Cell-type-specific binocular vision guides predation in mice

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 109; no. 9; pp. 1527 - 1539.e4
• Main Authors: Johnson, Keith P., Fitzpatrick, Michael J., Zhao, Lei, Wang, Bing, McCracken, Sean, Williams, Philip R., Kerschensteiner, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 05.05.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior; Binocular vision; Cameras; depth perception; Depth Perception - physiology; Functional Laterality - physiology; ganglion cell; Hunting; ipsilateral projection; Mice; Predation; Predator-prey interactions; Predators; Predatory Behavior - physiology; Prey; prey capture; Retina; Retinal Ganglion Cells; stereopsis; Success; Vision, Binocular - physiology; Visual Pathways - cytology; Visual Pathways - physiology; stereopsis; retina; ipsilateral projection; prey capture; hunting; depth perception; ganglion cell
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.03.010

Predators use vision to hunt, and hunting success is one of evolution’s main selection pressures. However, how viewing strategies and visual systems are adapted to predation is unclear. Tracking predator-prey interactions of mice and crickets in 3D, we find that mice trace crickets with their binocular visual fields and that monocular mice are poor hunters. Mammalian binocular vision requires ipsi- and contralateral projections of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to the brain. Large-scale single-cell recordings and morphological reconstructions reveal that only a small subset (9 of 40+) of RGC types in the ventrotemporal mouse retina innervate ipsilateral brain areas (ipsi-RGCs). Selective ablation of ipsi-RGCs (<2% of RGCs) in the adult retina drastically reduces the hunting success of mice. Stimuli based on ethological observations indicate that five ipsi-RGC types reliably signal prey. Thus, viewing strategies align with a spatially restricted and cell-type-specific set of ipsi-RGCs that supports binocular vision to guide predation. •Mice track prey with their binocular visual field•Few retinal ganglion cell types (9 of 40+) innervate ipsilateral brain targets•Ipsilaterally projecting ganglion cells guide predation•A subset of ipsilaterally projecting ganglion cell types (5 of 9) reliably signal prey Johnson et al. show that mice track prey with their binocular visual field and discover that a small subset of retinal ganglion cell types innervates ipsilateral brain targets to support binocular vision and guide predation.