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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 1, 2001, 21(1):314-329
Invariance of Angular Threshold Computation in a Wide-Field
Looming-Sensitive Neuron
Fabrizio
Gabbiani1, 2,
Chunhui
Mo1, and
Gilles
Laurent1
1 Computation and Neural Systems Program, Division of
Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
91125, and 2 Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030
The lobula giant motion detector (LGMD) is a wide-field
bilateral visual interneuron in North American locusts that acts as an
angular threshold detector during the approach of a solid square along
a trajectory perpendicular to the long axis of the animal (Gabbiani et al., 1999a). We investigated the dependence
of this angular threshold computation on several stimulus parameters
that alter the spatial and temporal activation patterns of inputs onto the dendritic tree of the LGMD, across three locust species. The same angular threshold computation was implemented by LGMD in all three
species. The angular threshold computation was invariant to changes in
target shape (from solid squares to solid discs) and to changes in
target texture (checkerboard and concentric patterns). Finally, the
angular threshold computation did not depend on object approach angle,
over at least 135° in the horizontal plane. A two-dimensional model
of the responses of the LGMD based on linear summation of
motion-related excitatory and size-dependent inhibitory inputs
successfully reproduced the experimental results for squares and discs
approaching perpendicular to the long axis of the animal. Linear
summation, however, was unable to account for invariance to object
texture or approach angle. These results indicate that LGMD is a
reliable neuron with which to study the biophysical mechanisms
underlying the generation of complex but invariant visual responses by
dendritic integration. They also suggest that invariance arises in part
from non-linear integration of excitatory inputs within the dendritic
tree of the LGMD.
Key words:
invariant responses; looming; locust; LGMD; DCMD; collision avoidance
Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/01/211314-16$05.00/0
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