Biology subjects

Hsiang, J.-C.

Publications and source records attributed to Hsiang, J.-C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Subcellular pathways through VG3 amacrine cells provide regionally tuned object-motion-selective signals in mouse retina.

We combined subcellular calcium imaging and connectomic reconstruction to understand the flow of information through a plexus of excitatory VGluT3-expressing mouse retinal amacrine cells (VG3s). We found that VG3s received inputs from all nearby bipolar cell types but exhibited a strong preference for the fast type 3a bipolar cells. We used our connectivity map and physiological recordings to predict the influence of these bipolar cells on different types of RGCs innervated by VG3s and found that the depth of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dendritic arbor stratification determined the RGCs view of bipolar cells through the VG3 plexus. We also found that both VG3s and their RGC targets were often innervated by the same bipolar cells. RGCs that extend processes into the middle layers of the inner plexiform layer, therefore, encounter a plexus of small object motion selective glutamatergic excitation that is complementary to the local bipolar cell input.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Local processing of visual information in neurites of VGluT3-expressing amacrine cells

Synaptic inputs to neurons are distributed across extensive neurite arborizations. To what extent arbors process inputs locally or integrate them globally is, for most neurons, unknown. This question is particularly relevant for amacrine cells, a diverse class of retinal interneurons, which receive input and provide output through the same neurites. Here, we used two-photon Ca2+ imaging to analyze visual processing in VGluT3-expressing amacrine cells (VG3-ACs), an important component of object motion sensitive circuits in the retina. VG3-AC neurites differed in their preferred stimulus contrast (ON vs. OFF); and ON and OFF responses varied in transience and preferred stimulus size. Contrast preference changed predictably with the laminar position of neurites in the inner plexiform layer. Yet, neurites at all depths were strongly activated by local but not by global image motion. Thus, VG3-AC neurites process visual information locally, exhibiting diverse responses to contrast steps, but uniform object motion selectivity.

neuroscience↗