A simple retinal mechanism contributes to perceptual interactions between rod- and cone-mediated responses in primates

Visual perception across a broad range of light levels is shaped by interactions between rod- and cone-mediated signals. Because responses of retinal ganglion cells, the output cells of the retina, depend on signals from both rod and cone photoreceptors, interactions occurring in retinal circuits pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2015-06, Vol.4
Main Authors: Grimes, William N, Graves, Logan R, Summers, Mathew T, Rieke, Fred
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Experiments
Light effects
Light emitting diodes
mesopic vision
Monkeys & apes
neural computation
Neuroscience
Nonlinear systems
parallel processing
Photoreceptors
primate
Primates
Psychophysics
Retina
Retina - physiology
Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Retinal ganglion cells
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Short Report
Vision, Ocular
Visual pathways
Visual perception
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Summary:Visual perception across a broad range of light levels is shaped by interactions between rod- and cone-mediated signals. Because responses of retinal ganglion cells, the output cells of the retina, depend on signals from both rod and cone photoreceptors, interactions occurring in retinal circuits provide an opportunity to link the mechanistic operation of parallel pathways and perception. Here we show that rod- and cone-mediated responses interact nonlinearly to control the responses of primate retinal ganglion cells; these nonlinear interactions, surprisingly, were asymmetric, with rod responses strongly suppressing subsequent cone responses but not vice-versa. Human psychophysical experiments revealed a similar perceptual asymmetry. Nonlinear interactions in the retinal output cells were well-predicted by linear summation of kinetically-distinct rod- and cone-mediated signals followed by a synaptic nonlinearity. These experiments thus reveal how a simple mechanism controlling interactions between parallel pathways shapes circuit output and perception.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.08033