Divisive suppression explains high-precision firing and contrast adaptation in retinal ganglion cells

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.19460
• Publication Date: 2016-11-14T12:00:09Z
• Authors: Yuwei Cui; Yanbin V Wang; Silvia J H Park; Jonathan B Demb; Daniel A Butts
• Keywords: Biological neural network

Visual processing depends on specific computations implemented by complex neural circuits. Here, we present a circuit-inspired model of retinal ganglion cell computation, targeted to explain their temporal dynamics and adaptation contrast. To localize the sources such processing, used recordings at levels synaptic input spiking output in vitro mouse retina. We found that an ON-Alpha cell's excitatory inputs were described divisive interaction between excitation delayed suppression, which explained nonlinear was already inputs. Ganglion further shaped spike generation mechanisms. The full accurately predicted responses with unprecedented millisecond precision, contrast train. These results demonstrate how circuit cell-intrinsic mechanisms interact for function and, more generally, illustrate power modeling sensory processing.