Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh EH8 9AB, Edinburgh, UK.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 10;7:42330. doi: 10.1038/srep42330.
We have investigated the ontogeny of light-driven responses in mouse retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Using a large-scale, high-density multielectrode array, we recorded from hundreds to thousands of RGCs simultaneously at pan-retinal level, including dorsal and ventral locations. Responses to different contrasts not only revealed a complex developmental profile for ON, OFF and ON-OFF responses, but also unveiled differences between dorsal and ventral RGC responses. At eye-opening, dorsal RGCs of all types were more responsive to light, perhaps indicating an environmental priority to nest viewing for pre-weaning pups. The developmental profile of ON and OFF responses exhibited antagonistic behaviour, with the strongest ON responses shortly after eye-opening, followed by an increase in the strength of OFF responses later on. Further, we found that with maturation receptive field (RF) center sizes decrease, spike-triggered averaged responses to white noise become stronger, and centers become more circular while maintaining differences between RGC types. We conclude that the maturation of retinal functionality is not spatially homogeneous, likely reflecting ecological requirements that favour earlier maturation of the dorsal retina.
我们研究了小鼠视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）中光驱动反应的个体发生。使用大规模高密度多电极阵列，我们在全视网膜水平上同时记录数百到数千个 RGC 的反应，包括背侧和腹侧位置。对不同对比度的反应不仅揭示了 ON、OFF 和 ON-OFF 反应的复杂发育模式，还揭示了背侧和腹侧 RGC 反应之间的差异。在睁眼时，所有类型的背侧 RGC 对光的反应更敏感，这可能表明对于刚睁眼的幼鼠来说，优先考虑巢内观察的环境需求。ON 和 OFF 反应的发育模式表现出拮抗行为，最强的 ON 反应在睁眼后不久出现，随后 OFF 反应的强度增加。此外，我们发现随着成熟，感受野（RF）中心大小减小，对白噪声的尖峰触发平均反应变得更强，中心变得更圆，同时保持 RGC 类型之间的差异。我们得出结论，视网膜功能的成熟在空间上不是均匀的，这可能反映了有利于背侧视网膜更早成熟的生态需求。
