scholarly journals Strong and specific connections between retinal axon mosaics and midbrain neurons revealed by large scale paired recordings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Sibille ◽  
Carolin Gehr ◽  
Jonathan I. Benichov ◽  
Hymavathy Balasubramanian ◽  
Kai Lun Teh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
High Density ◽  
List Type ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Midbrain Neurons

SUMMARYThe superior colliculus (SC) is a midbrain structure that plays important roles in visually guided behaviors. Neurons in the SC receive afferent inputs from retinal ganglion cells (RGC), the output cells of the retina, but how SC neurons integrate RGC activity in vivo is unknown. SC neurons might be driven by strong but sparse retinal inputs, thereby reliably transmitting specific retinal functional channels. Alternatively, SC neurons could sum numerous but weak inputs, thereby extracting new features by combining a diversity of retinal signals. Here, we discovered that high-density electrodes simultaneously capture the activity and the location of large populations of retinal axons and their postsynaptic SC target neurons, permitting us to investigate the retinocollicular circuit on a structural and functional level in vivo. We show that RGC axons in the mouse are organized in mosaics that provide a single cell precise representation of the retina as input to SC. This isomorphic mapping between retina and SC builds the scaffold for highly specific wiring in the retinocollicular circuit which we show is characterized by strong connections and limited functional convergence, established in log-normally distributed connection strength. Because our novel method of large-scale paired recordings is broadly applicable for investigating functional connectivity across brain regions, we were also able to identify retinal inputs to the avian optic tectum of the zebra finch. We found common wiring rules in mammals and birds that provide a precise and reliable representation of the visual world encoded in RGCs to neurons in retinorecipient areas.HIGHLIGHTSHigh-density electrodes capture the activity of afferent axons and target neurons in vivoRetinal ganglion cells axons are organized in mosaicsSingle cell precise isomorphism between dendritic and axonal RGC mosaicsMidbrain neurons are driven by sparse but strong retinal inputsFunctional wiring of the retinotectal circuit is similar in mammals and birds

scholarly journals Molecular classification of zebrafish retinal ganglion cells links genes to cell types to behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Kölsch ◽  
Joshua Hahn ◽  
Anna Sappington ◽  
Manuel Stemmer ◽  
António M. Fernandes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Molecular Classification ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Marker Genes ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Retinal Ganglion

SummaryRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) form an array of feature detectors, which convey visual information to central brain regions. Characterizing RGC diversity is required to understand the logic of the underlying functional segregation. Using single-cell transcriptomics, we systematically classified RGCs in adult and larval zebrafish, thereby identifying marker genes for at least 33 stable and transient cell types. We used this dataset to engineer transgenic driver lines, enabling experimental access to specific RGC types. Strikingly, expression of one or few transcription factors often predicts dendrite morphologies and axonal projections to specific tectal layers and extratectal targets. In vivo calcium imaging revealed that molecularly defined RGCs exhibit highly specific functional tuning. Finally, chemogenetic ablation of eomesa+ RGCs, which comprise melanopsin-expressing types with projections to a small subset of central targets, selectively impaired phototaxis. Together, our study establishes a framework for systematically studying the functional architecture of the visual system.

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.

scholarly journals Spatial receptive field properties of rat retinal ganglion cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
WALTER F. HEINE ◽  
CHRISTOPHER L. PASSAGLIA
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Ganglion Cell ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Y Cells

AbstractThe rat is a popular animal model for vision research, yet there is little quantitative information about the physiological properties of the cells that provide its brain with visual input, the retinal ganglion cells. It is not clear whether rats even possess the full complement of ganglion cell types found in other mammals. Since such information is important for evaluating rodent models of visual disease and elucidating the function of homologous and heterologous cells in different animals, we recorded from rat ganglion cells in vivo and systematically measured their spatial receptive field (RF) properties using spot, annulus, and grating patterns. Most of the recorded cells bore likeness to cat X and Y cells, exhibiting brisk responses, center-surround RFs, and linear or nonlinear spatial summation. The others resembled various types of mammalian W cell, including local-edge-detector cells, suppressed-by-contrast cells, and an unusual type with an ON–OFF surround. They generally exhibited sluggish responses, larger RFs, and lower responsiveness. The peak responsivity of brisk-nonlinear (Y-type) cells was around twice that of brisk-linear (X-type) cells and several fold that of sluggish cells. The RF size of brisk-linear and brisk-nonlinear cells was indistinguishable, with average center and surround diameters of 5.6 ± 1.3 and 26.4 ± 11.3 deg, respectively. In contrast, the center diameter of recorded sluggish cells averaged 12.8 ± 7.9 deg. The homogeneous RF size of rat brisk cells is unlike that of cat X and Y cells, and its implication regarding the putative roles of these two ganglion cell types in visual signaling is discussed.

scholarly journals Otx2 Promotes the Survival of Damaged Adult Retinal Ganglion Cells and Protects against Excitotoxic Loss of Visual Acuity In Vivo

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 5495-5503 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. T. Ibad ◽  
J. Rheey ◽  
S. Mrejen ◽  
V. Forster ◽  
S. Picaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Loss Of Visual Acuity

Imaging Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells and Their Loss In Vivo by a Fundus Camera in the Normal and Ischemia-Reperfusion Model

2008 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 5546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Murata ◽  
Makoto Aihara ◽  
Yi-Ning Chen ◽  
Takashi Ota ◽  
Jiro Numaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Fundus Camera

scholarly journals Expression of a Barhl1a reporter in subsets of retinal ganglion cells and commissural neurons of the developing zebrafish brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahad Albadri ◽  
Olivier Armant ◽  
Tairi Aljand-Geschwill ◽  
Filippo Del Bene ◽  
Matthias Carl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Optic Chiasm ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Commissural Neurons ◽  
Axonal Projections ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
And Function

AbstractPromoting the regeneration or survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is one focus of regenerative medicine. Homeobox Barhl transcription factors might be instrumental in these processes. In mammals, only barhl2 is expressed in the retina and is required for both subtype identity acquisition of amacrine cells and for the survival of RGCs downstream of Atoh7, a transcription factor necessary for RGC genesis. The underlying mechanisms of this dual role of Barhl2 in mammals have remained elusive. Whole genome duplication in the teleost lineage generated the barhl1a and barhl2 paralogues. In the Zebrafish retina, Barhl2 functions as determinant of subsets of amacrine cells lineally related to RGCs independently of Atoh7. In contrast, barhl1a expression depends on Atoh7 but its expression dynamics and function have not been studied. Here we describe for the first time a Barhl1a:GFP reporter line in vivo showing that Barhl1a turns on exclusively in subsets of RGCs and their post-mitotic precursors. We also show transient expression of Barhl1a:GFP in diencephalic neurons extending their axonal projections as part of the post-optic commissure, at the time of optic chiasm formation. This work sets the ground for future studies on RGC subtype identity, axonal projections and genetic specification of Barhl1a-positive RGCs and commissural neurons.

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