Procyk, CA;
Allen, AE;
Martial, FP;
Lucas, RJ;
(2019)
Visual responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus at early stages of retinal degeneration in rd¹ PDE6β mice.
Journal of Neurophysiology
, 122
(4)
pp. 1753-1764.
10.1152/jn.00231.2019.
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Visual responses in the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (dLGN) at early stages of retinal degeneration in rd1 PDE6β mice - Preprint.pdf - Accepted Version Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Inherited retinal degenerations encompass a wide range of diseases that result in the death of rod and cone photoreceptors, eventually leading to irreversible blindness. Low vision survives at early stages of degeneration, at which point it could rely on residual populations of rod/cone photoreceptors as well as the inner retinal photoreceptor, melanopsin. To date, the impact of partial retinal degeneration on visual responses in the primary visual thalamus (dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, dLGN) remains unknown, as does their relative reliance on surviving rod and cone photoreceptors vs. melanopsin. To answer these questions, we recorded visually evoked responses in the dLGN of anesthetized rd1 mice using in vivo electrophysiology at an age (3–5 wk) at which cones are partially degenerate and rods are absent. We found that excitatory (ON) responses to light had lower amplitude and longer latency in rd1 mice compared with age-matched visually intact controls; however, contrast sensitivity and spatial receptive field size were largely unaffected at this early stage of degeneration. Responses were retained when those wavelengths to which melanopsin is most sensitive were depleted, indicating that they were driven primarily by surviving cones. Inhibitory responses appeared absent in the rd1 thalamus, as did light-evoked gamma oscillations in firing. This description of fundamental features of the dLGN visual response at this intermediate stage of retinal degeneration provides a context for emerging attempts to restore vision by introducing ectopic photoreception to the degenerate retina.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Visual responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus at early stages of retinal degeneration in rd¹ PDE6β mice |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1152/jn.00231.2019 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00231.2019 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10085994 |
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