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parvocellular cell

{{short description|Type of neuron located in the thalamus}}

{{distinguish|Parvocellular neurosecretory cell}}

{{About|the lateral geniculate nucleus cell||Parvocellular (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox neuron

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| location = Lateral geniculate nucleus

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In neuroscience, parvocellular cells, also called P-cells, are neurons located within the parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus. Their name comes {{ety|la|parvus|small}}, due to the small size of the cell compared to the larger magnocellular cells. Phylogenetically, parvocellular neurons are more modern than magnocellular ones.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

Function

Image:lateral geniculate nucleus.png

The parvocellular neurons of the visual system receive their input from midget cells, a type of retinal ganglion cell, whose axons comprise the optic tract. These synapses occur in one of the four dorsal parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus. The information from each eye is kept separate at this point, and continues to be segregated until processing in the visual cortex. The electrically-encoded visual information leaves the parvocellular cells via relay cells in the optic radiations, traveling to the primary visual cortex layer 4C-β. The parvocellular neurons are sensitive to colour,{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Xiangmin |last2=Ichida |first2=Jennifer M. |last3=Allison |first3=John D. |last4=Boyd |first4=Jamie D. |last5=Bonds |first5=A. B. |last6=Casagrande |first6=Vivien A. |title=A comparison of koniocellular, magnocellular and parvocellular receptive field properties in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus) |journal=J. Physiol. |volume=531 |issue=Pt 1 |pages=203–18 |date=February 2001 |pmid=11179404 |pmc=2278453 |doi= 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.0203j.x}} and are more capable of discriminating fine details than their magnocellular counterparts. Parvocellular cells have greater spatial resolution, but lower temporal resolution, than the magnocellular cells.

See also

References

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External links

{{Diencephalon}}

{{Visual pathways}}

Category:Visual system

Category:Thalamus