PUBLICATION
Neural Circuits Underlying Visually Evoked Escapes in Larval Zebrafish
- Authors
- Dunn, T.W., Gebhardt, C., Naumann, E.A., Riegler, C., Ahrens, M.B., Engert, F., Del Bene, F.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-160126-8
- Date
- 2016
- Source
- Neuron 89(3): 613-28 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Ahrens, Misha, Del Bene, Filippo, Engert, Florian, Gebhardt, Christoph
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified
- Escape Reaction/physiology*
- Interneurons/physiology
- Larva/physiology
- Models, Neurological
- Neurons/physiology*
- Retinal Ganglion Cells/physiology
- Rhombencephalon/cytology
- Rhombencephalon/physiology
- Superior Colliculi/cytology
- Superior Colliculi/physiology*
- Visual Pathways/physiology*
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 26804997 Full text @ Neuron
Citation
Dunn, T.W., Gebhardt, C., Naumann, E.A., Riegler, C., Ahrens, M.B., Engert, F., Del Bene, F. (2016) Neural Circuits Underlying Visually Evoked Escapes in Larval Zebrafish. Neuron. 89(3):613-28.
Abstract
Escape behaviors deliver organisms away from imminent catastrophe. Here, we characterize behavioral responses of freely swimming larval zebrafish to looming visual stimuli simulating predators. We report that the visual system alone can recruit lateralized, rapid escape motor programs, similar to those elicited by mechanosensory modalities. Two-photon calcium imaging of retino-recipient midbrain regions isolated the optic tectum as an important center processing looming stimuli, with ensemble activity encoding the critical image size determining escape latency. Furthermore, we describe activity in retinal ganglion cell terminals and superficial inhibitory interneurons in the tectum during looming and propose a model for how temporal dynamics in tectal periventricular neurons might arise from computations between these two fundamental constituents. Finally, laser ablations of hindbrain circuitry confirmed that visual and mechanosensory modalities share the same premotor output network. We establish a circuit for the processing of aversive stimuli in the context of an innate visual behavior.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping