Visual system articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensory cortical tuning is shaped by experience to facilitate coding of features that are predictive of behaviourally relevant outcomes. Here the authors demonstrate that rapid behaviourally driven retuning of human visual cortex involves top–down projections as well as local inhibitory interactions.

    • Lisa M. McTeague
    • , L. Forest Gruss
    •  & Andreas Keil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mammalian retina is a modular brain region, in which cell layers are of uniform thickness but the molecular mechanism controlling this process is not well understood. Here the authors identify a regulatory network consisting of the long noncoding RNA Rncr4, RNA helicase Ddx3x and miR-183/96/182 that controls the even distribution of cells across layers.

    • Jacek Krol
    • , Ilona Krol
    •  & Witold Filipowicz

  • Article |

    The transcriptional regulation of morphogenetic effectors during eye development is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that transcription of an endocytosis regulator Opois crucial for the neural retina development in zebrafish and activated by the interaction of the transcription factor Vsx2 and retinal enhancer H6_10137.

    • Ines Gago-Rodrigues
    • , Ana Fernández-Miñán
    •  & Juan R. Martinez-Morales

  • Article |

    Natural stimuli evoke temporally reliable responses from visual cortical neurons, yet the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here, the authors demonstrate a critical role for parvalbumin- but not somatostatin-positive inhibitory interneurons in regulating visual cortical response reliability.

    • Yingjie Zhu
    • , Wenhui Qiao
    •  & Haishan Yao

  • Article |

    In mammals, rapid identification of visual targets is facilitated by differences between the target and the surrounding visual scene. Here the authors demonstrate behavioural and neural correlates of visual pop-out in archer fish, suggesting it is a fundamental component of all vertebrate visual systems.

    • Mor Ben-Tov
    • , Opher Donchin
    •  & Ronen Segev

  • Article |

    The ciliary margin of the eye functions as a source of multipotent progenitor cells in certain organisms but whether it plays this role in humans has not been easy to study. Here the authors culture human embryonic stem cells that self-organize into retinal tissue, and show that ciliary margin-like growth zones emerge from the developing human retinal tissue and contain stem cell niches.

    • Atsushi Kuwahara
    • , Chikafumi Ozone
    •  & Yoshiki Sasai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The human visual cortex includes areas with preference for various object categories. Here, Abboud et al. demonstrate using visual-to-music substitution, that the congenitally blind show a similar preference for numerals in the right inferior temporal cortex as sighted individuals, despite having no visual experience.

    • Sami Abboud
    • , Shachar Maidenbaum
    •  & Amir Amedi

  • Article |

    The evolution of the visual system in vertebrates remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show well-preserved rod and cone photoreceptors in a Upper Carboniferous fossilized fish, suggesting that colour vision has evolved in fish at least 300 Myr ago.

    • Gengo Tanaka
    • , Andrew R. Parker
    •  & Haruyoshi Maeda

  • Article |

    Humans tend to attend to specific visual features rather than particular locations in space. In this study, Warren et al. use brain imaging and computational modelling to show that the same well-studied processes associated with spatial attention can also explain selective attention in non-spatial domains.

    • Scott G. Warren
    • , Essa Yacoub
    •  & Geoffrey M. Ghose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inhibitory neurons in the visual cortex alter the computations of target cells by exerting division or subtraction effects, but what determines these different functions is not clear. Here the authors use visual stimuli and optogenetics to show that the effects mediated by somatostatin-expressing and parvalbumin-expressing neurons are driven by their response mode and timing.

    • Sami El-Boustani
    •  & Mriganka Sur

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pyramidal cells in superficial layers of neocortex form a lateral network of synaptic bouton clusters, but its functional implication remains unclear. Here the authors overlaid activity maps of orientation preference in cat visual cortex with single-cell anatomy and observed projections to multiple functional domains.

    • Kevan A. C. Martin
    • , Stephan Roth
    •  & Elisha S. Rusch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Populations of the cave fish Astyanax mexicanus exhibit a variety of traits that evolved repeatedly and independently from its surface counterparts. Here the authors present a de novo genome assembly for A. mexicanusand identify candidate genes for eye loss and reduced pigmentation.

    • Suzanne E. McGaugh
    • , Joshua B. Gross
    •  & Wesley C. Warren

  • Article |

    Studies of high-acuity foveal neurons in the retina have been limited by an inability to accurately track eye position. Here, McFarland et al. present a method that accurately estimates eye position, allowing for detailed analyses of foveal and parafoveal stimulus processing.

    • James M. McFarland
    • , Adrian G. Bondy
    •  & Daniel A. Butts

  • Article |

    Visual attention is known to affect choice certainty, but exactly how is unclear. Here, the authors use electroencephalography in a visual motion discrimination task and identify neural correlates of choice certainty, which precede the decided action.

    • Leopold Zizlsperger
    • , Thomas Sauvigny
    •  & Thomas Haarmeier

  • Article |

    Presynaptic activity in photoreceptor cones regulates connectivity of retinal neurons. Yoshimatsu et al.investigate the development of ultraviolet (UV) and blue cone inputs onto horizontal cells, and demonstrate that UV inputs regulate synaptogenesis with blue cones via an activity-dependent sensory drive.

