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Quantification of Visual Feature Selectivity of the Optokinetic Reflex in Mice
Published on: June 23, 2023
Visual pathway for the optokinetic reflex in infant macaque monkeys
Claudia Distler1, Klaus-Peter Hoffmann
1Department of General Zoology and Neurobiology, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
Summary
Newborn macaques show developing visual pathways for horizontal optokinetic nystagmus (hOKN). Retinal slip neurons in the nucleus of the optic tract and dorsal terminal nucleus (NOT-DTN) mature rapidly after birth, demonstrating direction selectivity and binocular input crucial for visual processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Visual Neuroscience
Background:
- Horizontal optokinetic nystagmus (hOKN) is crucial for stabilizing gaze but is immature at birth in primates.
- Understanding the early development of the visual pathway is key to elucidating hOKN maturation.
- The nucleus of the optic tract and dorsal terminal nucleus (NOT-DTN) are critical for processing visual information for hOKN.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional state of retinal slip neurons in the NOT-DTN of infant macaques.
- To characterize the development of direction selectivity, eye dominance, and velocity tuning in these neurons.
- To examine the maturation of visual pathway connections from V1 and MT to the NOT-DTN.
Main Methods:
- Recorded neuronal activity of retinal slip neurons in the NOT-DTN of anesthetized infant macaques (postnatal days 9, 12, 14) and adults.
- Assessed direction selectivity index (DSI) and eye dominance of NOT-DTN neurons.
- Measured neuronal tuning to different stimulus velocities.
- Used electrical stimulation in V1 and MT to elicit orthodromic responses in NOT-DTN neurons and measured latencies.
Main Results:
- NOT-DTN neurons exhibited direction selectivity for ipsiversive stimulus movement shortly after birth (P9), with developing DSI.
- Infant NOT-DTN neurons showed strong binocular input, often contralateral-dominant, and were tuned to stimulus velocities, though truncated at lower speeds compared to adults.
- Electrical stimulation revealed developing but less efficient V1-NOT-DTN pathways with longer latencies in infants compared to adults.
- MT-NOT-DTN pathways were more efficient with shorter latencies in infants than V1 pathways.
Conclusions:
- The visual pathway for hOKN matures rapidly in infant macaques, with NOT-DTN neurons developing direction selectivity and binocular input early on.
- While functional, the connections from V1 to NOT-DTN are less mature in infants than in adults, with MT input showing more rapid development.
- These findings provide insights into the developmental trajectory of the visual system underlying gaze stabilization in primates.
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