title: Retinal origin of direction selectivity in the superior colliculus.
abstract: Detecting visual features in the environment, such as motion direction, is crucial for survival. The circuit mechanisms that give rise to direction selectivity in a major visual center, the superior colliculus (SC), are entirely unknown. We optogenetically isolate the retinal inputs that individual direction-selective SC neurons receive and find that they are already selective as a result of precisely converging inputs from similarly tuned retinal ganglion cells. The direction-selective retinal input is linearly amplified by intracollicular circuits without changing its preferred direction or level of selectivity. Finally, using two-photon calcium imaging, we show that SC direction selectivity is dramatically reduced in transgenic mice that have decreased retinal selectivity. Together, our studies demonstrate a retinal origin of direction selectivity in the SC and reveal a central visual deficit as a consequence of altered feature selectivity in the retina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.|Tianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tianjin Eye Institute, Clinical College of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.|Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Jad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Hector Acaron
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Ledesma
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6967-9072
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Koren
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.|General Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Yanjiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.|Department of Ophthalmology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaorong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000502:physiology*; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins; C492244:Viaat protein, mouse; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase; C401141:glutamate decarboxylase 2