    • Takeshi Yoshimatsu
    • , Philip R. Williams
    •  & Rachel O. Wong

  • Article |

    Some echinoderms have photosensory organs composed of microlenses, yet the evolutionary origin of these microlenses is unclear. Here, Gorzelak et al.describe evidence of microlenses in Late Cretaceous brittle stars and starfish, suggesting that such visual systems were already present at this time.

    • Przemysław Gorzelak
    • , Mariusz A. Salamon
    •  & Bruno Ferré

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Components of the complement system have been shown to promote liver regeneration. Haynes et al. demonstrate that the complement fragment C3a can induce regeneration of the embryonic chick retina from stem and progenitor cells of the ciliary margin via activation of STAT3 and other downstream signalling pathways.

    • Tracy Haynes
    • , Agustin Luz-Madrigal
    •  & Katia Del Rio-Tsonis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface area features of developing visual cortices are implicated in visual perception. Songet al.measure visual discrimination sensitivity in humans and find that an increase in visual cortical surface area activity is associated with improved discrimination sensitivity and degraded contextual illusions.

    • Chen Song
    • , Dietrich S. Schwarzkopf
    •  & Geraint Rees

  • Article |

    In many species, inputs from two eyes are processed in the visual cortex of the brain. Zhao et al.obtain cellular recordings from mouse visual cortical neurons and find that they integrate their membrane potential responses sublinearly, and that this integration is required for binocular orientation tuning.

    • Xinyu Zhao
    • , Mingna Liu
    •  & Jianhua Cang

  • Article |

    Inhibition of return describes a mechanism in humans and monkeys whereby the visual detection of recently attended objects or locations is impaired. Gabay et al.find that inhibition of return is also present in archer fish, meaning that a fully developed cortex is not needed for this mechanism.

    • Shai Gabay
    • , Tali Leibovich
    •  & Ronen Segev

  • Article |

    Photo-stimulation can be used to control neuronal circuits, but current strategies lack optimal precision and resolution. Reutsky-Gefen et al. demonstrate a potential approach for vision restoration via holographically patterned, optogenetic stimulation of retinal ganglion cells, with temporal precision.

    • Inna Reutsky-Gefen
    • , Lior Golan
    •  & Shy Shoham

  • Article |

    The repeated presentation of observed action is hypothesized to result in the reduction in firing rates of mirror neurons in premotor areas of the cortex. In this study, it is shown that monkey premotor area F5 mirror neurons, unlike local field potentials, do not display suppression to repetitive stimuli.

    • Vittorio Caggiano
    • , Joern K. Pomper
    •  & Peter Thier

  • Article |

    The Bolwig’s organ of Drosophilalarvae consists of 12 photoreceptors and is assumed to have very limited image-resolving properties. Justice and colleagues report that these larvae can recognize the motion of other larvae and that this can be replicated using a computer screen displaying images of larvae.

    • Elizabeth Daubert Justice
    • , Nicholas James Macedonia
    •  & Barry Condron

  • Article |

    Humans, with their opposable thumbs, are not the only species with tool-related morphological adaptations. This study shows that tool use in New Caledonian crows is facilitated by a straight bill, enabling a firm grip on tools, and an extremely wide binocular field, affording excellent visual feedback.

    • Jolyon Troscianko
    • , Auguste M.P. von Bayern
    •  & Graham R. Martin

  • Article |

    The pulvinar nucleus is involved in modulating visual information. Fischer and Whitney use brain imaging to study the pulvinar during visual attention, and find that the positions and orientations of attended objects are precisely encoded in the pulvinar, while information about ignored objects is gated out.

    • Jason Fischer
    •  & David Whitney

  • Article |

    Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels are apparently voltage insensitive despite having the S4-type voltage sensor. Marchesiet al.show that the gating of wild-type CNGA1 and native CNG channels is voltage-independent in the presence of Li+, Na+ and K+, but that it is voltage-dependent in the presence of Rb+, Cs+ and organic cations.

    • Arin Marchesi
    • , Monica Mazzolini
    •  & Vincent Torre

  • Article |

    How retinoganglion cell axons project correctly to the superior colliculus is poorly understood. Here, projections are shown to require EphB1, EphB2 and ephrin-B1 to terminate in the medial superior colliculus, while ephrin-B2 is essential for the mapping of both dorsal and ventral axons.

    • Sonal Thakar
    • , George Chenaux
    •  & Mark Henkemeyer

  • Article |

    Calorie restriction has been associated with increased life span and delayed decline of memory in animals, suggesting a role in neuronal plasticity. In this study, food restriction is demonstrated to enhance plasticity in the central nervous system and trigger the recovery from ocular deprivation in adulthood.

    • Maria Spolidoro
    • , Laura Baroncelli
    •  & Lamberto Maffei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The central nervous system contains glial cells, which have been shown to have an important role in neuronal survival. Haradaet al. use transgenic mouse models to show that TrkB, a receptor for the growth factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor, is required for retinal Müller glial cells to provide neuroprotection and regeneration.

    • Chikako Harada
    • , Xiaoli Guo
    •  & Takayuki Harada

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