Responses to moving visual stimuli in pretectal neurons of the small-spotted dogfish (scyliorhinus canicula)

Single-unit recordings were performed from a retinorecipient pretectal area (corpus geniculatum laterale) in Scyliorhinus canicula. The function and homology of this nucleus has not been clarified so far. During visual stimulation with a random dot pattern, 45 (35%) neurons were found to be direction selective, 10 (8%) were axis selective (best neuronal responses to rotations in both directions around one particular stimulus axis), and 75 (58%) were movement sensitive. Direction-selective responses were found to the following stimulus directions (in retinal coordinates): temporonasal and nasotemporal horizontal movements, up- and downward vertical movements, and oblique movements. All directions of motion were represented equally by our sample of pretectal neurons. Additionally we tested the responses of 58 of the 130 neurons to random dot patterns rotating around the semicircular canal or body axes to investigate whether direction-selective visual information is mapped into vestibular coordinates in pretectal neurons of this chondrichthyan species. Again all rotational directions were represented equally, which argues against a direct transformation from a retinal to a vestibular reference frame. If a complete transformation had occurred, responses to rotational axes corresponding to the axes of the semicircular canals should have been overrepresented. In conclusion, the recorded direction-selective neurons in the Cgl are plausible detectors for retinal slip created by body rotations in all directions.