title: Different Modes of Visual Integration in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Revealed by Single-Cell-Initiated Transsynaptic Tracing.
abstract: The thalamus receives sensory input from different circuits in the periphery. How these sensory channels are integrated at the level of single thalamic cells is not well understood. We performed targeted single-cell-initiated transsynaptic tracing to label the retinal ganglion cells that provide input to individual principal cells in the mouse lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). We identified three modes of sensory integration by single LGN cells. In the first, 1-5 ganglion cells of mostly the same type converged from one eye, indicating a relay mode. In the second, 6-36 ganglion cells of different types converged from one eye, revealing a combination mode. In the third, up to 91 ganglion cells converged from both eyes, revealing a binocular combination mode in which functionally specialized ipsilateral inputs joined broadly distributed contralateral inputs. Thus, the LGN employs at least three modes of visual input integration, each exhibiting different degrees of specialization.
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Santiago B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Rompani
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fiona E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Müllner
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wanner
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Chiara N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yonehara
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Basel, 4003 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: botond.roska@fmi.ch.
authors.forename: Botond
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000166:cytology*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: cell type; ganglion cell; lateral geniculate nucleus; monosynaptic; rabies; retina; sensory systems; thalamus; transsynaptic; vision