Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

15 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Flexible inhibitory control of visually evoked defensive behavior by the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus.

ABSTRACT: Animals can choose to act upon, or to ignore, sensory stimuli, depending on circumstance and prior knowledge. This flexibility is thought to depend on neural inhibition, through suppression of inappropriate and disinhibition of appropriate actions. Here, we identified the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN), an inhibitory prethalamic area, as a critical node for control of visually evoked defensive responses in mice. The activity of vLGN projections to the medial superior colliculus (mSC) is modulated by previous experience of threatening stimuli, tracks the perceived threat level in the environment, and is low prior to escape from a visual threat. Optogenetic stimulation of the vLGN abolishes escape responses, and suppressing its activity lowers the threshold for escape and increases risk-avoidance behavior. The vLGN most strongly affects visual threat responses, potentially via modality-specific inhibition of mSC circuits. Thus, inhibitory vLGN circuits control defensive behavior, depending on an animal's prior experience and its anticipation of danger in the environment.

SUBMITTER: Fratzl A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8648186 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Divergent outputs of the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus mediate visually evoked defensive behaviors.

Project description:Rapid alternations between exploration and defensive reactions require ongoing risk assessment. How visual cues and internal states flexibly modulate the selection of behaviors remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN)-a major retinorecipient structure-is a critical node in the network controlling defensive behaviors to visual threats. We find that vLGNGABA neuron activity scales with the intensity of environmental illumination and is modulated by behavioral state. Chemogenetic activation of vLGNGABA neurons reduces freezing, whereas inactivation dramatically extends the duration of freezing to visual threats. Perturbations of vLGN activity disrupt exploration in brightly illuminated environments. We describe both a vLGN→nucleus reuniens (Re) circuit and a vLGN→superior colliculus (SC) circuit, which exert opposite influences on defensive responses. These findings reveal roles for genetic- and projection-defined vLGN subpopulations in modulating the expression of behavioral threat responses according to internal state.

| S-EPMC10954303 | biostudies-literature

Diverse GABAergic neurons organize into subtype-specific sublaminae in the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:In the visual system, retinal axons convey visual information from the outside world to dozens of distinct retinorecipient brain regions and organize that information at several levels, including either at the level of retinal afferents, cytoarchitecture of intrinsic retinorecipient neurons, or a combination of the two. Two major retinorecipient nuclei which are densely innervated by retinal axons are the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, which is important for classical image-forming vision, and ventral LGN (vLGN), which is associated with non-image-forming vision. The neurochemistry, cytoarchitecture, and retinothalamic connectivity in vLGN remain unresolved, raising fundamental questions of how it receives and processes visual information. To shed light on these important questions, used in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and genetic reporter lines to identify and characterize novel neuronal cell types in mouse vLGN. Not only were a high percentage of these cells GABAergic, we discovered transcriptomically distinct GABAergic cell types reside in the two major laminae of vLGN, the retinorecipient, external vLGN (vLGNe) and the non-retinorecipient, internal vLGN (vLGNi). Furthermore, within vLGNe, we identified transcriptionally distinct subtypes of GABAergic cells that are distributed into four adjacent sublaminae. Using trans-synaptic viral tracing and in vitro electrophysiology, we found cells in each these vLGNe sublaminae receive monosynaptic inputs from retina. These results not only identify novel subtypes of GABAergic cells in vLGN, they suggest the subtype-specific laminar distribution of retinorecipient cells in vLGNe may be important for receiving, processing, and transmitting light-derived signals in parallel channels of the subcortical visual system.

