Influence of cell morphology in a computational model of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells

We developed anatomically and biophysically detailed ionic models to understand how cell morphology contributes to the unique firing patterns of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). With identical voltage-gated channel kinetics and distribution, cell morphology alone is sufficient to generate quantitatively distinct electrophysiological responses. Notably, recent experimental observations from ON and OFF RGCs can be closely reproduced by the variations in their cell morphologies alone. Our results suggest that RGC morphology in conjunction with biophysical properties and network connectivity are able to produce the diverse response repertoire of RGCs.