GABAergic retinal ganglion cells regulate innate defensive responses

Cai, Danrui; Luo, Xue; Shen, Kejiong; Shen, Yin

doi:10.1097/wnr.0000000000001652

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…While there is evidence that the direct retinal projection to the SC is involved in the generation of escape behaviours to looming stimuli (Kim et al, 2020;Cai et al, 2021;Yuan et al, 2023), other work indicates that the V1 projection to the SC neurons modulates responses in the SC to looming stimuli (Zhao et al, 2014). The V1 projection to the SC is also thought to play a role in the generation of freezing behaviours (Liang et al, 2015;Zingg et al, 2017).…”

Section: Functional Implications Of Cell-type Based Sc Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of primary visual cortex input to specific cell types in the superior colliculus

Jiang,

Honnuraiah,

Stuart

2023

Front. Neuroanat.

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The superior colliculus is a critical brain region involved in processing visual information. It receives visual input directly from the retina, as well as via a projection from primary visual cortex. Here we determine which cell types in the superficial superior colliculus receive visual input from primary visual cortex in mice. Neurons in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus were classified into four groups – Wide-field, narrow-field, horizontal and stellate – based on their morphological and electrophysiological properties. To determine functional connections between V1 and these four different cell types we expressed Channelrhodopsin2 in primary visual cortex and then optically stimulated these axons while recording from different neurons in the superficial superior colliculus using whole-cell patch-clamp recording in vitro. We found that all four cell types in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus received monosynaptic (direct) input from V1. Wide-field neurons were more likely than other cell types to receive primary visual cortex input. Our results provide information on the cell specificity of the primary visual cortex to superior colliculus projection, increasing our understanding of how visual information is processed in the superior colliculus at the single cell level.

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Section: Functional Implications Of Cell-type Based Sc Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of primary visual cortex input to specific cell types in the superior colliculus

Jiang,

Honnuraiah,

Stuart

2023

Front. Neuroanat.

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“…Arrest and freezing responses can also be elicited by direct activation of V1 inputs to the SC 27,28 . Furthermore, certain types of SC-projecting RGCs have been shown to regulate innate defensive responses 29 , indicating that visually-evoked activity in the SC is critical for generating defensive responses to visual threat. Despite a growing interest in the functional role of the SC, a full understanding of how visual input from both eyes is integrated at the level of individual SC neurons is lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Binocular processing facilitates escape behavior through multiple pathways to the superior colliculus

Broersen,

Thompson,

Thomas

et al. 2024

Preprint

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SummaryThe superior colliculus (SC) is the main brain region regulating innate defensive behaviors to visual threat. Yet, how the SC integrates binocular visual information and to what extent binocular vision drives defensive behaviors is unknown. Here, we show that binocular vision facilitates visually-evoked escape behavior. Furthermore, we find that SC neurons respond to binocular visual input with diverse synaptic and spiking responses, and summate visual inputs largely sublinearly. Using pathway-specific optogenetic silencing we find that contralateral and ipsilateral visual information is carried to binocular SC neurons through retinal, interhemispheric and corticotectal pathways. These pathways carry binocular visual input to the SC in a layer-specific manner, with superficial layers receiving visual information through retinal input, whereas intermediate and deep layers rely on interhemispheric and corticotectal pathways. Together, our data shed light on the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying binocular visual processing in the SC and its role in escape behavior.

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“…In mice, this stimulus effectively triggers defensive behaviors, such as escape and freezing ( 7 ). The detection of visual threats starts in the retina, with multiple types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) implicated in the process, including OFF-transient alpha retinal ganglion cells (OFFt αRGCs) ( 8 – 11 ). The information is then sent to the superior colliculus (SC) which is a key hub in processing visual threats and initiating the innate defensive behaviors ( 12 – 17 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

A synaptic filtering mechanism in visual threat identification in mouse

Zhang

2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Predator detection is key to animal’s survival. Superior colliculus (SC) orchestrates the animal’s innate defensive responses to visually detected threats, but how threat information is transmitted from the retina to SC is unknown. We discovered that narrow-field neurons in SC were key in this pathway. Using in vivo calcium imaging and optogenetics-assisted interrogation of circuit and synaptic connections, we found that the visual responses of narrow-field neurons were correlated with the animal’s defensive behaviors toward visual stimuli. Activation of these neurons triggered defensive behaviors, and ablation of them impaired the animals’ defensive responses to looming stimuli. They receive monosynaptic inputs from looming-sensitive OFF-transient alpha retinal ganglion cells, and the synaptic transmission has a unique band-pass feature that helps to shape their stimulus selectivity. Our results describe a cell-type specific retinotectal connection for visual threat detection, and a coding mechanism based on synaptic filtering.

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GABAergic retinal ganglion cells regulate innate defensive responses

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

Characterization of primary visual cortex input to specific cell types in the superior colliculus

Characterization of primary visual cortex input to specific cell types in the superior colliculus

Binocular processing facilitates escape behavior through multiple pathways to the superior colliculus

A synaptic filtering mechanism in visual threat identification in mouse

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