Dataset Information

True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field.

ABSTRACT: Color, an important visual cue for survival, is encoded by comparing signals from photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities. The mouse retina expresses a short wavelength-sensitive and a middle/long wavelength-sensitive opsin (S- and M-opsin), forming opposing, overlapping gradients along the dorsal-ventral axis. Here, we analyzed the distribution of all cone types across the entire retina for two commonly used mouse strains. We found, unexpectedly, that 'true S-cones' (S-opsin only) are highly concentrated (up to 30% of cones) in ventral retina. Moreover, S-cone bipolar cells (SCBCs) are also skewed towards ventral retina, with wiring patterns matching the distribution of true S-cones. In addition, true S-cones in the ventral retina form clusters, which may augment synaptic input to SCBCs. Such a unique true S-cone and SCBC connecting pattern forms a basis for mouse color vision, likely reflecting evolutionary adaptation to enhance color coding for the upper visual field suitable for mice's habitat and behavior.

SUBMITTER: Nadal-Nicolas FM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7308094 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field.

Nadal-Nicolás Francisco M FM Kunze Vincent P VP Ball John M JM Peng Brian T BT Krishnan Akshay A Zhou Gaohui G Dong Lijin L Li Wei W

eLife 20200528

Color, an important visual cue for survival, is encoded by comparing signals from photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities. The mouse retina expresses a short wavelength-sensitive and a middle/long wavelength-sensitive opsin (S- and M-opsin), forming opposing, overlapping gradients along the dorsal-ventral axis. Here, we analyzed the distribution of all cone types across the entire retina for two commonly used mouse strains. We found, unexpectedly, that 'true S-cones' (S-opsin only) ...[more]

PMID: 32463363

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Project description:Visual performance varies around the visual field. It is best near the fovea compared to the periphery, and at iso-eccentric locations it is best on the horizontal, intermediate on the lower, and poorest on the upper meridian. The fovea-to-periphery performance decline is linked to the decreases in cone density, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) density, and V1 cortical magnification factor (CMF) as eccentricity increases. The origins of polar angle asymmetries are not well understood. Optical quality and cone density vary across the retina, but recent computational modeling has shown that these factors can only account for a small percentage of behavior. Here, we investigate how visual processing beyond the cone photon absorptions contributes to polar angle asymmetries in performance. First, we quantify the extent of asymmetries in cone density, midget RGC density, and V1 CMF. We find that both polar angle asymmetries and eccentricity gradients increase from cones to mRGCs, and from mRGCs to cortex. Second, we extend our previously published computational observer model to quantify the contribution of phototransduction by the cones and spatial filtering by mRGCs to behavioral asymmetries. Starting with photons emitted by a visual display, the model simulates the effect of human optics, cone isomerizations, phototransduction, and mRGC spatial filtering. The model performs a forced choice orientation discrimination task on mRGC responses using a linear support vector machine classifier. The model shows that asymmetries in a decision maker's performance across polar angle are greater when assessing the photocurrents than when assessing isomerizations and are greater still when assessing mRGC signals. Nonetheless, the polar angle asymmetries of the mRGC outputs are still considerably smaller than those observed from human performance. We conclude that cone isomerizations, phototransduction, and the spatial filtering properties of mRGCs contribute to polar angle performance differences, but that a full account of these differences will entail additional contribution from cortical representations.

Dataset Information

True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field.

Publications

True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field.

Similar Datasets

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