A suprachiasmatic nucleus projecting retinal ganglion cell exhibits an unusually large dendritic field in the hamster.

The majority of retinal ganglion cells innervating the suprachiasmatic nucleus are intrinsically light sensitive, while the rest are conventional ganglion cells that collect inputs through conventional photoreceptors. Here we report a rarely encountered ganglion cell that had a dendritic field covering approximately 14.4% of retinal surface and its processes ramified in both the inner and the outer plexiform layers. This cell could have a potential role in detecting luminance changes over a large area of retinal surface.