美国哥伦比亚大学Rudy Behnia研究小组揭示来自果蝇循环回路的色调选择性。相关论文于2024年5月16日在线发表于国际学术期刊《自然—神经科学》。

研究人员报告了在果蝇视叶中发现的具有色调选择特性的神经元，从而实现了对色彩处理的回路级分析。通过对整个果蝇大脑的电子显微镜分析，研究人员构建了一个受连接组学约束的回路模型，以解释这种色调选择性。模型预测，回路中的循环连接对于产生色调选择性至关重要。利用遗传操作扰乱成蝇递归的实验证实了这一预测。这些研究结果揭示了色觉中色调选择性的回路基础。

据悉，在对颜色的感知中，物体反射光的波长被转化为亮度、饱和度和色调等衍生量。灵长类动物大脑皮层中对色调有选择性反应的神经元已有报道，但它们在色彩空间的窄调谐是如何通过上游回路机制产生的还不得而知。

附：英文原文

Title: Hue selectivity from recurrent circuitry in Drosophila

Author: Christenson, Matthias P., Sanz Diez, Alvaro, Heath, Sarah L., Saavedra-Weisenhaus, Maia, Adachi, Atsuko, Nern, Aljoscha, Abbott, L. F., Behnia, Rudy

Issue&Volume: 2024-05-16

Abstract: In the perception of color, wavelengths of light reflected off objects are transformed into the derived quantities of brightness, saturation and hue. Neurons responding selectively to hue have been reported in primate cortex, but it is unknown how their narrow tuning in color space is produced by upstream circuit mechanisms. We report the discovery of neurons in the Drosophila optic lobe with hue-selective properties, which enables circuit-level analysis of color processing. From our analysis of an electron microscopy volume of a whole Drosophila brain, we construct a connectomics-constrained circuit model that accounts for this hue selectivity. Our model predicts that recurrent connections in the circuit are critical for generating hue selectivity. Experiments using genetic manipulations to perturb recurrence in adult flies confirm this prediction. Our findings reveal a circuit basis for hue selectivity in color vision.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01640-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01640-4