Robustness of the Tuning of Fly Visual Interneurons to Rotatory Optic Flow

The sophisticated receptive field organization of motion-sensitive tangential cells in the visual system of the blowfly Calliphora vicina matches the structure of particular optic flow fields. Hypotheses on the tuning of particular tangential cells to rotatory self-motion are based on local motion measurements. So far, tangential cells have never been tested with global optic flow stimuli. Therefore we measured the responses of an identifiable neuron, the V1 tangential cell, to wide-field motion stimuli mimicking optic flow fields similar to those the fly encounters during particular self-motions. The stimuli were generated by a “planetarium-projector,” casting a pattern of moving light dots on a large spherical projection screen. We determined the tuning curves of the V1-cell to optic flow fields as induced by the animal during 1) rotation about horizontally aligned body axes, 2) upward/downward translation, and 3) a combination of both components. We found that the V1-cell does not respond as specifically to self-rotations, as had been concluded from its receptive field organization. The neuron responds strongly to upward translation and its tuning to rotations is much coarser than expected. The discrepancies between the responses to global optic flow and the predictions based on the receptive field organization are likely due to nonlinear integration properties of tangential neurons. Response parameters like orientation, shape, and width of the tuning curve are largely unaffected by changes in rotation velocity or a superposition of rotational and translational optic flow.

Download Full-text

Dendritic Structure and Receptive-Field Organization of Optic Flow Processing Interneurons in the Fly

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1998.79.4.1902 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 79 (4) ◽

pp. 1902-1917 ◽

Cited By ~ 171

Author(s):

Holger G. Krapp ◽

Bärbel Hengstenberg ◽

Roland Hengstenberg

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Dendritic Structure ◽

Head Orientation ◽

Subsequent Paper ◽

Local Motion ◽

Calliphora Erythrocephala ◽

Lobula Plate ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization

Krapp, Holger G., Bärbel Hengstenberg, and Roland Hengstenberg. Dendritic structure and receptive-field organization of optic flow processing interneurons in the fly. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1902–1917, 1998. The third visual neuropil (lobula plate) of the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala is a center for processing motion information. It contains, among others, 10 individually identifiable “vertical system” (VS) neurons responding to visual wide-field motions of arbitrary patterns. We demonstrate that each VS neuron is tuned to sense a particular aspect of optic flow that is generated during self-motion. Thus the VS neurons in the fly supply visual information for the control of head orientation, body posture, and flight steering. To reveal the functional organization of the receptive fields of the 10 VS neurons, we determined with a new method the distributions of local motion sensitivities and local preferred directions at 52 positions in the fly's visual field. Each neuron was identified by intracellular staining with Lucifer yellow and three-dimensional reconstructions from 10-μm serial sections. Thereby the receptive-field organization of each recorded neuron could be correlated with the location and extent of its dendritic arborization in the retinotopically organized neuropil of the lobula plate. The response fields of the VS neurons, i.e., the distributions of local preferred directions and local motion sensitivities, are not uniform but resemble rotatory optic flow fields that would be induced by the fly during rotations around various horizontal axes. Theoretical considerations and quantitative analyses of the data, which will be presented in a subsequent paper, show that VS neurons are highly specialized neural filters for optic flow processing and thus for the visual sensation of self-motions in the fly.

Download Full-text

Binocular Contributions to Optic Flow Processing in the Fly Visual System

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.2001.85.2.724 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 724-734 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

Holger G. Krapp ◽

Roland Hengstenberg ◽

Martin Egelhaaf

Keyword(s):

Optic Flow ◽

Functional Role ◽

Optic Lobe ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Flow Fields ◽

Wide Field ◽

Motion Information ◽

Local Motion ◽

Response Field

Integrating binocular motion information tunes wide-field direction-selective neurons in the fly optic lobe to respond preferentially to specific optic flow fields. This is shown by measuring the local preferred directions (LPDs) and local motion sensitivities (LMSs) at many positions within the receptive fields of three types of anatomically identifiable lobula plate tangential neurons: the three horizontal system (HS) neurons, the two centrifugal horizontal (CH) neurons, and three heterolateral connecting elements. The latter impart to two of the HS and to both CH neurons a sensitivity to motion from the contralateral visual field. Thus in two HS neurons and both CH neurons, the response field comprises part of the ipsi- and contralateral visual hemispheres. The distributions of LPDs within the binocular response fields of each neuron show marked similarities to the optic flow fields created by particular types of self-movements of the fly. Based on the characteristic distributions of local preferred directions and motion sensitivities within the response fields, the functional role of the respective neurons in the context of behaviorally relevant processing of visual wide-field motion is discussed.

