Unravelling the functional development of vertebrate pathways controlling gaze

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

Cell and Developmental Biology

Cecilia Jiménez-López¹  Marta Barandela¹  Carmen Núñez-González¹  Juan Pérez-Fernández²  Manuel A. Pombal³  Daichi G. Suzuki⁴ 

[1]CINBIO, Universidade de Vigo, Neurocircuits Group, Campus universitario Lagoas, Marcosende, Vigo, Spain

[2]CINBIO, Universidade de Vigo, Neurocircuits Group, Campus universitario Lagoas, Marcosende, Vigo, Spain

[3]Department of Functional Biology and Health Sciences, Facultade de Bioloxía-IBIV, Universidade de Vigo, Campus universitario Lagoas, Marcosende, Vigo, Spain

[4]Department of Functional Biology and Health Sciences, Facultade de Bioloxía-IBIV, Universidade de Vigo, Campus universitario Lagoas, Marcosende, Vigo, Spain

[5]Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

关键词: visual system;    eye movements;    vestibulo-ocular reflex;    optokinetic reflex;    pretectum;    optic tectum;    goal-oriented movements;    lamprey;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcell.2023.1298486

 received in 2023-09-21, accepted in 2023-10-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Animals constantly redirect their gaze away or towards relevant targets and, besides these goal-oriented responses, stabilizing movements clamp the visual scene avoiding image blurring. The vestibulo-ocular (VOR) and the optokinetic reflexes are the main contributors to gaze stabilization, whereas the optic tectum integrates multisensory information and generates orienting/evasive gaze movements in all vertebrates. Lampreys show a unique stepwise development of the visual system whose understanding provides important insights into the evolution and development of vertebrate vision. Although the developmental emergence of the visual components, and the retinofugal pathways have been described, the functional development of the visual system and the development of the downstream pathways controlling gaze are still unknown. Here, we show that VOR followed by light-evoked eye movements are the first to appear already in larvae, despite their burrowed lifestyle. However, the circuits controlling goal-oriented responses emerge later, in larvae in non-parasitic lampreys but during late metamorphosis in parasitic lampreys. The appearance of stabilizing responses earlier than goal-oriented in the lamprey development shows a stepwise transition from simpler to more complex visual systems, offering a unique opportunity to isolate the functioning of their underlying circuits.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Barandela, Núñez-González, Suzuki, Jiménez-López, Pombal and Pérez-Fernández.