小柯机器人

科学家发现一条对社交信号视觉识别的神经回路
2022-07-16 21:30

德国马克斯·普朗克生物智能研究所Johannes Larsch、Herwig Baier等研究人员合作揭示一条对社交信号视觉识别的神经回路。相关论文于2022年7月13日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。

研究人员追踪了神经元对自体生物运动的反应,这是发育中的斑马鱼的视觉触发器。无偏见的活动图谱和有针对性的体积双光子钙成像显示了分布在整个大脑中的21个活动热点,以及背丘脑的多模态、社会性激活核中的生物运动调谐神经元的集群。背丘脑的单个神经元对视觉刺激的局部加速进行编码,模仿典型的鱼类动力学,但对整体或连续运动不敏感。背丘脑神经元的电镜重建显示了来自视顶盖的突触输入和投射到具有保守社会功能的下丘脑区域。视顶盖或背丘脑的破坏选择性地破坏了社交吸引,而不影响短距离的排斥。因此,这条通路为视觉识别同种动物服务,并在社交关系中使神经元对吸引和排斥的控制分离,从而揭示了支撑集体行为的回路。
 
据了解,社会从属关系产生于个体层面的行为规则,由同种信号驱动。例如,长距离的吸引和短距离的排斥,是共同设定动物群中首选的动物间距离的规则。然而,人们对其感知机制和执行神经回路知之甚少。
 
附:英文原文
 
Title: Visual recognition of social signals by a tectothalamic neural circuit

Author: Kappel, Johannes M., Frster, Dominique, Slangewal, Katja, Shainer, Inbal, Svara, Fabian, Donovan, Joseph C., Sherman, Shachar, Januszewski, Micha, Baier, Herwig, Larsch, Johannes

Issue&Volume: 2022-07-13

Abstract: Social affiliation emerges from individual-level behavioural rules that are driven by conspecific signals1,2,3,4,5. Long-distance attraction and short-distance repulsion, for example, are rules that jointly set a preferred interanimal distance in swarms6,7,8. However, little is known about their perceptual mechanisms and executive neural circuits3. Here we trace the neuronal response to self-like biological motion9,10, a visual trigger for affiliation in developing zebrafish2,11. Unbiased activity mapping and targeted volumetric two-photon calcium imaging revealed 21 activity hotspots distributed throughout the brain as well as clustered biological-motion-tuned neurons in a multimodal, socially activated nucleus of the dorsal thalamus. Individual dorsal thalamus neurons encode local acceleration of visual stimuli mimicking typical fish kinetics but are insensitive to global or continuous motion. Electron microscopic reconstruction of dorsal thalamus neurons revealed synaptic input from the optic tectum and projections into hypothalamic areas with conserved social function12,13,14. Ablation of the optic tectum or dorsal thalamus selectively disrupted social attraction without affecting short-distance repulsion. This tectothalamic pathway thus serves visual recognition of conspecifics, and dissociates neuronal control of attraction from repulsion during social affiliation, revealing a circuit underpinning collective behaviour.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04925-5

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04925-5

Nature:《自然》,创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团,最新IF:69.504
官方网址:http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接:http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html


本期文章:《自然》:Online/在线发表

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