Adaptation in catfish retina

Chromosome-level assembly of southern catfish (silurus meridionalis) provides insights into visual adaptation to nocturnal and benthic lifestyles

The Southern catfish (Silurus meridionalis) is a nocturnal and benthic freshwater fish endemic to the Yangtze River and its tributaries. In this study, we constructed a chromosome-level draft genome of S. meridionalis using 69.7-Gb Nanopore long reads and 49.5-Gb Illumina short reads. The genome assembly was 741.2 Mb in size with a contig N50 of 13.19 Mb. An additional 116.4 Gb of Bionano and 77.4 Gb of Hi-C data were applied to assemble contigs into scaffolds and further into 29 chromosomes, resulting in a 738.9-Mb genome with a scaffold N50 of 28.04 Mb. A total of 22,965 protein-coding genes were predicted from the genome with 22,519 (98.06%) genes functionally annotated. Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed a rod-dominated visual system which was responsible for scotopic vision. The absence of cone opsins SWS1 and SWS2 resulted in the lack of ultraviolet and blue violet sensitivity. Mutations at key amino acid sites of RH1.1, RH1.2 and RH2 resulted in spectral tuning good for dim light vision and narrow colour vision. A higher expression level of rod phototransduction genes than that of cone genes and higher rod-to-cone ratio led to higher optical sensitivity under dim light conditions. In addition, analysis of the genes involved in eye morphogenesis and development revealed the loss of some conserved noncoding elements, which might be associated with the small eyes in catfish. Together, our study provides important clues for the adaptation of the catfish visual system to the nocturnal and benthic lifestyles. The draft genome of S. meridionalis represents a valuable resource for studies of the molecular mechanisms of ecological adaptation.

Inhibitory components of retinal bipolar cell receptive fields are differentially modulated by dopamine D1 receptors

During adaptation to an increase in environmental luminance, retinal signaling adjustments are mediated by the neuromodulator dopamine. Retinal dopamine is released with light and can affect center-surround receptive fields, the coupling state between neurons, and inhibitory pathways through inhibitory receptors and neurotransmitter release. While the inhibitory receptive field surround of bipolar cells becomes narrower and weaker during light adaptation, it is unknown how dopamine affects bipolar cell surrounds. If dopamine and light have similar effects, it would suggest that dopamine could be a mechanism for light-adapted changes. We tested the hypothesis that dopamine D1 receptor activation is sufficient to elicit the magnitude of light-adapted reductions in inhibitory bipolar cell surrounds. Surrounds were measured from OFF bipolar cells in dark-adapted mouse retinas while stimulating D1 receptors, which are located on bipolar, horizontal, and inhibitory amacrine cells. The D1 agonist SKF-38393 narrowed and weakened OFF bipolar cell inhibitory receptive fields but not to the same extent as with light adaptation. However, the receptive field surround reductions differed between the glycinergic and GABAergic components of the receptive field. GABAergic inhibitory strength was reduced only at the edges of the surround, while glycinergic inhibitory strength was reduced across the whole receptive field. These results expand the role of retinal dopamine to include modulation of bipolar cell receptive field surrounds. Additionally, our results suggest that D1 receptor pathways may be a mechanism for the light-adapted weakening of glycinergic surround inputs and the furthest wide-field GABAergic inputs to bipolar cells. However, remaining differences between light-adapted and D1 receptor-activated inhibition demonstrate that non-D1 receptor mechanisms are necessary to elicit the full effect of light adaptation on inhibitory surrounds.

Dopamine D1 receptor activation reduces local inner retinal inhibition to light-adapted levels

During adaptation from dim to bright environments, changes in retinal signaling are mediated, in part, by dopamine. Dopamine is released with light and can modulate retinal receptive fields, neuronal coupling, inhibitory receptors, and rod pathway inhibition. However, it is unclear how dopamine affects inner retinal inhibition to cone bipolar cells, which relay visual information from photoreceptors to ganglion cells and are important signal processing sites. We tested the hypothesis that dopamine (D)1 receptor activation is sufficient to elicit light-adapted inhibitory changes. Local light-evoked inhibition and spontaneous activity were measured from OFF cone bipolar cells in dark-adapted mouse retinas while stimulating D1 receptors, which are located on bipolar, horizontal, and inhibitory amacrine cells. The D1 agonist SKF38393 reduced local inhibitory light-evoked response magnitude and increased response transience, which mimicked changes measured with light adaptation. D1-mediated reductions in local inhibition were more pronounced for glycinergic than GABAergic inputs, comparable with light adaptation. The effects of D1 receptors on light-evoked input were similar to the effects on spontaneous input. D1 receptor activation primarily decreased glycinergic spontaneous current frequency, similar to light adaptation, suggesting mainly a presynaptic amacrine cell site of action. These results expand the role of dopamine to include signal modulation of cone bipolar cell local inhibition. In this role, D1 receptor activation, acting primarily through glycinergic amacrine cells, may be an important mechanism for the light-adapted reduction in OFF bipolar cell inhibition since the actions are similar and dopamine is released during light adaptation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Retinal adaptation to different luminance conditions requires the adjustment of local circuits for accurate signaling of visual scenes. Understanding mechanisms behind luminance adaptation at different retinal levels is important for understanding how the retina functions in a dynamic environment. In the mouse, we show that dopamine pathways reduce inner retinal inhibition similar to increased background luminance, suggesting the two are linked and highlighting a possible mechanism for light adaptation at an early retinal processing center.

Light adaptation alters inner retinal inhibition to shape OFF retinal pathway signaling

The retina adjusts its signaling gain over a wide range of light levels. A functional result of this is increased visual acuity at brighter luminance levels (light adaptation) due to shifts in the excitatory center-inhibitory surround receptive field parameters of ganglion cells that increases their sensitivity to smaller light stimuli. Recent work supports the idea that changes in ganglion cell spatial sensitivity with background luminance are due in part to inner retinal mechanisms, possibly including modulation of inhibition onto bipolar cells. To determine how the receptive fields of OFF cone bipolar cells may contribute to changes in ganglion cell resolution, the spatial extent and magnitude of inhibitory and excitatory inputs were measured from OFF bipolar cells under dark- and light-adapted conditions. There was no change in the OFF bipolar cell excitatory input with light adaptation; however, the spatial distributions of inhibitory inputs, including both glycinergic and GABAergic sources, became significantly narrower, smaller, and more transient. The magnitude and size of the OFF bipolar cell center-surround receptive fields as well as light-adapted changes in resting membrane potential were incorporated into a spatial model of OFF bipolar cell output to the downstream ganglion cells, which predicted an increase in signal output strength with light adaptation. We show a prominent role for inner retinal spatial signals in modulating the modeled strength of bipolar cell output to potentially play a role in ganglion cell visual sensitivity and acuity.

Dynamics of optomotor responses in Drosophila to perturbations in optic flow

For a small flying insect, correcting unplanned course perturbations is essential for navigating through the world. Visual course control relies on estimating optic flow patterns which, in flies, are encoded by interneurons of the third optic ganglion. However, the rules that translate optic flow into flight motor commands remain poorly understood. Here, we measured the temporal dynamics of optomotor responses in tethered flies to optic flow fields about three cardinal axes. For each condition, we used white noise analysis to determine the optimal linear filters linking optic flow to the sum and difference of left and right wing beat amplitudes. The estimated filters indicate that flies react very quickly to perturbations of the motion field, with pure delays in the order of approximately 20 ms and time-to-peak of approximately 100 ms. By convolution the filters also predict responses to arbitrary stimulus sequences, accounting for over half the variance in 5 of our 6 stimulus types, demonstrating the approximate linearity of the system with respect to optic flow variables. In the remaining case of yaw optic flow we improved predictability by measuring individual flies, which also allowed us to analyze the variability of optomotor responses within a population. Finally, the linear filters at least partly explain the optomotor responses to superimposed and decomposed compound flow fields.

Cell type-specific and light-dependent expression of Rab1 and Rab6 GTPases in mammalian retinas

The Ras-like Rab1 and Rab6 GTPases modulate protein traffic along the early secretory pathway and are involved in the regulation of maturation of rhodopsin in the outer retina. However, Rab GTPases have not been studied in the inner retinas. Here, we analyzed the anatomatic distribution and expression of Rab1 and Rab6 in the mouse and rat retinas by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. We found that Rab1 was specifically expressed in the rod bipolar cells, while Rab6 was expressed in a different cell type(s) from rod bipolar cells in the inner retina. We also demonstrated that expression of Rab1 and Rab6 was increased with light. These data provided the first evidence implicating that Rab1 and Rab6 may be involved in the regulation of the retinal adaptation.

A retinal circuit that computes object motion

Certain ganglion cells in the retina respond sensitively to differential motion between the receptive field center and surround, as produced by an object moving over the background, but are strongly suppressed by global image motion, as produced by the observer's head or eye movements. We investigated the circuit basis for this object motion sensitive (OMS) response by recording intracellularly from all classes of retinal interneurons while simultaneously recording the spiking output of many ganglion cells. Fast, transient bipolar cells respond linearly to motion in the receptive field center. The synaptic output from their terminals is rectified and then pooled by the OMS ganglion cell. A type of polyaxonal amacrine cell is driven by motion in the surround, again via pooling of rectified inputs, but from a different set of bipolar cell terminals. By direct intracellular current injection, we found that these polyaxonal amacrine cells selectively suppress the synaptic input of OMS ganglion cells. A quantitative model of these circuit elements and their interactions explains how an important visual computation is accomplished by retinal neurons and synapses.

Ambient light regulates sodium channel activity to dynamically control retinal signaling

The retinal network increases its sensitivity in low-light conditions to detect small visual inputs and decreases its sensitivity in bright-light conditions to prevent saturation. However, the cellular mechanisms that adjust visual signaling in the retinal network are not known. Here, we show that voltage-gated sodium channels in bipolar cells dynamically control retinal light sensitivity. In dim conditions, sodium channels amplified light-evoked synaptic responses mediated by cone pathways. Conversely, in bright conditions, sodium channels were inactivated by dopamine released from amacrine cells, and they did not amplify synaptic inputs, minimizing signal saturation. Our findings demonstrate that bipolar cell sodium channels mediate light adaptation by controlling retinal signaling gain.

Processing of color- and noncolor-coded signals in the gourami retina. I. Horizontal cells

There are two types of horizontal cells, the luminosity and the chromaticity cells, in the retina of the kissing gourami, Helostoma rudolfi. Luminosity cells occupy the outermost layer proximal to the receptor terminals, whereas chromaticity cells form a layer proximal to the layer of luminosity cells. Neither type of cell has axons. Responses were evoked by light from red and green light-emitting diodes. The two stimuli were modulated either by a pulsatile or a white-noise signal. The luminosity cell always produced a hyperpolarizing response. The chromaticity cell produced a hyperpolarizing response when stimulated by only one color. However, in the presence of a steady or modulated green input, a red stimulus produced a depolarizing response. Such chromaticity cells were similar to the (spectral) biphasic chromaticity horizontal cells observed in other retinae. The depolarizing phase of the red response was produced by the balance of intensity of the two inputs, red and green. We used white-noise methodology to identify the dynamics of the horizontal cell's modulation response by taking advantage of the fact that a Wiener kernel is a measure of a cell's incremental sensitivity, which includes its response dynamics. Under all conditions, a steady state modulation response by both luminosity and chromaticity cells always was related linearly to the input modulation. The average mean square error (MSE) of the model predicted by the first-order kernel was approximately 8% for both luminosity (n = 116) and chromaticity (n = 23) cells. In some cases, the MSE was a few percent even when the peak-to-peak response amplitude was nearly 30 mV. The ratio of inputs from red and green cones to both types of horizontal cells was variable; the major input for luminosity cells came from red cones, whereas the major input for chromaticity cells came from green cones. First-order kernels generated by the major input were robust in terms of waveform in the sense that the waveform remained unchanged whether or not there was a steady or modulated illumination by the opposing color. The results reported here do not address the question of the neural circuitry that generates horizontal cell responses, in particular, the depolarizing response. However, whatever that circuitry might be, the high degree of linearity of the modulation response by both types of cell under various stimulus conditions imposes restrictions on the performance of any proposed model as well as on mechanisms that underlie the generation of the horizontal cell response.

Gain control of synaptic transfer from second- to third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli

Synaptic transmission from second- to third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli occurs in an exponentially rising part of the overall sigmoidal characteristic curve relating pre- and postsynaptic voltage. Because of the nonlinear nature of the synapse, linear responses of second-order neurons to changes in ligh intensity are half-wave rectified, i.e., the response to a decrement in light is amplified whereas that to an increment in light is compressed. Here I report that the gain of synaptic transmission from second- to third-order neurons changes by ambient light levels and by wind stimulation applied to the cerci. Transfer characteristics of the synapse were studied by simultaneous intracellular recordings of second- and third-order neurons. Potential changes were evoked in second-order neurons by a sinusoidally modulated light with various mean luminances. With a decrease in the mean luminance (a) the mean membrane potential of second-order neurons was depolarized, (b) the synapse between the second- and third-order neurons operated in a steeper range of the exponential characteristic curve, where the gain to transmit modulatory signals was higher, and (c) the gain of third-order neurons to detect a decrement in light increased. Second-order neurons were depolarized when a wind or tactile stimulus was applied to various parts of the body including the cerci. During a wind-evoked depolarization, the synapse operated in a steeper range of the characteristic curve, which resulted in an increased gain of third-order neurons to detect light decrements. I conclude that the nonlinear nature of the synapse between the second- and third-order neurons provides an opportunity for an adjustment of gain to transmit signals of intensity change. The possibility that a similar gain control occurs in other visual systems and underlies a more advanced visual function, i.e., detection of motion, is discussed.

Response dynamics and receptive-field organization of catfish ganglion cells

Responses from catfish retinal ganglion cells were evoked by a spot or an annulus of light and were analyzed by a procedure identical to the one used previously to study catfish amacrine cells (Sakai H. M., and K.-I. Naka, 1992. Journal of Neurophysiology. 67:430-442.). In two-input white-noise experiments, a response evoked by simultaneous stimulation of the center and surround was decomposed into the components generated by the center and surround through a process of cross-correlation. The center and surround responses were also decomposed into their linear and nonlinear components so that the response dynamics of the linear and nonlinear components could be measured. We found that the concentric organization of the receptive field was determined by linear components, i.e., the first-order kernels generated by the center and surround were of opposite polarity. Both the center and surround generated second-order kernels with similar signatures, i.e., the second-order components formed a monotonic receptive field. The peak response time of the first- and second-order kernels from the surround was longer by approximately 20 ms than that of the center. Except for the DC potential present in the intracellular responses, almost identical first- and second-order kernels for the center and surround were obtained from both the intracellular response and spike discharges. Thus, information on concentric organization of a receptive field is translated into spike discharges with little loss of information. A train of spike discharges carries, simultaneously, at least four kinds of information: two linear and two nonlinear components, which originate in the receptive field center and the surround. A spike train is not a simple signaling device but is a carrier of complex and multiple signals. Victor, J. D., and R. M. Shapley (1979. Journal of General Physiology. 74:671-687.) discovered similarly that, in the cat retina, static second-order nonlinearity is encoded into spike trains. Results obtained in this study support the thesis that signals generated by the preganglionic cells are translated into spike discharges without major modification and that those signals can be recovered from the spike trains (Sakuranaga, M., Y. Ando, and K.-I. Naka. 1987. Journal of General Physiology. 90:229-259.; Korenberg, M. J., H. M. Sakai, and K.-I. Naka. 1989. Journal of Neurophysiology. 61:1110-1120.). Current injection studies have shown that such signal transmission is possible (Sakai, H. M., and K.-I. Naka, 1988a. Journal of Neurophysiology. 60:1549-1567.; 1990. Journal of Neurophysiology. 63:105-119.).

Contrast gain control in the lower vertebrate retinas

Control of contrast sensitivity was studied in two kinds of retina, that of the channel catfish and that of the kissing gourami. The former preparation is dominantly monochromatic and the latter is bichromatic. Various stimuli were used, namely a large field of light, a spot-annulus configuration and two overlapping stimuli of red and green. Recordings were made from horizontal, amacrine, and ganglion cells and the results were analyzed by means of Wiener's theory, in which the kernels are the contrast (incremental) sensitivity. Modulation responses from horizontal cells are linear, in that the waveform and amplitude of the first-order kernels are independent of the depth of modulation. In the N (sustained) amacrine and ganglion cells, contrast sensitivity was low for a large modulation input and was high for a small modulation input, providing an example of contrast gain control. In most of the cells, the contrast gain control did not affect the dynamics of the response because the waveform of the first-order kernels remained unchanged when the contrast sensitivity increased more than fivefold. The signature of the second-order kernels also remained unchanged over a wide range of modulation. The increase in the contrast sensitivity for the second-order component, as defined by the amplitude of the kernels, was much larger than for the first-order component. This observation suggests that the contrast gain control proceeded the generation of the second-order nonlinearity. An analysis of a cascade of the Wiener type shows that the control of contrast sensitivity in the proximal retinal cells could be modeled by assuming the presence of a simple (static) saturation nonlinearity. Such a nonlinearity must exist somewhere between the horizontal cells and the amacrine cells. The functional implications of the contrast gain control are as follows: (a) neurons in the proximal retina exhibit greater sensitivity to input of lower contrast; (b) saturation of a neuronal response can be prevented because of the lower sensitivity for an input with large contrast, and (c) over a large range of modulation depths, the amplitude of the response remains approximately constant.

White noise analysis of a chromatic type horizontal cell in the Xenopus retina

The dynamics of color-coded signal transmission in the light-adapted Xenopus retina were studied by a combination of white noise (Wiener) analysis and simultaneous recordings from two types of horizontal cells: chromatic-type horizontal cells (C-HCs) are hyperpolarized by blue light and depolarized by red light, whereas luminosity-type horizontal cells (L-HCs) are hyperpolarized by all wave-lengths. The retina was stimulated by two superimposed fields of red and blue light modulated by two independent white noise signals, and the resulting intracellular responses were decomposed into red and blue components (first-order kernels). The first-order kernels predict the intracellular responses with a small degree of error (3.5-9.5% in terms of mean square error) under conditions where modulated responses exceeded 30 mV in amplitude peak-to-peak, thus demonstrating that both red and blue modulation responses are linear. Moreover, there is little or no interaction between the red- and blue-evoked responses; i.e., nearly identical first-order kernels were obtained for one color whether the other color was modulated or not. In C-HCs (but not L-HCs), there were consistent differences in the dynamics of the red and blue responses. In the C-HC, the cutoff frequency of the red response was higher than for the blue (approximately 12 vs 5 Hz), and the red kernel was more bandpass than the blue. In the L-HC, kernel waveform and cutoff frequencies were similar for both colors (approximately 12 Hz or greater), and the time-to-peak of the L-HC kernel was always shorter than either the red or blue C-HC kernel. These results have implications for the mechanisms underlying color coding in the distal retina, and they further suggest that nonlinear phenomena, such as voltage-dependent conductances in HCs, do not contribute to the generation of modulation responses under the experimental conditions used here.

Sensitivity transformation for vertebrate vision

The visual response to a flash given in the dark is known to saturate according to the Michaelis-Menten relationship. Nevertheless, the incremental response from increasing levels of mean luminance tends to follow a Weber-Fechner relationship well into the saturation range determined from the Michaelis-Menten results. This sensitivity transformation from Michaelis-Menten to Weber-Fechner is an important characteristic of light adaptation in the vertebrate retina. Recent studies concerning the role of calcium in photoreceptor adaptation have shown that the relaxation from peak to plateau in the response of isolated photoreceptors was absent under conditions in which adaptation was blocked. Comparing the pronounced relaxation from peak to plateau in turtle horizontal cells with the absence of such relaxation in the catfish response, we noted also that turtle incremental sensitivity shows a Weber-Fechner relationship while catfish incremental sensitivity more closely follows the local slope of the Michaelis-Menten relation. Based on these observations, we have obtained an expression to relate the relaxation from peak to plateau with the sensitivity transformation. We assume that adaptation shifts the half-maximum point of the Michaelis-Menten curve so that the light response relaxes to a plateau value equal to a specified fraction phi of the peak response. We show that this manipulation alone results in a transformation from Michaelis-Menten kinetics to Weber-Fechner sensitivity.

Interplexiform cells of the goldfish retina

Dopaminergic and glycinergic interplexiform cells (IPCs) in the goldfish retina were impregnated by using two new Golgi protocols. The two cell types have markedly different morphological characteristics: Dopaminergic IPCs have primary dendrites that descend into and stratify in the inner plexiform layer, where they give rise to processes that project to the outer plexiform layer. Conversely, glycinergic IPCs have primary dendrites that ascend to the outer plexiform layer and from this dendritic arbor, many processes then project into the inner plexiform layer. The apparent coverage of dopaminergic IPCs is almost four times that of glycinergic IPCs. Even so, the coverage of each glycinergic IPC in the outer plexiform layer allows it to provide an accurate copy of the S-space to the inner plexiform layer. Considering the known GABAergic and glycinergic synaptologies in the inner plexiform layer, the glycinergic IPC must form a major element in the retinal circuitry of the goldfish.

Nonlinear signal transmission between second- and third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli

Transfer characteristics of the synapse made from second- to third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli were studied using simultaneous microelectrode penetrations and the application of tetrodotoxin. Potential changes were evoked in second-order neurons by either an extrinsic current or a sinusoidally modulated light. The synapse had a low-pass filter characteristic with a cutoff frequency of 25-30 Hz, which passed most presynaptic signals. The synapse operated at an exponentially rising part of the overall sigmoidal input/output curve relating pre- and postsynaptic voltages. Although the response of the second-order neuron to sinusoidal light was essentially linear, the response of the third-order neuron contained an accelerating nonlinearity: the response amplitude was a positively accelerated function of the stimulus contrast, reflecting nonlinear synaptic transmission. The response of the third-order neuron exhibited a half-wave rectification: the depolarizing response to light decrement was much larger than the hyperpolarizing response to light increment. Nonlinear synaptic transmission also enhanced the transient response to step-like intensity changes. I conclude that (a) the major function of synaptic transmission between second- and third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli is to convert linear presynaptic signals into nonlinear ones and that (b) signal transmission at the synapse between second- and third-order neurons of cockroach ocelli fundamentally differs from that at the synapse between photoreceptors and second-order neurons of visual systems so far studied, where the synapse operates in the midregion of the characteristic curve and the transmission is essentially linear.

Light adaptation in the primate retina: analysis of changes in gain and dynamics of monkey retinal ganglion cells

The responses of monkey retinal ganglion cells to sinusoidal stimuli of various temporal frequencies were measured and analyzed at a number of mean light levels. Temporal modulation tuning functions (TMTFs) were measured at each mean level by varying the drift rate of a sine-wave grating of fixed spatial frequency and contrast. The changes seen in ganglion cell temporal responses with changes in adaptation state were similar to those observed in human subjects and in turtle horizontal cells and cones tested with sinusoidally flickering stimuli; "Weber's Law" behavior was seen at low temporal frequencies but not at higher temporal frequencies. Temporal responses were analyzed in two ways: (1) at each light level, the TMTFs were fit by a model consisting of a cascade of low- and high-pass filters; (2) the family of TMTFs collected over a range of light levels for a given cell was fit by a linear negative feedback model in which the gain of the feedback was proportional to the mean light level. Analysis (1) revealed that the temporal responses of one class of monkey ganglion cells (M cells) were more phasic at both photopic and mesopic light levels than the responses of P ganglion cells. In analysis (2), the linear negative feedback model accounted reasonably well for changes in gain and dynamics seen in three P cells and one M cell. From the feedback model, it was possible to estimate the light level at which the dark-adapted gain of the cone pathways in the primate retina fell by a factor of two. This value was two to three orders of magnitude lower than the value estimated from recordings of isolated monkey cones. Thus, while a model which includes a single stage of negative feedback can account for the changes in gain and dynamics associated with light adaptation in the photopic and mesopic ranges of vision, the underlying physical mechanisms are unknown and may involve elements in the primate retina other than the cone.

Dynamic relationship between the slow potential and spikes in cockroach ocellar neurons

The relationship between the slow potential and spikes of second-order ocellar neurons of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, was studied. The stimulus was a sinusoidally modulated light with various mean illuminances. A solitary spike was generated at the depolarizing phase of the modulation response. Analysis of the relationship between the amplitude/frequency of voltage modulation and the rate of spike generation showed that (a) the spike initiation process was bandpass at approximately 0.5-5 Hz, (b) the process contained a dynamic linearity and a static nonlinearity, and (c) the spike threshold at optimal frequencies (0.5-5 Hz) remained unchanged over a mean illuminance range of 3.6 log units, whereas (d) the spike threshold at frequencies of less than 0.5 Hz was lower at a dimmer mean illuminance. The voltage noise in the response was larger and the mean membrane potential level was more positive at a dimmer mean illuminance. Steady or noise current injection during sinusoidal light stimulation showed that (a) the decrease in the spike threshold at a dimmer mean illuminance was due to the increase in the noise variance: the noise had facilitatory effects on the spike initiation; and (b) the change in the mean potential level had little effect on the spike threshold. We conclude that fundamental signal modifications occur during the spike initiation in the cockroach ocellar neuron, a finding that differs from the spike initiation process in other visual systems, including Limulus eye and vertebrate retina, in which it is presumed that little signal modification occurs at the analog-to-digital conversion process.

White-noise analysis in visual neuroscience

In 1827, plant biologist Robert Brown discovered what is known as Brownian motion, a class of chaos. Formal derivative of Brownian motion is Gaussian white-noise. In 1938, Norbert Wiener proposed to use the Gaussian white-noise as an input probe to identify a system by a series of orthogonal functionals known as the Wiener G-functionals. White-noise analysis is uniquely suited for studying the response dynamics of retinal neurons because (1) white-noise light stimulus is a modulation around a mean luminance, as are the natural photic inputs, and it is a highly efficient input; and (2) the analysis defines the response dynamics and can be extended to spike trains, the final output of the retina. Demonstrated here are typical examples and results from applications of white-noise analysis to a visual system.

Theoretical interpretation and derivation of flash-on-flash threshold parameters in visual system diseases

Visual increment thresholds measured on backgrounds flashed on simultaneously with the test flash exhibit saturation rather than following Weber's law. These flash-on-flash thresholds have been modeled with saturating nonlinearities similar to those used to describe intensity-response functions of retinal neurons. Recently, the flash-on-flash technique has been used to assess the mechanisms of threshold elevations in visual system diseases. However, the results were interpreted in a qualitative way. This paper extends the clinical application of flash-on-flash threshold measures by providing a theoretically derived algorithm for estimating nonlinear model parameters from flash-on-flash threshold data. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated with Monte Carlo techniques, and the theoretical interpretations of the model parameters are tested experimentally. Published clinical flash-on-flash threshold data are reanalyzed using the algorithm. A previously unappreciated decrease in the half-saturation constant of retinitis pigmentosa patients was revealed by this analysis.

Light adaptation and responses to contrast flashes in cones of the walleye retina

The effects of light adaptation on the intracellular responses of cones to incremental and decremental light flashes were investigated in the superfused walleye retina. The time course of light adaptation was relatively slow, some 10-20 min being required to reach steady-state conditions. Under steady-state conditions: (1) both dark-adapted and light-adapted amplitude/intensity data were well described by the Michaelis-Menten relation, (2) the incremental response did not saturate on intense backgrounds and (3) the cone sensitivity conformed closely to Weber's law. Effects of the polarity and magnitude of the flash contrast were analyzed by deriving "equivalent contrast" relations for cones and comparing the results to those of recent psychophysical experiments. Results based on the response amplitude suggest that responses to negative contrast flashes may be enhanced by post-receptor mechanisms. Results based on cone latency suggest that equivalent contrast relations for visual latency may be largely shaped in the very early, quasi-linear phase of the cone response.

Dynamics of turtle horizontal cell response

The small- and large-field (cone) horizontal cells produce similar dynamic responses to a stimulus whose mean luminance is modulated by a white-noise signal. Nonlinear components increase with an increase in the mean luminance and may produce a mean square error (MSE) of up to 15%. Increases in the mean luminance of the field stimulus bring about three major changes: the incremental sensitivity defined by the amplitude of the kernels decreases in a Weber-Fechner fashion; the waveforms of the kernels are transformed from monophasic (integrating) to biphasic (differentiating); the peak response time of the kernels becomes shorter and the cells respond to much higher-frequency inputs. The dynamics of the horizontal cell response also depend on the area of the retina stimulated. Smaller spots of light produce monophasic kernels of a longer peak response time. The presence of a steady background produces three major changes in the spot kernels: the kernel's amplitude becomes larger (incremental sensitivity increases); the peak response times become shorter; the waveform of the kernels changes in a fashion similar to that observed with an increase in the mean luminance of the field stimulus. A similar enhancement in the incremental sensitivity by a steady background has also been observed in catfish, which shows that this phenomenon is a common feature of the horizontal cells in the lower vertebrate retina.

Visual sensitivity and Wiener kernels

Visual sensitivity is defined in terms of the static and dynamic parts of a photo-evoked response. The first-order kernel induced by a white-noise modulated light is associated directly with both the incremental and contrast sensitivities classically defined, making a comprehensive measure of neuron sensitivity in the visual system.

Effects of background and spatial pattern on incremental sensitivity of catfish horizontal cells

Incremental sensitivity of cones and horizontal cells was examined in the retina of the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). In horizontal cells, steady full-field background illumination made the spot-evoked dynamic response larger and faster. The "enhancement" of incremental sensitivity was maximal at background levels of 20-50 microW/cm2. Similar changes in response were obtained by enlarging the diameter of the test spot (to 4 mm) without background illumination. In cones, no such enhancement with background was observed and small (0.4 mm) and large (4.0 mm) spots produced similar responses. Similar enhancement by a steady background has been observed also in the proximal neurons of catfish retina.

The identification and some functions of GABAergic neurons in the distal catfish retina

Putative GABAergic neurons in the outer retina of the Texas channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, were studied using autoradiographic, biochemical and electrophysiological techniques. A red cone horizontal cell was found to accumulate exogenous GABA in the presence of red light. GABA could be released from these cells with high K+ Ringers solution. The release was only partially blocked by Co2+ and therefore may be only partially Ca2+ dependent. The red cone horizontal cells were found to contain significant activities of L-glutamic acid decarboxylase and GABA transaminase, the enzymes responsible for GABA synthesis and degradation respectively. These data suggest that catfish red cone horizontal cells are GABAergic. To substantiate this, recordings were made from photoreceptors and horizontal cells during the superfusion of the GABA blocking agents bicuculline methochloride or picrotoxin. These agents modified the cone responses in the manner specified if they were blocking the feedback pathway from horizontal cells to cones. Thus it is likely that the horizontal cells are using GABA as the transmitter in the feedback pathway. In addition, the GABA blocking agents were found to interfere with changes in horizontal cell responses which occur during light adaptation.

The identification and some functions of GABAergic neurons in the proximal retina of the catfish

Putative GABAergic neurons in the inner retina of the Texas channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, were studied using autoradiographic, biochemical and electrophysiological techniques. A pyriform amacrine cell, ramifying predominantly in sublamina b of the inner plexiform layer, was found to accumulate exogenous GABA in the dark. GABA could be released from these cells with high K+ Ringers solution and the release was blocked by Co2+. These data suggest that a class of catfish amacrine cells are GABAergic. To substantiate this, extracellular recordings were made from ganglion cells during the superfusion of the GABA blocking agent bicuculline methochloride. This agent modified the responses of ganglion cells in a manner consistent with the notion that GABAergic amacrine cells are a major source of input to on-center ganglion cells. There also appeared to be an indirect GABAergic influence on a subclass of off-center ganglion cell.

Turtle and catfish horizontal cells show different dynamic response

Horizontal cell responses of catfish and turtle have been found to differ in a characteristic way. These characteristics established by white-noise analysis show that the impulse response (first order Wiener kernel) of the catfish horizontal cell has a substantially shorter latency as well as peak response time than that of the turtle. The turtle horizontal cell, on the other hand, has a dynamic gain which is twice that of the catfish. Since these differences were established under conditions of ambient illumination, they may be expected to be functionally important in the visual experience of the animals under normal environmental conditions.

Effects of dopamine on photopic L-type S-potentials in the catfish retina

Photopic L-type responses were recorded from the soma and the axon terminal of horizontal cells of the catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) retina in eye-cup preparations. The responses were produced by a spot of light with 100-micron diameter (intensity, 10 microW/cm2), which was flashed or steadily illuminated and swept along a 6-mm length over the retinal surface at a speed of 0.95 mm/sec. In some experiments, a traveling random bar stimulus was used instead of the sweeping spot. While recording the responses, dopamine (DA) was applied in a jet form via a nebulizer over the retinal preparation or as superfusate to the eye-cup preparation. DA increased the response amplitude by about 50% and markedly narrowed the spatial profile of the responses from the soma but not from the axon terminal. These DA effects were observed in both normal retinas and those from which DA cells had been deprived by prior intraocular injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. Deprival of DA cells from the retina resulted in a slightly wider spatial profile of the soma and axon terminal responses than that in normal retinas. The results indicate that the spatial properties of photopic L-type responses are modulated by DA at the soma level of horizontal cells.

A comparison of spatio-temporal receptive fields of ganglion cells in the retinas of the tadpole and adult frog

Receptive fields formed by ganglion cells were measured simultaneously in time and space in the adult and tadpole retinas. The spatio-temporal receptive-fields (STRFs) were measured by cross-correlating the spatio-temporal white-noise stimulus with the cells' spike discharges. Crosscorrelation was made photographically to extract the first order STRF kernel (approximately linear component of the STRFs). The time-course of STRF formed by the frog ganglion cells was twice as fast as that of the tadpole cells. The STRF formed by the tadpole ganglion cells was either a center-brightening or a center-dimming type whereas in the frog there was another class of cells which produced either complex STRFs or did not show any linear component in their STRFs. Size of the STRFs in frog and tadpole was similar in both frog and tadpole retinas.