PUBLICATION
Neural circuitry for stimulus selection in the zebrafish visual system
- Authors
- Fernandes, A.M., Mearns, D.S., Donovan, J.C., Larsch, J., Helmbrecht, T.O., Kölsch, Y., Laurell, E., Kawakami, K., Dal Maschio, M., Baier, H.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-201229-12
- Date
- 2020
- Source
- Neuron 109(5): 805-822.e6 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Baier, Herwig, Kawakami, Koichi
- Keywords
- behavioral choice, isthmotectal, nucleus isthmi, parabigeminal nucleus, retinotectal, saliency, stimulus selection, visual system
- MeSH Terms
-
- Models, Neurological
- Retina/physiology
- Animals
- Photic Stimulation
- Visual Perception/physiology*
- Optogenetics
- Behavior, Animal
- Attention/physiology*
- Zebrafish
- Tectum Mesencephali/physiology
- Visual Pathways/physiology*
- PubMed
- 33357384 Full text @ Neuron
Citation
Fernandes, A.M., Mearns, D.S., Donovan, J.C., Larsch, J., Helmbrecht, T.O., Kölsch, Y., Laurell, E., Kawakami, K., Dal Maschio, M., Baier, H. (2020) Neural circuitry for stimulus selection in the zebrafish visual system. Neuron. 109(5):805-822.e6.
Abstract
When navigating the environment, animals need to prioritize responses to the most relevant stimuli. Although a theoretical framework for selective visual attention exists, its circuit implementation has remained obscure. Here we investigated how larval zebrafish select between simultaneously presented visual stimuli. We found that a mix of winner-take-all (WTA) and averaging strategies best simulates behavioral responses. We identified two circuits whose activity patterns predict the relative saliencies of competing visual objects. Stimuli presented to only one eye are selected by WTA computation in the inner retina. Binocularly presented stimuli, on the other hand, are processed by reciprocal, bilateral connections between the nucleus isthmi (NI) and the tectum. This interhemispheric computation leads to WTA or averaging responses. Optogenetic stimulation and laser ablation of NI neurons disrupt stimulus selection and behavioral action selection. Thus, depending on the relative locations of competing stimuli, a combination of retinotectal and isthmotectal circuits enables selective visual attention.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping