Retinal Output and the Retino-Recipient Centers - Volume II

The field of retinal output and retino-recipient centers is pivotal in understanding the primary computation of visual information processed by retinal neurons. In the mouse visual system, the retina comprises more than 40 retinal ganglion cell (RGC) subtypes, each encoding distinct visual features and initiating parallel signaling streams to various visual brain centers. While the retina-dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN)-to-primary visual cortex (V1) pathway is responsible for image-forming information streams, non-image-forming pathways reach over 50 small nuclei in the midbrain, hypothalamus, or thalamus. These brain centers, characterized by heterogeneous neuron populations and retinotopic organization, perform diverse functional roles, including initiating behavioral patterns, modulating biological internal systems, and relaying visual information to multisensory brain areas. Across species—including flies, fishes, frogs, rodents, and primates—common neural circuit motifs underlying visually-induced behaviors have been identified in the retina and retino-recipient centers, underscoring the evolutionarily conserved nature of these mechanisms. Despite these advances, the functioning of early visual circuits remains largely unexplored. The advent of new methodological approaches and genetically modified mouse strains has significantly propelled research in this area, yet a comprehensive understanding of the underlying circuitry is still lacking.Building on the foundational insights of Volume I, recent work featured in this Research Topic traces visual processing across the entire retino-recipient axis: detailing how intra-retinal microcircuits shape outgoing visual signals, the impact of environmental stress on RGC structural and functional integrity, the way diverse primate RGC types package naturalistic visual features, and how midbrain networks within the superior colliculus functionally organize and compute these incoming visual inputs. As with Volume I, this Research Topic gathers recent breakthroughs in retinal signaling diversity and computation to illuminate core organizational principles and specialized circuit mechanisms. By examining how diverse retinal outputs are transformed across distinct brain centers, and modulated by internal state, Volume II aims to deepen our understanding of the complex retino-recipient interactions that drive visual processing.To gather further insights into the complex interactions between retinal outputs and retino-recipient centers, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• The role of retinal ganglion cell subtypes in encoding visual features.• The organization and function of non-image-forming pathways in the midbrain, hypothalamus, and thalamus.• The integration of multisensory and motor signals in the superior colliculus.• The influence of internal brain states on retinal signaling efficiency.• Methodological advancements in studying early visual circuits.• The impact of genetically modified mouse strains on retinal processing and vision-associated behavior.• The modulation of retinal signaling by behavioral contexts such as hunger or fear.• The neural computation to operate vision-related behavior in the animal kingdom, such as fly, fish, frog, rodent, and primate.A comprehensive, circuit-level understanding of how retinal diversity is transformed into behavior remains an active frontier. This second volume collects the most recent information on retinal signaling diversity and computation to provide broad insights into organizational tendencies and mechanistic circuit understanding. The primary objective remains exploring how diverse retinal signaling is processed and computed across different brain centers, how these processes are influenced by the internal state of the brain, and how circuit structure, baseline health, and naturalistic stimulus dynamics converge to shape the neural representations driving visual perception and behavior.This Research Topic is part of the Retinal Output and the Retino-Recipient Centers series, first volume here. Topic editors: Bela Volgyi, Akihiro Matsumoto Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85287/retinal-output-and-the-retino-recipient-centers---volume-ii