Visual loom caused by self-movement or object-movement elicits distinct responses in mouse superior colliculus

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

• Visual perception is context-dependent, with life-or-death implications for distinguishing self-generated motion from external threats.
• The superior colliculus (SC) is a critical brain structure for processing visual information and controlling survival behaviors like threat avoidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how matching visual stimuli to self-motion affects behavior and neural activity within the superior colliculus (SC).
• To determine if the SC can differentiate between visual motion generated by self-movement versus an external agent.

Main Methods:

• Combined virtual reality (VR) with neural recordings in mice to analyze locomotion behavior and SC activity.
• Presented mice with visual stimuli simulating object approach and self-motion towards an object.
• Replayed visual stimuli to directly assess the ability to distinguish self-motion from object motion.

Main Results:

• Vision primarily influenced superficial SC layers (SCs), while locomotion impacted intermediate SC layers (SCim).
• Mice adjusted locomotion speed based on whether they or an object was moving.
• Neural activity in the SC, especially SCim, and locomotion behavior allowed reliable discrimination between self-motion and object-motion contexts.

Conclusions:

• Mouse behavior and SC neural activity effectively distinguish the context of visual motion.
• The SC plays a vital role in discriminating self-generated motion from that of external agents, essential for adaptive survival behaviors.