Work

Dendritic and parallel processing of visual threats in the retina control defensive responses

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Approaching predators cast expanding shadows (i.e., looming) that elicit innate defensive responses in most animals. Where looming is first detected and how critical parameters of predatory approaches are extracted are unclear. In mice, we identify a retinal interneuron (the VG3 amacrine cell) that responds robustly to looming, but not to related forms of motion. Looming-sensitive calcium transients are restricted to a specific layer of the VG3 dendrite arbor, which provides glutamatergic input to two ganglion cells (W3 and OFFα). These projection neurons combine shared excitation with dissimilar inhibition to signal approach onset and speed, respectively. Removal of VG3 amacrine cells reduces the excitation of W3 and OFFα ganglion cells and diminishes defensive responses of mice to looming without affecting other visual behaviors. Thus, the dendrites of a retinal interneuron detect visual threats, divergent circuits downstream extract critical threat parameters, and these retinal computations initiate an innate survival behavior.

Source: Science Advances

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc9920

Authors: T. Kim, N. Shen, J.-C. Hsiang, K.P. Johnson, D. Kerschensteiner

Institutions: Washington University in St. Louis, Hope Center for Neurological Disorders

Language: English

Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,500

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute