Enhancement and contextual modulation of visuospatial processing by thalamocollicular projections from ventral lateral geniculate nucleus

Zhong Li, Bo Peng, Junxiang J. Huang, Yuan Zhang, Michelle B. Seo, Qi Fang, Guang-Wei Zhang, Xiaohui Zhang, Li I. Zhang () and Huizhong Whit Tao ()
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Zhong Li: University of Southern California
Bo Peng: University of Southern California
Junxiang J. Huang: University of Southern California
Yuan Zhang: University of Southern California
Michelle B. Seo: University of Southern California
Qi Fang: University of Southern California
Guang-Wei Zhang: University of Southern California
Xiaohui Zhang: Beijing Normal University
Li I. Zhang: University of Southern California
Huizhong Whit Tao: University of Southern California

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Abstract In the mammalian visual system, the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN) of the thalamus receives salient visual input from the retina and sends prominent GABAergic axons to the superior colliculus (SC). However, whether and how vLGN contributes to fundamental visual information processing remains largely unclear. Here, we report in mice that vLGN facilitates visually-guided approaching behavior mediated by the lateral SC and enhances the sensitivity of visual object detection. This can be attributed to the extremely broad spatial integration of vLGN neurons, as reflected in their much lower preferred spatial frequencies and broader spatial receptive fields than SC neurons. Through GABAergic thalamocollicular projections, vLGN specifically exerts prominent surround suppression of visuospatial processing in SC, leading to a fine tuning of SC preferences to higher spatial frequencies and smaller objects in a context-dependent manner. Thus, as an essential component of the central visual processing pathway, vLGN serves to refine and contextually modulate visuospatial processing in SC-mediated visuomotor behaviors via visually-driven long-range feedforward inhibition.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43147-9

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