scholarly journals Linear and nonlinear chromatic integration in the mouse retina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Khani ◽  
Tim Gollisch
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Cone Type ◽  
Classical Studies

AbstractThe computation performed by a neural circuit depends on how it integrates its input signals into an output of its own. In the retina, ganglion cells integrate visual information over time, space, and chromatic channels. Unlike the former two, chromatic integration in the retina is largely unexplored. Analogous to classical studies of spatial integration, we here studied chromatic integration in mouse retina by identifying chromatic stimuli for which activation from one cone type is maximally balanced by deactivation in the other cone type. This revealed nonlinear chromatic integration in subsets of On, Off, and On-Off ganglion cells. Nonlinear On cells differed from the other two classes by displaying response suppression rather than activation under balanced chromatic stimulation. Furthermore, nonlinear chromatic integration occurs independently of nonlinear spatial integration, depends on inhibitory signals from the receptive field surround, and may provide information about chromatic boundaries, such as the skyline in natural scenes.

scholarly journals Linear and nonlinear chromatic integration in the mouse retina

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Khani ◽  
Tim Gollisch
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Color Channel ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Classical Studies ◽  
Input Signals

AbstractThe computations performed by a neural circuit depend on how it integrates its input signals into an output of its own. In the retina, ganglion cells integrate visual information over time, space, and chromatic channels. Unlike the former two, chromatic integration is largely unexplored. Analogous to classical studies of spatial integration, we here study chromatic integration in mouse retina by identifying chromatic stimuli for which activation from the green or UV color channel is maximally balanced by deactivation through the other color channel. This reveals nonlinear chromatic integration in subsets of On, Off, and On–Off ganglion cells. Unlike the latter two, nonlinear On cells display response suppression rather than activation under balanced chromatic stimulation. Furthermore, nonlinear chromatic integration occurs independently of nonlinear spatial integration, depends on contributions from the rod pathway and on surround inhibition, and may provide information about chromatic boundaries, such as the skyline in natural scenes.

scholarly journals Differential expression of PKCα and -β in the zebrafish retina

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion F. Haug ◽  
Manuela Berger ◽  
Matthias Gesemann ◽  
Stephan C. F. Neuhauss
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Retinal Tissue ◽  
Kinase C

AbstractThe retina is a complex neural circuit in which visual information is transmitted and processed from light perceiving photoreceptors to projecting retinal ganglion cells. Much of the computational power of the retina rests on signal integrating interneurons, such as bipolar cells in the outer retina. While mammals possess about 10 different bipolar cell types, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has at least six ON-type, seven OFF-type, and four mixed-input bipolar cells. Commercially available antibodies against bovine and human conventional protein kinase C (PKC) α and -β are frequently used as markers for retinal ON-bipolar cells in different species, despite the fact that it is not known which bipolar cell subtype(s) they actually label.Moreover, the expression pattern of the five prkc genes (coding for PKC proteins) has not been systematically determined. While prkcg is not expressed in retinal tissue, the other four prkc (prkcaa, prkcab, prkcba, prkcbb) transcripts were found in different parts of the inner nuclear layer and some as well in the retinal ganglion cell layer.Immunohistochemical analysis in adult zebrafish retina using PKCα and PKCβ antibodies showed an overlapping immunolabeling of ON-bipolar cells that are most likely of the BON s6L or RRod type and of the BON s6 type. However, comparison of transcript expression with immunolabling, implies that these antibodies are not specific for one single zebrafish conventional PKC, but rather detect a combination of PKC -α and -β variants.

scholarly journals A simulation study on the effect of ionic currents on transmission from cones to retinal OFF type cone bipolar cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
Akito Ishihara
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Light Stimulus ◽  
Ionic Currents ◽  
Ionic Channels ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Glutamate Concentration ◽  
Cone Bipolar Cells

