Local and Large-Range Inhibition in Feature Detection

Bolzon, Douglas M.; Nordström, Karin; O’Carroll, David C.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2857-09.2009

Cited by 45 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Subsequent test stimuli were drifted through the receptive field centre as determined by the initial characterization. For full details of these methods, see [31].…”

Section: Appendix a Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…orthogonal to the direction of travel). Above 2-38, responses are attenuated by the spatial inhibition mechanisms that define these neurons as STMDs (see [31] and review [23]). Below this size, however, as the targets fall below the receptive field size of single photoreceptors, the roll-off thus reveals contrast attenuation by the optics.…”

Section: (B) Maximum Neural Contrastmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrast sensitivity and the detection of moving patterns and features

O’Carroll

Wiederman

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Theories based on optimal sampling by the retina have been widely applied to visual ecology at the level of the optics of the eye, supported by visual behaviour. This leads to speculation about the additional processing that must lie in between-in the brain itself. But fewer studies have adopted a quantitative approach to evaluating the detectability of specific features in these neural pathways. We briefly review this approach with a focus on contrast sensitivity of two parallel pathways for motion processing in insects, one used for analysis of wide-field optic flow, the other for detection of small features. We further use a combination of optical modelling of image blur and physiological recording from both photoreceptors and higher-order small target motion detector neurons sensitive to small targets to show that such neurons operate right at the limits imposed by the optics of the eye and the noise level of single photoreceptors. Despite this, and the limitation of only being able to use information from adjacent receptors to detect target motion, they achieve a contrast sensitivity that rivals that of wide-field motion sensitive pathways in either insects or vertebrates-among the highest in absolute terms seen in any animal.

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“…Subsequent test stimuli were drifted through the receptive field centre as determined by the initial characterization. For full details of these methods, see [31].…”

Section: Appendix a Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (B) Maximum Neural Contrastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast sensitivity and the detection of moving patterns and features

O’Carroll

Wiederman

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…This raises the intriguing possibility of communication between the two neurons to mediate a simple form of visual attention. Bolzon et al (2009) showed that the simultaneous presence of a second target in the contralateral hemisphere completely suppresses the response to a target in the excitatory receptive field. In an additional experiment, they presented a second target within this excitatory region, revealing a large and diffuse inhibitory surround.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination of Features in Natural Scenes by a Dragonfly Neuron

Wiederman¹,

O’Carroll²

2011

J. Neurosci.

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Flying insects engage in spectacular high-speed pursuit of targets, requiring visual discrimination of moving objects against cluttered backgrounds. As a first step toward understanding the neural basis for this complex task, we used computational modeling of insect small target motion detector (STMD) neurons to predict responses to features within natural scenes and then compared this with responses recorded from an identified STMD neuron in the dragonfly brain (Hemicordulia tau). A surprising model prediction confirmed by our electrophysiological recordings is that even heavily cluttered scenes contain very few features that excite these neurons, due largely to their exquisite tuning for small features. We also show that very subtle manipulations of the image cause dramatic changes in the response of this neuron, because of the complex inhibitory and facilitatory interactions within the receptive field.

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“…Tuned inhibition is a well explored concept in striate cortex, which provides the early stage of visual processing in the MT model. Although tuned inhibition of the EMD subunits has not been described, lateral inhibition of some form has been suggested to operate in the early stages of visual processing in insects (Srinivasan et al, 1982;Zheng et al, 2006;Bolzon et al, 2009). By contrast, a saturating output nonlinearity has often been used in models of EMDs (Zanker, 1990;Franz and Krapp, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bimodal Optomotor Response to Plaids in Blowflies: Mechanisms of Component Selectivity and Evidence for Pattern Selectivity

Saleem

Longden²,

Schwyn³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

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Many animals estimate their self-motion and the movement of external objects by exploiting panoramic patterns of visual motion. To probe how visual systems process compound motion patterns, superimposed visual gratings moving in different directions, plaid stimuli, have been successfully used in vertebrates. Surprisingly, nothing is known about how visually guided insects process plaids. Here, we explored in the blowfly how the well characterized yaw optomotor reflex and the activity of identified visual interneurons depend on plaid stimuli. We show that contrary to previous expectations, the yaw optomotor reflex shows a bimodal directional tuning for certain plaid stimuli. To understand the neural correlates of this behavior, we recorded the responses of a visual interneuron supporting the reflex, the H1 cell, which was also bimodally tuned to the plaid direction. Using a computational model, we identified the essential neural processing steps required to capture the observed response properties. These processing steps have functional parallels with mechanisms found in the primate visual system, despite different biophysical implementations. By characterizing other visual neurons supporting visually guided behaviors, we found responses that ranged from being bimodally tuned to the stimulus direction (component-selective), to responses that appear to be tuned to the direction of the global pattern (pattern-selective). Our results extend the current understanding of neural mechanisms of motion processing in insects, and indicate that the fly employs a wider range of behavioral responses to multiple motion cues than previously reported.

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Local and Large-Range Inhibition in Feature Detection

Cited by 45 publications

References 29 publications

Contrast sensitivity and the detection of moving patterns and features

Contrast sensitivity and the detection of moving patterns and features

Discrimination of Features in Natural Scenes by a Dragonfly Neuron

Bimodal Optomotor Response to Plaids in Blowflies: Mechanisms of Component Selectivity and Evidence for Pattern Selectivity

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