Download Full-text

Spatiotemporal Receptive Field Properties of a Looming-Sensitive Neuron in Solitarious and Gregarious Phases of the Desert Locust

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00855.2009 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 103 (2) ◽

pp. 779-792 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Stephen M. Rogers ◽

George W. J. Harston ◽

Fleur Kilburn-Toppin ◽

Thomas Matheson ◽

Malcolm Burrows ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Schistocerca Gregaria ◽

Visual Space ◽

Lifestyle Changes ◽

Movement Detector ◽

Local Motion ◽

Gregarious Locusts ◽

Spatiotemporal Receptive Field ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization

Desert locusts ( Schistocerca gregaria ) can transform reversibly between the swarming gregarious phase and a solitarious phase, which avoids other locusts. This transformation entails dramatic changes in morphology, physiology, and behavior. We have used the lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) and its postsynaptic target, the descending contralateral movement detector (DCMD), which are visual interneurons that detect looming objects, to analyze how differences in the visual ecology of the two phases are served by altered neuronal function. Solitarious locusts had larger eyes and a greater degree of binocular overlap than those of gregarious locusts. The receptive field to looming stimuli had a large central region of nearly equal response spanning 120° × 60° in both phases. The DCMDs of gregarious locusts responded more strongly than solitarious locusts and had a small caudolateral focus of even further sensitivity. More peripherally, the response was reduced in both phases, particularly ventrally, with gregarious locusts showing greater proportional decrease. Gregarious locusts showed less habituation to repeated looming stimuli along the eye equator than did solitarious locusts. By contrast, in other parts of the receptive field the degree of habituation was similar in both phases. The receptive field organization to looming stimuli contrasts strongly with the receptive field organization of the same neurons to nonlooming local-motion stimuli, which show much more pronounced regional variation. The DCMDs of both gregarious and solitarious locusts are able to detect approaching objects from across a wide expanse of visual space, but phase-specific changes in the spatiotemporal receptive field are linked to lifestyle changes.

Download Full-text

Whether radial receptive field organization of the fourth extrastriate crescent (area V4A) gives special advantage for analysis of the optic flow. Comparison with the first crescent (area V2)

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-007-0980-6 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 182 (2) ◽

pp. 215-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. V. Levichkina ◽

A. A. Loshkarev ◽

E. I. Rodionova ◽

E. P. Popova ◽

I. N. Pigarev

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Area V2 ◽

Area V4a ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization

Download Full-text

Early visual experience and the receptive-field organization of optic flow processing interneurons in the fly motion pathway

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523801181010 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

KATJA KARMEIER ◽

RICO TABOR ◽

MARTIN EGELHAAF ◽

HOLGER G. KRAPP

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Visual System ◽

Optic Flow ◽

Time Scale ◽

Visual Experience ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Visual Input ◽

Complete Darkness ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization

The distribution of local preferred directions and motion sensitivities within the receptive fields of so-called tangential neurons in the fly visual system was previously found to match optic flow fields as induced by certain self-motions. The complex receptive-field organization of the tangential neurons and the recent evidence showing that the orderly development of the fly's peripheral visual system depends on visual experience led us to investigate whether or not early visual input is required to establish the functional receptive-field properties of such tangential neurons. In electrophysiological investigations of two identified tangential neurons, it turned out that dark-hatched flies which were kept in complete darkness for 2 days develop basically the same receptive-field organization as flies which were raised under seasonal light/dark conditions and were free to move in their cages. We did not find any evidence that the development of the sophisticated receptive-field organization of tangential neurons depends on sensory experience. Instead, the input to the tangential neurons seems to be “hardwired” and the specificity of these cells to optic flow induced during self-motions of the animal may have evolved on a phylogenetical time scale.

