PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Katja Reinhard
AU  - Chen Li
AU  - Quan Do
AU  - Emily Burke
AU  - Steven Heynderickx
AU  - Karl Farrow
TI  - A projection specific logic to sampling visual inputs in mouse superior colliculus
AID  - 10.1101/272914
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 272914
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/28/272914.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/28/272914.full
AB  - Using sensory information to trigger different behaviours relies on circuits that pass-through brain regions. However, the rules by which parallel inputs are routed to different downstream targets is poorly understood. The superior colliculus mediates a set of innate behaviours, receiving input from ~30 retinal ganglion cell types and projecting to behaviourally important targets including the pulvinar and parabigeminal nucleus. Combining transsynaptic circuit tracing with in-vivo and ex-vivo electrophysiological recordings we observed a projection specific logic where each collicular output pathway sampled a distinct set of retinal inputs. Neurons projecting to the pulvinar or parabigeminal nucleus uniquely sampled 4 and 7 cell types, respectively. Four others innervated both pathways. The visual response properties of retinal ganglion cells correlated well with those of their disynaptic targets. These findings suggest that projection specific sampling of retinal inputs forms a mechanistic basis for the selective triggering of visually guided behaviours by the superior colliculus.