Topic: Running speed

The superior colliculus (SC) is a major recipient of visual input in the mouse and controls innate approach and avoidance behaviours. Neurons in the superficial SC (sSC), which receives direct input from the retina, do not only process visual stimuli, but are also modulated by the animal’s running speed and pupil-linked arousal, similar to modulations observed in the primary visual cortex. While these observations were made during passive viewing of visual stimuli, a major purpose of vision is to guide behaviour. We therefore asked whether, in the context of a behavioural task, visual activity

Neural responses in the visual system are usually not purely visual but depend on behavioural and internal states such as arousal. This dependence is seen both in primary visual cortex (V1) and in subcortical brain structures receiving direct retinal input. In this talk, I will show that modulation by behavioural state arises as early as in the output of the retina.To measure retinal activity in the awake, intact brain, we imaged the synaptic boutons of retinal axons in the superficial superior colliculus (sSC) of mice. The activity of about half of the boutons depended not only on vision but

Activity of sensory neurons is driven not only by stimuli but also by the behavior of the animal. For example, in the primary visual cortex (V1) of a mouse, the gain of sensory responses is modulated by the speed of movement [1]. On average, the response strength increases with running speed - this effect is prominent and systematic. Individual neurons can, however, reveal distinctive patterns of gain modulation. This diversity raises questions about how nuanced the impact of behavior on sensory coding is, whether it is limited to coarse gain changes, and what its computational function might