scholarly journals Superior Colliculus-Projecting GABAergic Retinal Ganglion Cells Mediate Looming-Evoked Flight Response

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Luo ◽  
Danrui Cai ◽  
Kejiong Shen ◽  
Qinqin Deng ◽  
Xinlan Lei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Flight Behavior ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Flight Response ◽  
Defensive Behaviors ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe looming stimulus-evoked flight response is an experimental paradigm for studying innate defensive behaviors. However, how the visual looming stimulus is transmitted from the retina to the brain remains poorly understood. Here, we report that superior colliculus (SC)-projecting RGCs transmit the looming signal from the retina to the brain to mediate the looming-evoked flight behavior by releasing GABA. In the mouse retina, GABAergic RGCs are capable of projecting to many brain areas, including the SC. Superior colliculus (SC)-projecting GABAergic RGCs (spgRGCs) are mono-synaptically connected to the parvalbumin-positive SC neurons known to be required for the looming-evoked flight response. Optogenetic activation of spgRGCs triggers GABA-mediated inhibition in SC neurons. The ablation or silence of spgRGCs compromises looming-evoked flight response but not image-forming functions. Therefore, this study shows that spgRGCs control the looming-evoked flight response by regulating SC neurons via GABA, providing novel insight into the regulation of innate defensive behaviors.

scholarly journals Distinct ipRGC subpopulations mediate light's acute and circadian effects on body temperature and sleep

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan C. Rupp ◽  
Michelle Ren ◽  
Cara Altimus ◽  
Diego Fernandez ◽  
Melissa Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Sensory Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Genetic Ablation ◽  
Acute Changes ◽  
Mood And Cognition ◽  
The Brain

The light environment greatly impacts human alertness, mood, and cognition by acute regulation of physiology and indirect alignment of circadian rhythms. Both processes require the melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), but the relevant downstream brain areas remain elusive. ipRGCs project widely in the brain, including to the central circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here we show that body temperature and sleep responses to light are absent after genetic ablation of all ipRGCs except a subpopulation that projects to the SCN. Furthermore, by chemogenetic activation of the ipRGCs that avoid the SCN, we show that these cells are sufficient for acute changes in body temperature. Our results challenge the idea that the SCN is a major relay for the acute effects of light on non-image forming behaviors and identify the sensory cells that initiate light's profound effects on body temperature and sleep.

The Retinal Basis of Vertebrate Color Vision

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Baden ◽  
D. Osorio
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Color Processing ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into

The jawless fish that were ancestral to all living vertebrates had four spectral cone types that were probably served by chromatic-opponent retinal circuits. Subsequent evolution of photoreceptor spectral sensitivities is documented for many vertebrate lineages, giving insight into the ecological adaptation of color vision. Beyond the photoreceptors, retinal color processing is best understood in mammals, especially the blueONsystem, which opposes short- against long-wavelength receptor responses. For other vertebrates that often have three or four types of cone pigment, new findings from zebrafish are extending older work on teleost fish and reptiles to reveal rich color circuitry. Here, horizontal cells establish diverse and complex spectral responses even in photoreceptor outputs. Cone-selective connections to bipolar cells then set up color-opponent synaptic layers in the inner retina, which lead to a large variety of color-opponent channels for transmission to the brain via retinal ganglion cells.

scholarly journals Spatial Expression Pattern of the Major Ca2+-buffer Proteins in the Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Kovács-Öller ◽  
Gergely Szarka ◽  
Ádám J Tengölics ◽  
Alma Ganczer ◽  
Boglárka Balogh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Cluster Number ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Spatial Expression Pattern ◽  
Complementary Function ◽  
The Brain

The most prevalent Ca2+-buffer proteins (CaBPs: parvalbumin—PV; calbindin—CaB; calretinin—CaR) are widely expressed by various neurons throughout the brain, including the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Even though their retinal expression has been extensively studied, a coherent assessment of topographical variations is missing. To examine this, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the mouse retina. We found variability in the expression levels and cell numbers for CaR, with stronger and more numerous labels in the dorso-central area. CaBP+ cells contributed to RGCs with all soma sizes, indicating heterogeneity. We separated 4-9 RGC clusters in each area based on expression levels and soma sizes. Besides the overall high variety in cluster number and size, the peripheral half of the temporal retina showed the greatest cluster number, indicating a better separation of RGC subtypes there. Multiple labels showed that 39% of the RGCs showed positivity for a single CaBP, 30% expressed two CaBPs, 25% showed no CaBP expression and 6% expressed all three proteins. Finally, we observed an inverse relation between CaB and CaR expression levels in CaB/CaR dually- and CaB/CaR/PV triple labeled RGCs, suggesting a mutual complementary function.

scholarly journals Retinal Axon Interplay for Binocular Mapping

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coralie Fassier ◽  
Xavier Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Genetic Approach ◽  
Developmental Mechanisms ◽  
Competitive Mechanisms ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Retinal Axon ◽  
Processing Of Visual Information

