PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the spiking projection neurons of the eye that encode different features of the visual environment. The circuits providing synaptic input to different RGC types to drive feature selectivity have been studied extensively, but there has been less research aimed at understanding the intrinsic properties and how they impact feature selectivity. We introduce an RGC type in the mouse, the Bursty Suppressed-by-Contrast (bSbC) RGC, and compared it to the OFF sustained alpha (OFFsA). Differences in their contrast response functions arose from differences not in synaptic inputs but in their intrinsic properties. Spike generation was the key intrinsic property behind this functional difference; the bSbC RGC undergoes depolarization block while the OFFsA RGC maintains a high spike rate. Our results demonstrate that differences in intrinsic properties allow these two RGC types to detect and relay distinct features of an identical visual stimulus to the brain.
摘要：
视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）是眼睛的尖峰投射神经元，可编码视觉环境的不同特征。对向不同RGC类型提供突触输入以驱动特征选择性的电路进行了广泛研究，但是，旨在了解内在属性以及它们如何影响特征选择性的研究较少。我们在鼠标中引入RGC类型，突发对比压制(bSbC)RGC，并将其与OFF持续阿尔法(OFFsA)进行比较。它们的对比响应函数的差异不是由突触输入的差异引起的，而是由其固有特性引起的。尖峰生成是这种功能差异背后的关键内在属性；bSbCRGC经历去极化阻滞，而OFFsARGC保持较高的尖峰率。我们的结果表明，内在特性的差异使这两种RGC类型能够检测并将相同视觉刺激的不同特征传递到大脑。