The retinal cone bipolar cells are interneurons which receive inputs from cone photoreceptors and send outputs to retinal ganglion cells. Several subtypes of bipolar cells have been identified by morphology and electrophysiology in the mammalian retina, which convey distinct visual information to higher order neurons in parallel. The neural circuit in the retina not only converts light information to neural . information, but also performs visual information preprocessing that has not yet been fully understood. Recently, it has been revealed that the neural circuits in retinas of higher vertebrates, such as mammals and primates, have various biophysical properties arising from being composed of ionic channels, ionic pumps, and neurotransmitter receptors. Analysis using a mathematical model based on their ionic mechanisms is essential to understand the visual information processing in the retinal neural circuit of the higher vertebrates. The cones and the bipolar cells respond to continuous variation of light with a graded potential, in an analog manner. Especially, glutamate is continuously released from a cone synapse in the dark and is decreased by hyperpolarization of the cone that receives the light stimulus. The alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) and kainate type ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) of the OFF type bipolar cells (OFF-BCs) exhibit partial or nearly complete desensitization in the sustained presence of glutamate. In the dark, glutamate concentration in the synaptic cleft of the cone pedicle rises to 0.1–0.5 mM.5,6 The baseline glutamate concentration depends on a sustained hyperpolarization of the cone by light. Thus, for understanding the working of the OFF-BCs, it is important to elucidate the mechanisms of synaptic transmission from cones to OFF-BCs via iGluRs, which undergo desensitization in the various background light conditions. Furthermore, there are various kinds of ionic channels in OFF-BCs that mediate membrane potential responses. It is considered that information transmitted from cones to OFF-BCs is modulated by the intrinsic ionic currents. We analyzed how ionic currents of OFF-BCs contribute to the transmission of light responses by developing a mathematical model.

scholarly journals GABAA presynaptic inhibition regulates the gain and kinetics of retinal output neurons

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Nagy ◽  
Briana Ebbinghaus ◽  
Mrinalini Hoon ◽  
Raunak Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Presynaptic Inhibition ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Axon Terminals ◽  
Kinetics Of

Output signals of neural circuits, including the retina, are shaped by a combination of excitatory and inhibitory signals. Inhibitory signals can act presynaptically on axon terminals to control neurotransmitter release and regulate circuit function. However, it has been difficult to study the role of presynaptic inhibition in most neural circuits due to lack of cell-type specific and receptor-type specific perturbations. In this study, we used a transgenic approach to selectively eliminate GABAA inhibitory receptors from select types of second order neurons - bipolar cells - in mouse retina and examined how this affects the light response properties of the well-characterized ON alpha ganglion cell retinal circuit. Selective loss of GABAA receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition causes an enhanced sensitivity and slower kinetics of light-evoked responses from ON alpha ganglion cells thus highlighting the role of presynaptic inhibition in gain control and temporal filtering of sensory signals in a key neural circuit in the mammalian retina.

scholarly journals Decorrelation of retinal response to natural scenes by fixational eye movements

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 3110-3115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Yonit Segal ◽  
Chen Giladi ◽  
Michael Gedalin ◽  
Michele Rucci ◽  
Mor Ben-Tov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Spatial Correlations ◽  
Fixational Eye Movements ◽  
Spatiotemporal Signal

Under natural viewing conditions the input to the retina is a complex spatiotemporal signal that depends on both the scene and the way the observer moves. It is commonly assumed that the retina processes this input signal efficiently by taking into account the statistics of the natural world. It has recently been argued that incessant microscopic eye movements contribute to this process by decorrelating the input to the retina. Here we tested this theory by measuring the responses of the salamander retina to stimuli replicating the natural input signals experienced by the retina in the presence and absence of fixational eye movements. Contrary to the predictions of classic theories of efficient encoding that do not take behavior into account, we show that the response characteristics of retinal ganglion cells are not sufficient in themselves to disrupt the broad correlations of natural scenes. Specifically, retinal ganglion cells exhibited strong and extensive spatial correlations in the absence of fixational eye movements. However, the levels of correlation in the neural responses dropped in the presence of fixational eye movements, resulting in effective decorrelation of the channels streaming information to the brain. These observations confirm the predictions that microscopic eye movements act to reduce correlations in retinal responses and contribute to visual information processing.

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 Pathway-specific asymmetries between ON and OFF visual signals

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sneha Ravi ◽  
Daniel Ahn ◽  
Martin Greschner ◽  
E.J Chichilnisky ◽  
Greg D. Field
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Temporal Integration ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Alpha Cells ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
On And Off Pathways