In most mammals, retinal ganglion cell axons from each retina project to both sides of the brain. The segregation of ipsi and contralateral projections into eye-specific territories in their main brain targets—the dorsolateral geniculate nucleus and the superior colliculus—is critical for the processing of visual information. The investigation of the developmental mechanisms contributing to the wiring of this binocular map in mammals identified competitive mechanisms between axons from each retina while interactions between axons from the same eye were challenging to explore. Studies in vertebrates lacking ipsilateral retinal projections demonstrated that competitive mechanisms also exist between axons from the same eye. The development of a genetic approach enabling the differential manipulation and labeling of neighboring retinal ganglion cells in a single mouse retina revealed that binocular map development does not only rely on axon competition but also involves a cooperative interplay between axons to stabilize their terminal branches. These recent insights into the developmental mechanisms shaping retinal axon connectivity in the brain will be discussed here.

scholarly journals Layer-specific developmentally precise axon targeting of transient suppressed-by-contrast retinal ganglion cells (tSbC RGCs)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nai-Wen Tien ◽  
Tudor Constantin Badea ◽  
Daniel Kerschensteiner
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Axon Targeting ◽  
Feature Representations ◽  
Specific Subset ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Target Set ◽  
The Brain

The mouse retina encodes diverse visual features in the spike trains of more than 40 retinal ganglion cell (RGC) types. Each RGC type innervates a specific subset of the more than 50 retinorecipient brain areas. Our catalog of RGC types and feature representations is nearing completion. Yet, we know little about where specific RGC types send their information. Furthermore, the developmental strategies by which RGC axons choose their targets and pattern their terminal arbors remain obscure. Here we identify a genetic intersection (Cck-Cre and Brn3cCKOAP) that selectively labels transient Suppressed-by-Contrast (tSbC) RGCs, a member of an evolutionarily conserved functionally mysterious RGC subclass. We find that tSbC RGCs selectively innervate the dorsolateral and ventrolateral geniculate nuclei of the thalamus (dLGN and vLGN), the superior colliculus (SC), and the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT). They binocularly innervate dLGN and vLGN but project only contralaterally to SC and NOT. In each target, tSbC RGC axons occupy a specific sublayer, suggesting that they restrict their input to specific circuits. The tSbC RGC axons span the length of the optic tract by birth and remain poised there until they simultaneously innervate their four targets around postnatal day five. The tSbC RGC axons make no errors in choosing their targets and establish mature stratification patterns from the outset. This precision is maintained in the absence of Brn3c. Our results provide the first map of SbC inputs to the brain, revealing a narrow target set, unexpected laminar organization, target-specific binocularity, and developmental precision.

Postnatal innervation of the rat superior colliculus by axons of late-born retinal ganglion cells

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1295-1304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Dallimore ◽  
Qi Cui ◽  
Lyn D. Beazley ◽  
Alan R. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion

scholarly journals Photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells control the information rate of the optic nerve

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (50) ◽  
pp. E11817-E11826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Milosavljevic ◽  
Riccardo Storchi ◽  
Cyril G. Eleftheriou ◽  
Andrea Colins ◽  
Rasmus S. Petersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optic Nerve ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Light Irradiance ◽  
The Brain

Information transfer in the brain relies upon energetically expensive spiking activity of neurons. Rates of information flow should therefore be carefully optimized, but mechanisms to control this parameter are poorly understood. We address this deficit in the visual system, where ambient light (irradiance) is predictive of the amount of information reaching the eye and ask whether a neural measure of irradiance can therefore be used to proactively control information flow along the optic nerve. We first show that firing rates for the retina’s output neurons [retinal ganglion cells (RGCs)] scale with irradiance and are positively correlated with rates of information and the gain of visual responses. Irradiance modulates firing in the absence of any other visual signal confirming that this is a genuine response to changing ambient light. Irradiance-driven changes in firing are observed across the population of RGCs (including in both ON and OFF units) but are disrupted in mice lacking melanopsin [the photopigment of irradiance-coding intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs)] and can be induced under steady light exposure by chemogenetic activation of ipRGCs. Artificially elevating firing by chemogenetic excitation of ipRGCs is sufficient to increase information flow by increasing the gain of visual responses, indicating that enhanced firing is a cause of increased information transfer at higher irradiance. Our results establish a retinal circuitry driving changes in RGC firing as an active response to alterations in ambient light to adjust the amount of visual information transmitted to the brain.

scholarly journals Inverse oculomotor responses of achiasmatic mice expressing a transfer-defective Vax1 mutant

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang Wook Min ◽  
Namsuk Kim ◽  
Jae Hoon Lee ◽  
Younghoon Sung ◽  
Museong Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Optic Chiasm ◽  
Stereoscopic Vision ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Optic Stalk ◽  
Intercellular Transfer ◽  
Oculomotor Responses

ABSTRACTIn animals that exhibit stereoscopic visual responses, the axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) connect to brain areas bilaterally by forming a commissure called the optic chiasm (OC). Ventral anterior homeobox 1 (Vax1) contributes to formation of the OC, acting endogenously in optic pathway cells and exogenously in growing RGC axons. Here, we generated Vax1AA/AA mice expressing the Vax1AA mutant, which is selectively incapable of intercellular transfer. We found that RGC axons cannot take up Vax1AA protein from Vax1AA/AA mouse optic stalk (OS) cells, of which maturation is delayed, and fail to access the midline. Consequently, RGC axons of Vax1AA/AA mice connect exclusively to ipsilateral brain areas, resulting in the loss of stereoscopic vision and the inversed oculomotor responses. Together, our study provides physiological evidence for the necessity of intercellular transfer of Vax1 and the importance of the OC in binocular visual responses.

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