Parasol cells

A parasol cell is one type of retinal ganglion cell located in the ganglion cell layer of the retina. Parasol cells project their axons to the magnocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus, where they synapse with magnocellular cells. These cells are known as parasol retinal ganglion cells, based on the large sizes of their dendritic trees and cell bodies. About 10% of retinal ganglion cells are parasol cells in the magnocellular pathway. They receive inputs from relatively many rods and cones. They have fast conduction velocity, and can respond to low-contrast stimuli, but are not very sensitive to changes in color. They have much larger receptive fields which are nonetheless also center-surround.