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Cited by 90Visual perception and processing mechanismsZebrafish Biomedical Research ApplicationsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Retinotectal circuitry of larval zebrafish is adapted to detection and pursuit of prey

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Förster, Dominique, Helmbrecht, Thomas O, Mearns, Duncan S, Jordan, Linda, Mokayes, Nouwar, Baier, Herwig·2020·eLife
DOI 10.7554/elife.58596PMC PMC7550190
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Abstract

Retinal axon projections form a map of the visual environment in the tectum. A zebrafish larva typically detects a prey object in its peripheral visual field. As it turns and swims towards the prey, the stimulus enters the central, binocular area, and seemingly expands in size. By volumetric calcium imaging, we show that posterior tectal neurons, which serve to detect prey at a distance, tend to respond to small objects and intrinsically compute their direction of movement. Neurons in anterior tectum, where the prey image is represented shortly before the capture strike, are tuned to larger object sizes and are frequently not direction-selective, indicating that mainly interocular comparisons serve to compute an object’s movement at close range. The tectal feature map originates from a linear combination of diverse, functionally specialized, lamina-specific, and topographically ordered retinal ganglion cell synaptic inputs. We conclude that local cell-type composition and connectivity across the tectum are adapted to the processing of location-dependent, behaviorally relevant object features.

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  • The optic tectum of teleosts receives sensory information mainly from multiple sensory modalities to form real-time representations of the animal surrounding, to identify significant stimuli, like preys or predators, and to trigger sensory guided responses.

    “The optic tectum of teleosts receives sensory information mainly from multiple sensory modalities to form real-time representations of the animal surrounding, to identify significant stimuli, like preys, or potentially dangerous objects, as predators, and to trigger sensory guided responses.”

    From Spatial Cognition in Teleost Fish: Strategies and Mechanisms (2021) · cites this paper as [130]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Förster, D., Helmbrecht, T. O., Mearns, D. S., Jordan, L., Mokayes, N., & Baier, H.
Affiliations
Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology (DE)
Corresponding author
Baier, Herwig
ORCID
Venue
eLife
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Published
2020-10-12
Volume
9
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7554/elife.58596
PMC
PMC7550190
OpenAlex
W3092442267
Cited by
90
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 3
FWCI
6.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Max Planck Society
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
tectum, zebrafish larvae, prey detection, prey pursuit, direction selectivity, interocular comparison, retinal ganglion cells, binocular vision
MeSH terms
Animals, Predatory Behavior, Superior Colliculi, Visual Perception, Zebrafish

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