Realistic retinal modeling unravels the differential role of excitation and inhibition to starburst amacrine cells in direction selectivity.

ABSTRACT: Retinal direction-selectivity originates in starburst amacrine cells (SACs), which display a centrifugal preference, responding with greater depolarization to a stimulus expanding from soma to dendrites than to a collapsing stimulus. Various mechanisms were hypothesized to underlie SAC centrifugal preference, but dissociating them is experimentally challenging and the mechanisms remain debatable. To address this issue, we developed the Retinal Stimulation Modeling Environment (RSME), a multifaceted data-driven retinal model that encompasses detailed neuronal morphology and biophysical properties, retina-tailored connectivity scheme and visual input. Using a genetic algorithm, we demonstrated that spatiotemporally diverse excitatory inputs-sustained in the proximal and transient in the dist

SUBMITTER: Ezra-Tsur E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8754344 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature