Lecture

Visual Processing in Zebrafish: Retinal Ganglion Cells and Behavior

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In course

NX-435: Systems neuroscience

The course "Systems Neuroscience" explores neural circuits and networks to understand how groups of neurons process information and generate behavior. It integrates techniques from neurophysiology, anatomy, genetics, and computer science to investigate com ...

Description

This lecture discusses the visual processing mechanisms in zebrafish, focusing on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their role in encoding visual information. It begins with an overview of the center-surround model of receptive fields, explaining how RGCs respond to light stimuli through excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms. The lecture highlights the historical significance of Jerome Lettvin's work on frog vision, which laid the groundwork for understanding feature detection in vertebrates. The instructor elaborates on the diversity of RGCs, emphasizing their ability to detect motion, edges, and prey-like stimuli. The discussion extends to the anatomical organization of the zebrafish visual system, including the optic tectum's role in processing visual information and coordinating behavioral responses. The lecture concludes with insights into how visual stimuli influence hunting and escape behaviors in zebrafish, showcasing their evolutionary adaptations for survival. Overall, the lecture provides a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between visual processing and behavior in this model organism.

Instructor

Mackenzie Mathis

Center for NeuroprostheticsEPFL ELLIS Unit Faculty MemberCenter for Intelligent Systems

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Health sciences

Ophthalmology: Topics in ophthalmology

Related concepts (32)

Visual cortex

The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and then reaches the visual cortex. The area of the visual cortex that receives the sensory input from the lateral geniculate nucleus is the primary visual cortex, also known as visual area 1 (V1), Brodmann area 17, or the striate cortex.

Visual system

The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (the ability to detect and process visible light) as well as enabling the formation of several non-image photo response functions. It detects and interprets information from the optical spectrum perceptible to that species to "build a representation" of the surrounding environment.

Visual perception

Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflected by objects in the environment. This is different from visual acuity, which refers to how clearly a person sees (for example "20/20 vision"). A person can have problems with visual perceptual processing even if they have 20/20 vision.

Visual processing

Visual processing is a term that is used to refer to the brain's ability to use and interpret visual information from the world around us. The process of converting light energy into a meaningful image is a complex process that is facilitated by numerous brain structures and higher level cognitive processes. On an anatomical level, light energy first enters the eye through the cornea, where the light is bent. After passing through the cornea, light passes through the pupil and then lens of the eye, where it is bent to a greater degree and focused upon the retina.

Retinal ganglion cell

A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface (the ganglion cell layer) of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and retina amacrine cells. Retina amacrine cells, particularly narrow field cells, are important for creating functional subunits within the ganglion cell layer and making it so that ganglion cells can observe a small dot moving a small distance.

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