Direction Selectivity in the Retina and Beyond

Motion is an essential visual cue used by animals to navigate through their environment, as well as to detect and orientate correctly toward or away from mates, prey, and predators. In mammals, the processing of motion direction starts at the first stage of visual processing in the retina. Here, at least seven cell types are dedicated to encoding the direction of motion and carry this information to central brain areas. The direction-selective circuit in the retina has become a classic model to study how a computation is implemented in the hardware of the nervous system. Here, we review what the composition of direction-selective neurons is in the retina, how the direction-selective computation is implemented, and how direction-selective information is encoded in the response of direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (DSGCs). Finally, we will discuss the role different direction-selective retinal ganglion cells have in central brain computations and behavior and what their dysfunction tells us about their role in disease.

ISBN:978-0-12-805409-3

Publication year:2020

Accessibility:Closed