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Role for Visual Experience in the Development of Direction-Selective Circuits.
Rémi Bos1, Christian Gainer2, Marla B Feller3
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA.
Current Biology : CB
|May 11, 2016
Summary
Visual experience is crucial for developing direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) in the retina. Without sight, the preferred movement directions of these cells remain scattered, not aligned with cardinal axes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual processing
- Retinal circuitry
Background:
- Direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) in the retina detect object movement direction.
- DSGCs are essential for visually guided behaviors.
- Previous research suggested innate direction tuning in DSGCs before eye-opening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental emergence of preferred directions in ON and ON-OFF DSGCs.
- To determine the role of visual experience in establishing cardinal axis tuning in DSGCs.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recordings from retinal ganglion cells in rodents.
- Comparison of DSGC tuning in normally sighted animals versus visually deprived animals at eye-opening.
Main Results:
- At eye-opening, preferred directions of both ON and ON-OFF DSGCs are diffusely distributed.
- Visual deprivation prevents the clustering of preferred directions along cardinal axes.
- Cardinal axis tuning observed in adult retinas does not appear to be innate.
Conclusions:
- Visual experience is critical for shaping direction selectivity in retinal ganglion cells.
- The development of directional tuning relies on environmental input rather than being solely genetically determined.
- These findings challenge previous assumptions about the innate nature of visual processing pathways.
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