Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 12, 1308 - 1316 (2009)
Published online: 6 September 2009 | doi:10.1038/nn.2389
Approach sensitivity in the retina processed by a multifunctional neural circuit
Thomas A Münch1,3,4, Rava Azeredo da Silveira2,4, Sandra Siegert1, Tim James Viney1, Gautam B Awatramani1,3 & Botond Roska1
Abstract
The detection of approaching objects, such as looming predators, is necessary for survival. Which neurons and circuits mediate this function? We combined genetic labeling of cell types, two-photon microscopy, electrophysiology and theoretical modeling to address this question. We identify an approach-sensitive ganglion cell type in the mouse retina, resolve elements of its afferent neural circuit, and describe how these confer approach sensitivity on the ganglion cell. The circuit's essential building block is a rapid inhibitory pathway: it selectively suppresses responses to non-approaching objects. This rapid inhibitory pathway, which includes AII amacrine cells connected to bipolar cells through electrical synapses, was previously described in the context of night-time vision. In the daytime conditions of our experiments, the same pathway conveys signals in the reverse direction. The dual use of a neural pathway in different physiological conditions illustrates the efficiency with which several functions can be accommodated in a single circuit.
- Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
- Department of Physics and Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
- Present addresses: Laboratory for Retinal Circuits and Optogenetics, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany (T.A.M.); Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (G.B.A.).
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Botond Roska1 e-mail: botond.roska@fmi.ch
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