Alpha cell in ferret retina

Pictured here is an alpha ganglion cell within the retina of a ferret. The cell was labelled with a fluorescent yellow dye.

Axons of the ganglion cells make up the optic nerve and carry the signals from the retina to the brain. The alpha cells are large, and carry signals relating to movement and coarse aspects of visual data.

The green stained patches in the background are the cell bodies of other retinal ganglion cells whose axons and dendrties have not been labelled.