Cited by 185Vestibular and auditory disordersVisual perception and processing mechanismsMotor Control and Adaptation

Optogenetic Localization and Genetic Perturbation of Saccade-Generating Neurons in Zebrafish

Open access
Schoonheim, Peter J., Arrenberg, Aristides B., Del Bene, Filippo, Baier, Herwig·2010·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

The optokinetic response (OKR) to a visual stimulus moving at constant velocity consists of a series of two alternating components, a slow phase, during which the eyes follow the stimulus, and a quick phase, which resets the eyes to begin a new response cycle. The quick phases of the OKR resemble the saccades observed during free viewing. It is unclear to what extent the premotor circuitry underlying these two types of jerky, conjugate eye movements is conserved among vertebrates. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae, broadly expressing halorhodopsin (NpHR) or channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in most neurons, were used to map the location of neurons involved in this behavior. By blocking activity in localized groups of NpHR-expressing neurons with an optic fiber positioned above the head of the fish and by systematically varying the site of photostimulation, we discovered that activity in a small hindbrain area in rhombomere 5 was necessary for saccades to occur. Unilateral block of activity at this site affected behavior in a direction-specific manner. Inhibition of the right side suppressed rightward saccades of both eyes, while leaving leftward saccades unaffected, and vice versa. Photostimulation of this area in ChR2-transgenic fish was sufficient to trigger saccades that were precisely locked to the light pulses. These extra saccades could be induced both during free viewing and during the OKR, and were distinct in their kinetics from eye movements elicited by stimulating the abducens motor neurons. Zebrafish double indemnity(didy) mutants were identified in a chemical mutagenesis screen based on a defect in sustaining saccades during OKR. Positional cloning, molecular analysis, and electrophysiology revealed that the didy mutation disrupts the voltage-gated sodium channel Scn1lab (Nav1.lb). ChR2 photostimulation of the putative hindbrain saccade generator was able to fully reconstitute saccades in the didy mutant. Our studies demonstrate that an optogenetic approach is useful for targeted loss-of-function and gain-of-function manipulations of neural circuitry underlying eye movements in zebrafish and that the saccade-generating circuit in this species shares many of its properties with that in mammals.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.5193-09.2010

Cites

49 of 49 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Schoonheim, P. J., Arrenberg, A. B., Del Bene, F., & Baier, H.
Affiliations
University of California, San Francisco (US)
Corresponding author
Baier, Herwig
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2010-05-19
Volume
30
Issue
20
Pages
7111-7120
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2084811348
Cited by
185
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
FWCI
10.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Eye Institute (R01EY012406)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS053358)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vestibular and auditory disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
Keywords
saccades, optokinetic response, zebrafish, halorhodopsin, channelrhodopsin-2, optogenetics, voltage-gated sodium channels, eye movements, conjugate eye movements, photostimulation
MeSH terms
Animals, Bacterial Proteins, Carrier Proteins, Kinetics, Larva, Luminescent Proteins, Microinjections, Mutation, Neurons, Oocytes, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Rhombencephalon, Saccades, Xenopus, Zebrafish, Sodium Channels, Mutagenesis, Site-Directed, Nystagmus, Optokinetic, Halorhodopsins, Zebrafish Proteins, Animals, Genetically Modified

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review