Intracellular and extracellular in vivo recording of different response modes for relay cells of the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus

1991 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
F.-S. Lo ◽  
S.-M. Lu ◽  
S.M. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Response Modes ◽  
Different Response

Dynamics of neurons in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus: in vivo electrophysiology and computational modeling

1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222-1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mukherjee ◽  
E. Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Spike Train ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Relay Cell ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Band Pass

1. We investigated the time domain transformation that thalamocortical relay cells of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) perform on their retinal input, and used computational modeling to explore the biophysical properties that determine the dynamics of the LGN relay cells in vivo. 2. We recorded simultaneously the input (S potentials) and output (action potentials) of 50 cat LGN relay cells stimulated by drifting sinusoidal gratings of varying temporal frequency. The temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) of the neurons were derived from these data. The burstiness of the LGN spike trains was also assessed using objective criteria. 3. We found that the form of the TMTF was quite variable among cells, ranging from low-pass to strongly band-pass. The optimal temporal frequency of band-pass neurons was between 2 and 8 Hz. In addition, the TMTF of some cells was nonstationary: their temporal tuning changed with time. 4. The temporal tuning of a cell was directly related to the degree of burstiness of its spike train. Tonically firing relay cells had low-pass TMTFs, whereas the most bursty neurons exhibited the most sharply band-pass transfer functions. This was also true for single cells that altered their temporal tuning: a shift to more band-pass tuning was associated with increased burstiness of the spike train, and vice versa. 5. We constructed a computer simulation of the LGN relay cell. The model was a simplified five-channel version of the thalamocortical neuron model of McCormick and Huguenard. It incorporated the quantitative kinetics of the Ca2+ T channel, as well as the Hodgkin-Huxley Na+ and K+ channels, as the only active membrane currents. To simulate the in vivo dynamics of the relay cell, the input to the model consisted of trains of synaptic potentials, recorded as S potentials in our physiological experiments. 6. When the resting membrane potential of the model neuron was relatively depolarized, the model's TMTF was low-pass, with no bursting evident in the simulated spike train. At hyperpolarized resting membrane potentials, however, the modeled TMTF was band-pass, with frequent burst discharges. Thus the biophysical model reproduced not only the range of dynamics seen in real LGN relay cells, but also the dependence of the overall dynamics on the burstiness of the spike train. However, neither of these phenomena could be simulated without the T channel. Thus the simulations demonstrated that the T-type Ca2+ channel was necessary and sufficient to explain the LGN dynamics observed in physiological experiments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Visual responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus at early stages of retinal degeneration in rd1 PDE6β mice

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1753-1764
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Procyk ◽  
Annette E. Allen ◽  
Franck P. Martial ◽  
Robert J. Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Degeneration ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Cone Photoreceptors ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Lower Amplitude ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Rod And Cone Photoreceptors

Inherited retinal degenerations encompass a wide range of diseases that result in the death of rod and cone photoreceptors, eventually leading to irreversible blindness. Low vision survives at early stages of degeneration, at which point it could rely on residual populations of rod/cone photoreceptors as well as the inner retinal photoreceptor, melanopsin. To date, the impact of partial retinal degeneration on visual responses in the primary visual thalamus (dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, dLGN) remains unknown, as does their relative reliance on surviving rod and cone photoreceptors vs. melanopsin. To answer these questions, we recorded visually evoked responses in the dLGN of anesthetized rd1 mice using in vivo electrophysiology at an age (3–5 wk) at which cones are partially degenerate and rods are absent. We found that excitatory (ON) responses to light had lower amplitude and longer latency in rd1 mice compared with age-matched visually intact controls; however, contrast sensitivity and spatial receptive field size were largely unaffected at this early stage of degeneration. Responses were retained when those wavelengths to which melanopsin is most sensitive were depleted, indicating that they were driven primarily by surviving cones. Inhibitory responses appeared absent in the rd1 thalamus, as did light-evoked gamma oscillations in firing. This description of fundamental features of the dLGN visual response at this intermediate stage of retinal degeneration provides a context for emerging attempts to restore vision by introducing ectopic photoreception to the degenerate retina. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study provides new therapeutically relevant insights to visual responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus during progressive retinal degeneration. Using in vivo electrophysiology, we demonstrate that visual responses have lower amplitude and longer latency during degeneration, but contrast sensitivity and spatial receptive fields remain unaffected. Such visual responses are driven predominantly by surviving cones rather than melanopsin photoreceptors. The functional integrity of this visual pathway is encouraging for emerging attempts at visual restoration.

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