法國國家科研中心7日發(fā)表公報(bào)稱,，該機(jī)構(gòu)與瑞士弗里德里希－米舍研究所合作,，在哺乳動(dòng)物的視網(wǎng)膜內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)了新的神經(jīng)回路，能夠幫助眼睛“捕獲”不斷接近的物體,。
公報(bào)說,，視網(wǎng)膜一直被視為構(gòu)造簡單的“過濾器”，其作用無非是在眼睛與大腦之間傳遞信息,。但是近幾年來,，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，視網(wǎng)膜對視覺信息并非“照單全收”,，而是要經(jīng)過精確的篩選,，再將其傳遞到大腦。法國和瑞士的研究人員在仔細(xì)研究了老鼠的視網(wǎng)膜后,，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)新的神經(jīng)回路,，其用途非常單一，當(dāng)有物體靠近時(shí),，神經(jīng)回路就會(huì)被激活,。
研究人員表示，這個(gè)神經(jīng)回路的功能對捕食類動(dòng)物至關(guān)重要,，因?yàn)橹挥袑C物識別清楚,，才能將其捕獲。相關(guān)研究成果已發(fā)表在最新一期的英國《自然·神經(jīng)科學(xué)》雜志上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature Neuroscience 6 September 2009 | doi:10.1038/nn.2389
Approach sensitivity in the retina processed by a multifunctional neural circuit
Thomas A Münch1,3,4, Rava Azeredo da Silveira2,4, Sandra Siegert1, Tim James Viney1, Gautam B Awatramani1,3 & Botond Roska1
The detection of approaching objects, such as looming predators, is necessary for survival. Which neurons and circuits mediate this function? We combined genetic labeling of cell types, two-photon microscopy, electrophysiology and theoretical modeling to address this question. We identify an approach-sensitive ganglion cell type in the mouse retina, resolve elements of its afferent neural circuit, and describe how these confer approach sensitivity on the ganglion cell. The circuit's essential building block is a rapid inhibitory pathway: it selectively suppresses responses to non-approaching objects. This rapid inhibitory pathway, which includes AII amacrine cells connected to bipolar cells through electrical synapses, was previously described in the context of night-time vision. In the daytime conditions of our experiments, the same pathway conveys signals in the reverse direction. The dual use of a neural pathway in different physiological conditions illustrates the efficiency with which several functions can be accommodated in a single circuit.
1 Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
2 Department of Physics and Department of Cognitive Studies, école Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
3 Present addresses: Laboratory for Retinal Circuits and Optogenetics, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany (T.A.M.); Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (G.B.A.).
4 These authors contributed equally to this work.