Download Full-text

Comparison of the responses of AII amacrine cells in the dark- and light-adapted rabbit retina

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523899164058 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 653-665 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Author(s):

DAIYAN XIN ◽

STEWART A. BLOOMFIELD

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Light Adaptation ◽

Amacrine Cells ◽

Bipolar Cells ◽

Rabbit Retina ◽

Response Component ◽

Synaptic Inputs ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization ◽

Aii Amacrine Cells

We studied the light-evoked responses of AII amacrine cells in the rabbit retina under dark- and light-adapted conditions. In contrast to the results of previous studies, we found that AII cells display robust responses to light over a 6–7 log unit intensity range, well beyond the operating range of rod photoreceptors. Under dark adaptation, AII cells showed an ON-center/OFF-surround receptive-field organization. The intensity–response profile of the center-mediated response component followed a dual-limbed sigmoidal function indicating a transition from rod to cone mediation as stimulus intensities were increased. Following light adaptation, the receptive-field organization of AII cells changed dramatically. Light-adapted AII cells showed both ON- and OFF-responses to stimulation of the center receptive field, but we found no evidence for an antagonistic surround. Interestingly, the OFF-center response appeared first following rapid light adaptation and was then replaced gradually over a 1–4 min period by the emerging ON-center response component. Application of the metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist APB, the ionotropic glutamate blocker CNQX, 8-bromo-cGMP, and the nitric oxide donor SNAP all showed differential effects on the various center-mediated responses displayed by dark- and light-adapted AII cells. Taken together, these pharmacological results indicated that different synaptic circuits are responsible for the generation of the different AII cell responses. Specifically, the rod-driven ON-center responses are apparently derived from rod bipolar cell synaptic inputs, whereas the cone-driven ON-center responses arise from signals crossing the gap junctions between AII cells and ON-center cone bipolar cells. Additionally, the OFF-center response of light-adapted AII cells reflects direct synaptic inputs from OFF-center cone bipolar cells to AII dendritic processes in the distal inner plexiform layer.

Download Full-text

Two-dimensional receptive-field organization in striate cortical neurons of the cat

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523800003011 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 703-720 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Ming Sun ◽

A. B. Bonds

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Cortical Neurons ◽

Ocular Dominance ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Field Size ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Cortical Layers ◽

Field Organization ◽

Receptive Field Organization ◽

Cortical Receptive Fields

AbstractThe two-dimensional organization of receptive fields (RFs) of 44 cells in the cat visual cortex and four cells from the cat LGN was measured by stimulation with either dots or bars of light. The light bars were presented in different positions and orientations centered on the RFs. The RFs found were arbitrarily divided into four general types: Punctate, resembling DOG filters (11%); those resembling Gabor filters (9%); elongate (36%); and multipeaked-type (44%). Elongate RFs, usually found in simple cells, could show more than one excitatory band or bifurcation of excitatory regions. Although regions inhibitory to a given stimulus transition (e.g. ON) often coincided with regions excitatory to the opposite transition (e.g. OFF), this was by no means the rule. Measurements were highly repeatable and stable over periods of at least 1 h. A comparison between measurements made with dots and with bars showed reasonable matches in about 40% of the cases. In general, bar-based measurements revealed larger RFs with more structure, especially with respect to inhibitory regions. Inactivation of lower cortical layers (V-VI) by local GABA injection was found to reduce sharpness of detail and to increase both receptive-field size and noise in upper layer cells, suggesting vertically organized RF mechanisms. Across the population, some cells bore close resemblance to theoretically proposed filters, while others had a complexity that was clearly not generalizable, to the extent that they seemed more suited to detection of specific structures. We would speculate that the broadly varying forms of cat cortical receptive fields result from developmental processes akin to those that form ocular-dominance columns, but on a smaller scale.

Download Full-text