Central Vestibular Tuning Arises from Patterned Convergence of Otolith Afferents.
Neuron
; 108(4): 748-762.e4, 2020 11 25.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32937099
ABSTRACT
As sensory information moves through the brain, higher-order areas exhibit more complex tuning than lower areas. Though models predict that complexity arises via convergent inputs from neurons with diverse response properties, in most vertebrate systems, convergence has only been inferred rather than tested directly. Here, we measure sensory computations in zebrafish vestibular neurons across multiple axes in vivo. We establish that whole-cell physiological recordings reveal tuning of individual vestibular afferent inputs and their postsynaptic targets. Strong, sparse synaptic inputs can be distinguished by their amplitudes, permitting analysis of afferent convergence in vivo. An independent approach, serial-section electron microscopy, supports the inferred connectivity. We find that afferents with similar or differing preferred directions converge on central vestibular neurons, conferring more simple or complex tuning, respectively. Together, these results provide a direct, quantifiable demonstration of feedforward input convergence in vivo.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vestibular Nuclei
/
Otolithic Membrane
/
Neurons, Afferent
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Neuron
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: