PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Gerrit Hilgen AU - Sahar Pirmoradian AU - Daniela Pamplona AU - Pierre Kornprobst AU - Bruno Cessac AU - Matthias H. Hennig AU - Evelyne Sernagor TI - Pan-Retinal Characterisation of Light Responses from Ganglion Cells in the Developing Mouse Retina AID - 10.1101/050393 DP - 2016 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 050393 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/09/050393.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/09/050393.full AB - We have investigated the ontogeny of light-driven responses in mouse retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Using a large-scale, high-density multielectrode array, we recorded from hundreds to thousands of RGCs simultaneously at pan-retinal level, including dorsal and ventral locations. Responses to different contrasts not only revealed a complex developmental profile for ON, OFF and ON-OFF RGC types, but also unveiled differences between dorsal and ventral RGCs. At eye-opening, dorsal RGCs of all types were more responsive to light, perhaps indicating an environmental priority to nest viewing for pre-weaning pups. The developmental profile of ON and OFF RGCs exhibited antagonistic behavior, with the strongest ON responses shortly after eye-opening, followed by an increase in the strength of OFF responses later on. Further, we found that with maturation receptive field (RF) center sizes decrease, responses to light get stronger, and centers become more circular while seeing differences in all of them between RGC types. These findings show that retinal functionality is not spatially homogeneous, likely reflecting ecological requirements that favour the early development of dorsal retina, and reflecting different roles in vision in the mature animal.