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Updated: Jan 15, 2026
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Author Spotlight: Unveiling Neural Coding and Mechanisms of Visual Processing in the Superior Colliculus
Published on: April 21, 2023
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Recurrent circuits encode de novo visual center-surround computations in the mouse superior colliculus
Peng Cui1, Kuisong Song2, Dimitrios Mariatos-Metaxas1
1Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Plos Biology
|October 16, 2025
Summary
Researchers discovered a new way the superior colliculus (SC) detects visual salience. This surround suppression mechanism in the SC operates independently of cortical input, revealing a novel local circuit for saliency computation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual Processing
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Visual salience detection models often involve center-surround interactions.
- The precise neural circuits (retinal, cortical, subcortical) underlying these computations are not fully understood due to overlapping functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a de novo collicular mechanism for surround suppression in visual salience detection.
- To elucidate the local circuit computations within the superficial superior colliculus (SC).
Main Methods:
- Patterned optogenetics and whole-cell recordings in mouse superficial SC slices.
- Defined center zones using inputs from channelrhodopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells.
- Utilized cell-type-specific trans-synaptic tracing and computational modeling.
Main Results:
- Optogenetic activation of the surround network suppressed neuronal responses in the center zones.
- This suppression was found to be excitatory, originating from the withdrawal of center excitation.
- Demonstrated surround-driven inhibition of local recurrent excitatory circuits within the SC.
Conclusions:
- Identified a local circuit mechanism for saliency computation within the superior colliculus.
- This collicular mechanism for surround suppression operates independently of cortical input.
- Provides new insights into the distributed neural basis of visual salience detection.
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