Proton feedback mediates the cascade of color-opponent signals onto H3 horizontal cells in goldfish retina.

It has been postulated that horizontal cells (HCs) send feedback signals onto cones via a proton feedback mechanism, which generates the center-surround receptive field of bipolar cells, and color-opponent signals in many non-mammalian vertebrates. Here we used a strong pH buffer, HEPES, to reduce extracellular proton concentration changes and so determine whether protons mediate color-opponent signals in goldfish H3 (triphasic) HCs. Superfusion with 10mM HEPES-fortified saline elicited depolarization of H3 HCs' dark membrane potential and enhanced hyperpolarizing responses to blue stimuli, but suppressed both depolarization by yellow and orange and hyperpolarization by red stimuli. The response components suppressed by HEPES resembled the inverse of spectral responses of H2 (biphasic) HCs. These results are consistent with the Stell-Lightfoot cascade model, in which the HEPES-suppressed component of H3 HCs was calculated using light responses recorded experimentally in H1 (monophasic) and H2 HCs. Selective suppression of long- or long-+middle-wavelength cone signals by long-wavelength background enhanced the responses to short-wavelength stimuli. These results suggest that HEPES inhibited color opponent signals in H3 HCs, in which the source of opponent-color signals is primarily a feedback from H2 HCs and partly from H1 HCs onto short-wavelength cones, probably mediated by protons.

PLATO: data-oriented approach to collaborative large-scale brain system modeling.

The brain is a complex information processing system, which can be divided into sub-systems, such as the sensory organs, functional areas in the cortex, and motor control systems. In this sense, most of the mathematical models developed in the field of neuroscience have mainly targeted a specific sub-system. In order to understand the details of the brain as a whole, such sub-system models need to be integrated toward the development of a neurophysiologically plausible large-scale system model. In the present work, we propose a model integration library where models can be connected by means of a common data format. Here, the common data format should be portable so that models written in any programming language, computer architecture, and operating system can be connected. Moreover, the library should be simple so that models can be adapted to use the common data format without requiring any detailed knowledge on its use. Using this library, we have successfully connected existing models reproducing certain features of the visual system, toward the development of a large-scale visual system model. This library will enable users to reuse and integrate existing and newly developed models toward the development and simulation of a large-scale brain system model. The resulting model can also be executed on high performance computers using Message Passing Interface (MPI).

Identification of retinal ganglion cells and their projections involved in central transmission of information about upward and downward image motion.

The direction of image motion is coded by direction-selective (DS) ganglion cells in the retina. Particularly, the ON DS ganglion cells project their axons specifically to terminal nuclei of the accessory optic system (AOS) responsible for optokinetic reflex (OKR). We recently generated a knock-in mouse in which SPIG1 (SPARC-related protein containing immunoglobulin domains 1)-expressing cells are visualized with GFP, and found that retinal ganglion cells projecting to the medial terminal nucleus (MTN), the principal nucleus of the AOS, are comprised of SPIG1+ and SPIG1(-) ganglion cells distributed in distinct mosaic patterns in the retina. Here we examined light responses of these two subtypes of MTN-projecting cells by targeted electrophysiological recordings. SPIG1+ and SPIG1(-) ganglion cells respond preferentially to upward motion and downward motion, respectively, in the visual field. The direction selectivity of SPIG1+ ganglion cells develops normally in dark-reared mice. The MTN neurons are activated by optokinetic stimuli only of the vertical motion as shown by Fos expression analysis. Combination of genetic labeling and conventional retrograde labeling revealed that axons of SPIG1+ and SPIG1(-) ganglion cells project to the MTN via different pathways. The axon terminals of the two subtypes are organized into discrete clusters in the MTN. These results suggest that information about upward and downward image motion transmitted by distinct ON DS cells is separately processed in the MTN, if not independently. Our findings provide insights into the neural mechanisms of OKR, how information about the direction of image motion is deciphered by the AOS.