AbstractVisual processing is largely organized into ON and OFF pathways that signal stimulus increments and decrements, respectively. These pathways exhibit natural pairings based on morphological and physiological similarities, such as ON and OFF alpha ganglion cells in the mammalian retina. Several studies have noted asymmetries in the properties of ON and OFF pathways. For example, the spatial receptive fields (RFs) of OFF alpha cells are systematically smaller than ON alpha cells. Analysis of natural scenes suggests these asymmetries are optimal for visual encoding. To test the generality of ON-OFF asymmetries, we measured the spatiotemporal RF properties of multiple RGC types in rat retina. Through a quantitative and serial classification, we identified three functional pairs of ON and OFF RGCs. We analyzed the structure of their RFs and compared spatial integration, temporal integration, and gain across ON and OFF pairs. Similar to previous results from cat and primate, RGC types with larger spatial RFs exhibited briefer temporal integration and higher gain. However, each pair of ON and OFF RGC types exhibited distinct asymmetric relationships between receptive field properties, some of which were opposite to previous reports. These results reveal the functional organization of six RGC types in the rodent retina and indicate that ON-OFF asymmetries are pathway specific.Significance StatementCircuits that process sensory input frequently process increments separately from decrements, so called ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ responses. Theoretical studies indicate this separation, and associated asymmetries in ON and OFF pathways, may be beneficial for encoding natural stimuli. However, the generality of ON and OFF pathway asymmetries has not been tested. Here we compare the functional properties of three distinct pairs of ON and OFF pathways in the rodent retina and show their asymmetries are pathway specific. These results provide a new view on the partitioning of vision across diverse ON and OFF signaling pathways

scholarly journals The emergence of multiple retinal cell types through efficient coding of natural movies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Ocko ◽  
Jack Lindsey ◽  
Surya Ganguli ◽  
Stephane Deny
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Retinal Cell ◽  
Retinal Eccentricity ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Efficient Coding ◽  
Cell Densities

AbstractOne of the most striking aspects of early visual processing in the retina is the immediate parcellation of visual information into multiple parallel pathways, formed by different retinal ganglion cell types each tiling the entire visual field. Existing theories of efficient coding have been unable to account for the functional advantages of such cell-type diversity in encoding natural scenes. Here we go beyond previous theories to analyze how a simple linear retinal encoding model with different convolutional cell types efficiently encodes naturalistic spatiotemporal movies given a fixed firing rate budget. We find that optimizing the receptive fields and cell densities of two cell types makes them match the properties of the two main cell types in the primate retina, midget and parasol cells, in terms of spatial and temporal sensitivity, cell spacing, and their relative ratio. Moreover, our theory gives a precise account of how the ratio of midget to parasol cells decreases with retinal eccentricity. Also, we train a nonlinear encoding model with a rectifying nonlinearity to efficiently encode naturalistic movies, and again find emergent receptive fields resembling those of midget and parasol cells that are now further subdivided into ON and OFF types. Thus our work provides a theoretical justification, based on the efficient coding of natural movies, for the existence of the four most dominant cell types in the primate retina that together comprise 70% of all ganglion cells.

scholarly journals Nonlinear spatial integration underlies the diversity of retinal ganglion cell responses to natural stimuli

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimokratis Karamanlis ◽  
Tim Gollisch
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Natural Stimuli ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Nonlinear Processing ◽  
Standard Linear ◽  
Sensory Encoding

AbstractHow neurons encode natural stimuli is a fundamental question for sensory neuroscience. In the early visual system, standard encoding models assume that neurons linearly filter incoming stimuli through their receptive fields, but artificial stimuli, such as reversing gratings, often reveal nonlinear spatial processing. We investigated whether such nonlinear processing is relevant for the encoding of natural images in ganglion cells of the mouse retina. We found that standard linear receptive field models fail to capture the spiking activity for a large proportion of cells. These cells displayed pronounced sensitivity to fine spatial contrast, and local signal rectification was identified as the dominant nonlinearity. In addition, we also observed a class of nonlinear ganglion cells with opposite tuning for spatial contrast and a particular sensitivity for spatially homogeneous stimuli. Our work highlights receptive field nonlinearities as a crucial component for understanding early sensory encoding in the context of natural stimuli.

scholarly journals Non-parametric physiological classification of retinal ganglion cells in the mouse retina

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Jouty ◽  
Gerrit Hilgen ◽  
Evelyne Sernagor ◽  
Matthias H. Hennig
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Distance Measure ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
High Density ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Electrode Arrays

Retinal ganglion cells, the sole output neurons of the retina, exhibit surprising diversity. A recent study reported over 30 distinct types in the mouse retina, indicating that the processing of visual information is highly parallelised in the brain. The advent of high density multi-electrode arrays now enables recording from many hundreds to thousands of neurons from a single retina. Here we describe a method for the automatic classification of large-scale retinal recordings using a simple stimulus paradigm and a spike train distance measure as a clustering metric. We evaluate our approach using synthetic spike trains, and demonstrate that major known cell types are identified in high-density recording sessions from the mouse retina with around 1000 retinal ganglion cells. A comparison across different retinas reveals substantial variability between preparations, suggesting pooling data across retinas should be approached with caution. As a parameter-free method, our approach is broadly applicable for cellular physiological classification in all sensory modalities.

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