Abstract
BackgroundThe processing of optic flow in the pretectum/accessory optic system allows animals to stabilize retinal images by executing compensatory optokinetic and optomotor behavior. The success of this behavior depends on the integration of information from both eyes to unequivocally identify all possible translational or rotational directions of motion. However, it is still unknown whether the precise direction of ego-motion is already identified in the zebrafish pretectum or later in downstream premotor areas.ResultsHere, we show that the zebrafish pretectum and tectum each contain four populations of motion-sensitive direction-selective (DS) neurons, with each population encoding a different preferred direction upon monocular stimulation. In contrast, binocular stimulation revealed the existence of pretectal and tectal neurons that are specifically tuned to only one of the many possible combinations of monocular motion, suggesting that further downstream sensory processing might not be needed to instruct appropriate optokinetic and optomotor behavior.ConclusionOur results suggest that local, task-specific pretectal circuits process DS retinal inputs and carry out the binocular sensory computations necessary for optokinetic and optomotor behavior.
Highlights
The processing of optic flow in the pretectum/accessory optic system allows animals to stabilize retinal images by executing compensatory optokinetic and optomotor behavior
Our results suggest that optic flow directions are readily detected in local, retinorecipient sensory circuits to support reflexive optomotor and optokinetic responses
Neurons of the pretectum and tectum prefer one of four cardinal motion directions during monocular stimulus presentation Since monocular motion processing likely forms the basis for the comparison of binocular motion patterns, we first set out to investigate the representation of preferred motion direction (PD) using monocular gratings moving in eight different directions
Summary
The processing of optic flow in the pretectum/accessory optic system allows animals to stabilize retinal images by executing compensatory optokinetic and optomotor behavior. The success of this behavior depends on the integration of information from both eyes to unequivocally identify all possible translational or rotational directions of motion. It is still unknown whether the precise direction of ego-motion is already identified in the zebrafish pretectum or later in downstream premotor areas. The underlying sensorimotor transformations involve direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (DS-RGCs) that project to the pretectum/accessory optic system (AOS). Based on the preferred directions of these neurons, binocular stimulation was used to identify neurons selective for specific binocular visual
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