Conserved circuits for direction selectivity in the primate retina

Curr Biol. 2022 Jun 6;32(11):2529-2538.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.056. Epub 2022 May 18.

Abstract

The detection of motion direction is a fundamental visual function and a classic model for neural computation. In the non-primate retina, direction selectivity arises in starburst amacrine cell (SAC) dendrites, which provide selective inhibition to direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (dsRGCs). Although SACs are present in primates, their connectivity and the existence of dsRGCs remain open questions. Here, we present a connectomic reconstruction of the primate ON SAC circuit from a serial electron microscopy volume of the macaque central retina. We show that the structural basis for the SACs' ability to confer directional selectivity on postsynaptic neurons is conserved. SACs selectively target a candidate homolog to the mammalian ON-sustained dsRGCs that project to the accessory optic system (AOS) and contribute to gaze-stabilizing reflexes. These results indicate that the capacity to compute motion direction is present in the retina, which is earlier in the primate visual system than classically thought.

Keywords: accessory optic system; bipolar cells; connectomics; direction selectivity; motion processing; primate; retina; retinal circuitry; retinal ganglion cells; starburst amacrine cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amacrine Cells* / physiology
  • Animals
  • Connectome*
  • Dendrites / physiology
  • Mammals
  • Primates
  • Retina / physiology
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / physiology
  • Synapses / physiology