The sense of vision begins in the retina, where light is detected and processed through a complex series of synaptic connections into meaningful information relayed to the brain via retinal ganglion cells. Light responses begin as tonic and graded signals in photoreceptors, later emerging from the retina as a series of spikes from ganglion cells. Processing by the retina extracts critical features of the visual world, including spatial frequency, temporal frequency, motion direction, color, contrast, and luminance. To achieve this, the retina has evolved specialized and unique synapse types. These include the ribbon synapses of photoreceptors and bipolar cells, the dendritic synapses of amacrine and horizontal cells, and unconventional synaptic feedback from horizontal cells to photoreceptors. We review these unique synapses in the retina with a focus on the presynaptic molecules and physiological properties that shape their capabilities.

中文翻译：

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突触前蛋白及其在视网膜视觉处理中的作用

视觉开始于视网膜，光线通过一系列复杂的突触连接被检测和处理成有意义的信息，并通过视网膜神经节细胞传递给大脑。光反应开始时是光感受器中的强直和分级信号，随后从视网膜中以神经节细胞发出的一系列尖峰形式出现。视网膜的处理提取视觉世界的关键特征，包括空间频率、时间频率、运动方向、颜色、对比度和亮度。为了实现这一目标，视网膜进化出了专门且独特的突触类型。这些包括感光细胞和双极细胞的带状突触、无长突细胞和水平细胞的树突突触，以及从水平细胞到感光细胞的非常规突触反馈。我们回顾了视网膜中这些独特的突触，重点关注突触前分子和塑造其功能的生理特性。