Transmitters in the Visual Process is a compilation of papers presented at a symposium of the Fifth International Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry in Barcelona in September 1975. This collection presents a multidisciplinary field of study on visual transmitter physiology, pharmacology, and intracellular transmitters. One paper discusses the structure and mechanism of the visual system of vertebrates that consists of cells that transmit photon signals absorbed in a photoreceptor cell to the brain. This book focuses on which transmitter is involved at that certain point where the signal crosses the gap between two stimulated adjacent membranes. One paper then examines the role of cyclic nucleotides in the functions of the rod outer segment, which is the sensitive part, of the photoreceptor cell. The different kinds of chemicals, such as calcium, taurine, gamma-amino butyric acid, glycine, and biogenic monoamines are examined as to their role as transmitters in the retina. This book concludes with a presentation of the results of a study done on the neurotransmitters and the isolated optic tract-superior colliculus of a guinea pig. This compendium will serve the needs of biochemists, medical students, and researchers in the fields of ophthalmology and neurophysiology.
