| First Author | Shi X | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | Nat Neurosci | Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 550-558 |
| PubMed ID | 28192394 | Mgi Jnum | J:243905 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5912684 | Doi | 10.1038/nn.4498 |
| Citation | Shi X, et al. (2017) Retinal origin of direction selectivity in the superior colliculus. Nat Neurosci 20(4):550-558 |
| abstractText | 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. |
