

The monkey's foveola normally contains significant numbers of retinal ganglion cells. The somata of foveola cells are larger than those of o ther cells in the central retina. Their dendritic fields are up to 50 times larger in area than those of nearby cells in the foveal slope. E xperimentally induced reductions in the number of ganglion cells in ce ntral retina results in alterations in the size and distribution of ce lls within the foveola. In these animals the foveola is abnormally sma ll and contains an abnormally large number of cells having smaller tha n normal cell bodies and dendritic fields. These studies indicate that the formation of the foveola as well as the development of the morpho logy of cells within the foveola and foveal slope depend during develo pment on high densities of retinal ganglion cells within the central r etina.