The Retina: An Approachable Part of the Brain

Abstract

Retinology relates to several biologic disciplines but mostly to that of the eye and brain. Morphologists view the retina as an extraordinary network of neurons and neuroglia that challenge each new method for cellular identification. Neurophysiologists approach the subject in terms of function, with a heavy dependence on electrophysical and biochemical resources. Clinicians and pathologists see the human retina as a target of numerous deviations that require correction. Dowling is a preeminent neurobiologist and morphologist with a rich background in electron microscopy, electrophysiology, and small-animal experimentation. As a successor to Wald and an academic colleague of Kuffler, he presents an authoritative and thoroughly readable text, well illustrated with graphs, explanatory diagrams, and electron micrographs. "... an excellent record of the dynamic state of retinology..." Early cytologic studies, based for the most part on silver-impregnation techniques and more recently on intracellular dye injection, identified the relay of the photoreceptor-bipolar-ganglion cell chain with