Inhibitory circuits generate distinct spatiotemporal receptive field properties in retinal neurons

The retina is tasked with detecting light from the environment, and transmitting that visual information as an electrical signal to the brain. Visual signals are highly variable, making it difficult or impossible for retinal neurons of a single type to fully represent all of the salient visual features. Instead, the retina splits the visual input into many parallel channels, represented by the 30 or more ganglion cell types that signal to the brain. This dissertation presents experiments designed to address these questions in an inhibitory neuron that reports edge orientation, and in a ganglion cell that preferentially responds to fast image motion. The results are an important demonstration of how seemingly small details about a neuron’s presynaptic circuit are critical for shaping its emergent function and feature selectivity.