| S-EPMC8210463 | biostudies-literature

Blindsight depends on the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:Injury to the primary visual cortex (V1) leads to the loss of visual experience. Nonetheless, careful testing shows that certain visually guided behaviours can persist even in the absence of visual awareness. The neural circuits supporting this phenomenon, which is often termed blindsight, remain uncertain. Here we demonstrate that the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) has a causal role in V1-independent processing of visual information. By comparing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioural measures with and without temporary LGN inactivation, we assessed the contribution of the LGN to visual functions of macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) with chronic V1 lesions. Before LGN inactivation, high-contrast stimuli presented to the lesion-affected visual field (scotoma) produced significant V1-independent fMRI activation in the extrastriate cortical areas V2, V3, V4, V5/middle temporal (MT), fundus of the superior temporal sulcus (FST) and lateral intraparietal area (LIP) and the animals correctly located the stimuli in a detection task. However, following reversible inactivation of the LGN in the V1-lesioned hemisphere, fMRI responses and behavioural detection were abolished. These results demonstrate that direct LGN projections to the extrastriate cortex have a critical functional contribution to blindsight. They suggest a viable pathway to mediate fast detection during normal vision.

| S-EPMC2904843 | biostudies-literature

Feedforward and recurrent inhibitory receptive fields of principal cells in the cat's dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:Principal cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus receive both feedforward and recurrent inhibition. Despite many years of study, the receptive field structure of these inhibitory mechanisms has not been determined. Here, we have used intracellular recordings in vivo to differentiate between the two types of inhibition and map their respective receptive fields. The feedforward inhibition of a principal cell originates from the same type of retinal ganglion cells as its excitation, while the recurrent inhibition is provided by both on- and off-centre cells. Both inhibitory effects are strongest at the centre of the excitatory receptive field. The diameter of the feedforward inhibitory field is two times larger, and the recurrent two to four times larger than the excitatory field centre. The inhibitory circuitry is similar for X and Y principal cells.

| S-EPMC3023014 | biostudies-literature

Lamination of the lateral geniculate nucleus of catarrhine primates.

Project description:The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of catarrhine primates - with the exception of gibbons - is typically described as a 6-layered structure, comprised of 2 ventral magnocellular layers, and 4 dorsal parvocellular layers. The parvocellular layers of the LGN are involved in color vision. Therefore, it is hypothesized that a 6-layered LGN is a shared-derived trait among catarrhines. This might suggest that in gibbons the lack of further subdivisions of the parvocellular layers is a recent change, and could be related to specializations of visual information processing in this taxon. To address these hypotheses, the lamination of the LGN was investigated in a range of catarrhine species, including several taxa not previously described, and the evolution of the LGN was reconstructed using phylogenetic information. The findings indicate that while all catarrhine species have 4 parvocellular leaflets, two main patterns of LGN parvocellular lamination occur: 2 undivided parvocellular layers in some species, and 4 parvocellular leaflets (with occasional subleaflets) in other species. LGN size was not found to be related to lamination pattern. Both patterns were found to occur in divergent clades, which is suggestive of homoplasy within the catarrhines in LGN morphology.

| S-EPMC3741618 | biostudies-literature

Attention alters orientation processing in the human lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:Orientation selectivity is a cornerstone property of vision, commonly believed to emerge in the primary visual cortex. We found that reliable orientation information could be detected even earlier, in the human lateral geniculate nucleus, and that attentional feedback selectively altered these orientation responses. This attentional modulation may allow the visual system to modify incoming feature-specific signals at the earliest possible processing site.

| S-EPMC4556110 | biostudies-literature

Extrastriate connectivity of the mouse dorsal lateral geniculate thalamic nucleus.

