Area-Specific Mapping of Binocular Disparity across Mouse Visual Cortex

Abstract

Highlights d Sensitivity for binocular disparity is widespread across areas of mouse visual cortex d Area RL is specialized for disparities corresponding to nearby visual stimuli d Disparity preference is related to visual field elevation d Area RL might contain a visuo-tactile map of near space in front of the mouse

Reconsidering the Border between the Visual and Posterior Parietal Cortex of Mice

“…Retinotopy in RL, as established in previous imaging studies, mainly covers the lower nasal visual field (Garrett et al, 2014;Zhuang et al, 2017). This coincides with current literature pushing RL forward as the hub for connecting spatial and visual input in nearby space (La Chioma et al, 2019;Lippert et al, 2013;Olcese et al, 2013). The preference of RL neurons for high temporal frequency and global motion perception supports an attention to moving stimuli (Han et al, 2018;Juavinett and Callaway, 2015;Marshel et al, 2011).…”

Natural binocular depth discrimination behavior in mice explained by visual cortical activity

“…This range of disparities is well within the tuning preferences of mice. 2,3 In this framework, we evaluated whether the calcium responses for a population of neurons from the visual cortex imaged by two-photon microscopy were sufficient to discriminate surfaces for the distances presented for the PDCT (Figure 1C). Figure 2C presents example disparity tuning curves of neurons across the distances tested with the PDCT.…”

“…[6][7][8] Although variation in binocular alignment alters the disparities of the surfaces across distance, the range of disparity preferences represented in mouse visual cortex is sufficient for nearly all possible depths encountered by mice (from 2 cm to U), even with large changes in binocular alignment. 2,3 Our analysis assumes that mice are making a relative disparity discrimination choosing the nearest surface in a comparison. The observation that mice generally move toward the borders between the near and far surfaces supports this assumption ( Figure 1E).…”

“…Because we only measured absolute disparity in V1 and our analysis makes a relative disparity discrimination, future studies will be required to examine if relative disparity is also explicitly represented in V1, or in subsequent visual areas in the mouse that have disparity tuning such as area LM. 3 In the primate visual system, relative disparity compared to absolute disparity is more strongly represented in V2 versus V1. 30,31 Disparity tuning differences between V1 and LM observed thus far in the mouse are similar to those observed between V1 and V2 in the primate.…”

“…In mice and other mammals, forebrain neurons integrate right and left eye information to generate a threedimensional representation of the visual environment. Neurons in the visual cortex of mice are sensitive to binocular disparity, [1][2][3] yet it is unclear whether that sensitivity is linked to the perception of depth. [4][5][6][7][8] We developed a natural task based on the classic visual cliff and pole descent tasks to estimate the psychophysical range of mouse depth discrimination.…”