Dataset Information

Spatial-temporal patterns of retinal waves underlying activity-dependent refinement of retinofugal projections.

ABSTRACT: During development, retinal axons project coarsely within their visual targets before refining to form organized synaptic connections. Spontaneous retinal activity, in the form of acetylcholine-driven retinal waves, is proposed to be necessary for establishing these projection patterns. In particular, both axonal terminations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and the size of receptive fields of target neurons are larger in mice that lack the beta2 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (beta2KO). Here, using a large-scale, high-density multielectrode array to record activity from hundreds of RGCs simultaneously, we present analysis of early postnatal retinal activity from both wild-type (WT) and beta2KO retinas. We find that beta2KO retinas have correlated patterns of activity, but many aspects of these patterns differ from those of WT retina. Quantitative analysis suggests that wave directionality, coupled with short-range correlated bursting patterns of RGCs, work together to refine retinofugal projections.

SUBMITTER: Stafford BK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2771121 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spatial-temporal patterns of retinal waves underlying activity-dependent refinement of retinofugal projections.

Stafford Ben K BK Sher Alexander A Litke Alan M AM Feldheim David A DA

Neuron 20091001 2

During development, retinal axons project coarsely within their visual targets before refining to form organized synaptic connections. Spontaneous retinal activity, in the form of acetylcholine-driven retinal waves, is proposed to be necessary for establishing these projection patterns. In particular, both axonal terminations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and the size of receptive fields of target neurons are larger in mice that lack the beta2 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ( ...[more]

PMID: 19874788

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Dataset Information

Spatial-temporal patterns of retinal waves underlying activity-dependent refinement of retinofugal projections.

Publications

Spatial-temporal patterns of retinal waves underlying activity-dependent refinement of retinofugal projections.

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