OFF-transient alpha RGCs mediate looming triggered innate defensive response

Curr Biol. 2021 Mar 29:S0960-9822(21)00364-X. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.025. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAnimals respond to visual threats, such as a looming object, with innate defensive behaviors. Here, we report that a specific type of retinal ganglion cell (RGC), the OFF-transient alpha RGC, is critical for the detection of looming objects. We identified Kcnip2 as its molecular marker. The activity of the Kcnip2-expressing RGCs encodes the size of the looming object. Ablation or suppression of these RGCs abolished or severely impaired the escape and freezing behaviors of mice in response to a looming object, while activation of their somas in the retina, or their axon terminals in the superior colliculus, triggered immediate escape behavior. Our results link the activity of a single type of RGC to visually triggered innate defensive behaviors and underscore that ethologically significant visual information is encoded by a labeled line strategy as early as in the retina.PMID:33798432 | DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.025
Source: Current Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research