Project description:The mammalian visual system is one of the most well-studied brain systems. Visual information from the retina is relayed to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGd). The LGd then projects topographically to primary visual cortex (VISp) to mediate visual perception. In this view, the VISp is a critical network hub where visual information must traverse LGd-VISp circuits to reach higher order "extrastriate" visual cortices, which surround the VISp on its medial and lateral borders. However, decades of conflicting reports in a variety of mammals support or refute the existence of extrastriate LGd connections that can bypass the VISp. Here, we provide evidence of bidirectional extrastriate connectivity with the mouse LGd. Using small, discrete coinjections of anterograde and retrograde tracers within the thalamus and cortex, our cross-validated approach identified bidirectional connectivity between LGd and extrastriate visual cortices. We find robust reciprocal connectivity of the medial extrastriate regions with LGd neurons distributed along the "ventral strip" border with the intergeniculate leaflet. In contrast, LGd input to lateral extrastriate regions is sparse, but lateral extrastriate regions return stronger descending projections to localized LGd areas. We show further evidence that axons from lateral extrastriate regions can overlap onto medial extrastriate-projecting LGd neurons in the ventral strip, providing a putative subcortical LGd pathway for communication between medial and lateral extrastriate regions. Overall, our findings support the existence of extrastriate LGd circuits and provide novel understanding of LGd organization in rodent visual system.

| S-EPMC6992387 | biostudies-literature

Neural correlates of binocular rivalry in the human lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:When dissimilar images are presented to the two eyes, they compete for perceptual dominance so that only one image is visible at a time while the other one is suppressed. Neural correlates of such binocular rivalry have been found at multiple stages of visual processing, including striate and extrastriate visual cortex. However, little is known about the role of subcortical processing during binocular rivalry. Here we used fMRI to measure neural activity in the human LGN while subjects viewed contrast-modulated gratings presented dichoptically. Neural activity in the LGN correlated strongly with the subjects' reported percepts, such that activity increased when a high-contrast grating was perceived and decreased when a low-contrast grating was perceived. Our results provide evidence for a functional role of the LGN in binocular rivalry and suggest that the LGN, traditionally viewed as the gateway to the visual cortex, may be an early gatekeeper of visual awareness.

| S-EPMC1470662 | biostudies-literature

Anterior-posterior direction opponency in the superficial mouse lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:We show functional-anatomical organization of motion direction in mouse dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) using two-photon calcium imaging of dense populations in thalamus. Surprisingly, the superficial 75 ?m region contains anterior and posterior direction-selective neurons (DSLGNs) intermingled with nondirection-selective neurons, while upward- and downward-selective neurons are nearly absent. Unexpectedly, the remaining neurons encode both anterior and posterior directions, forming horizontal motion-axis selectivity. A model of random wiring consistent with these results makes quantitative predictions about the connectivity of direction-selective retinal ganglion cell (DSRGC) inputs to the superficial dLGN. DSLGNs are more sharply tuned than DSRGCs. These results suggest that dLGN maintains and sharpens retinal direction selectivity and integrates opposing DSRGC subtypes in a functional-anatomical region, perhaps forming a feature representation for horizontal-axis motion, contrary to dLGN being a simple relay. Furthermore, they support recent conjecture that cortical direction and orientation selectivity emerge in part from a previously undescribed motion-selective retinogeniculate pathway.

| S-EPMC3517882 | biostudies-literature

CKAMP44 modulates integration of visual inputs in the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Project description:Relay neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) receive excitatory inputs from retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Retinogeniculate synapses are characterized by a prominent short-term depression of AMPA receptor (AMPAR)-mediated currents, but the underlying mechanisms and its function for visual integration are not known. Here we identify CKAMP44 as a crucial auxiliary subunit of AMPARs in dLGN relay neurons, where it increases AMPAR-mediated current amplitudes and modulates gating of AMPARs. Importantly, CKAMP44 is responsible for the distinctive short-term depression in retinogeniculate synapses by reducing the rate of recovery from desensitization of AMPARs. Genetic deletion of CKAMP44 strongly reduces synaptic short-term depression, which leads to increased spike probability of relay neurons when activated with high-frequency inputs from retinogeniculate synapses. Finally, in vivo recordings reveal augmented ON- and OFF-responses of dLGN neurons in CKAMP44 knockout (CKAMP44-/-) mice, demonstrating the importance of CKAMP44 for modulating synaptic short-term depression and visual input integration.

| S-EPMC5772470 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data