title: Space-time wiring specificity supports direction selectivity in the retina.
abstract: How does the mammalian retina detect motion? This classic problem in visual neuroscience has remained unsolved for 50 years. In search of clues, here we reconstruct Off-type starburst amacrine cells (SACs) and bipolar cells (BCs) in serial electron microscopic images with help from EyeWire, an online community of 'citizen neuroscientists'. On the basis of quantitative analyses of contact area and branch depth in the retina, we find evidence that one BC type prefers to wire with a SAC dendrite near the SAC soma, whereas another BC type prefers to wire far from the soma. The near type is known to lag the far type in time of visual response. A mathematical model shows how such 'space-time wiring specificity' could endow SAC dendrites with receptive fields that are oriented in space-time and therefore respond selectively to stimuli that move in the outward direction from the soma.
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jinseop S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zlateski
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Kisuk
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Srinivas C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Turaga
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Purcaro
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balkam
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Qualcomm Research, 5775 Morehouse Dr., San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
authors.forename: Bardia F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Behabadi
authors.affiliation: Qualcomm Research, 5775 Morehouse Dr., San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Medical Research, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Denk
authors.affiliation: Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: H Sebastian
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Seung
mesh_terms: D025042:Amacrine Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001931:Brain Mapping; D063045:Crowdsourcing; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009038:Motion; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D051245:Retinal Bipolar Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis