Predation without direction selectivity

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Krizan, Jenna; Song, Xiayingfang; Fitzpatrick, Michael J.; Shen, Ning; Soto, Florentina; Kerschensteiner, Daniel
• 署名单位: Washington University (WUSTL); Washington University (WUSTL); Washington University (WUSTL); Washington University (WUSTL); Washington University (WUSTL)
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10279
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317218121
• 发表日期: 2024-03-19
• 关键词: superior colliculus; neurons; stimulus; vision; motion; ORGANIZATION; BEHAVIOR; retina; cells

摘要

Across the animal kingdom, visual predation relies on motion- sensing neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) and its orthologs. These neurons exhibit complex stimulus preferences, including direction selectivity, which is thought to be critical for tracking the unpredictable escape routes of prey. The source of direction selectivity in the SC contested, and its contributions to predation have not been tested experimentally. Here, we use type- specific cell removal to show that narrow - field (NF) neurons in the mouse SC guide predation. In vivo recordings demonstrate that direction- selective responses of NF cells are independent of recently reported stimulus - edge effects. Monosynaptic retrograde tracing reveals that NF cells receive synaptic input from direction- selective ganglion cells. When we eliminate direction selectivity in the retina of adult mice, direction- selective responses in the SC, including in NF cells, are lost. However, eliminating retinal direction selectivity does not affect the hunting success or strategies mice, even when direction selectivity is removed after mice have learned to hunt, and despite abolishing the gaze- stabilizing optokinetic reflex. Thus, our results identify the retinal source of direction selectivity in the SC. They show that NF cells in the SC guide predation, an essential spatial orienting task, independent of their direction selectivity, revealing behavioral multiplexing of complex neural feature preferences and highlighting the importance of feature- selective manipulations for neuroethology.