@article{19076,
  abstract     = {For accurate perception and motor control, an animal must distinguish between sensory experiences elicited by external stimuli and those elicited by its own actions. The diversity of behaviors and their complex influences on the senses make this distinction challenging. Here, we uncover an action–cue hub that coordinates motor commands with visual processing in the brain’s first visual relay. We show that the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN) acts as a corollary discharge center, integrating visual translational optic flow signals with motor copies from saccades, locomotion and pupil dynamics. The vLGN relays these signals to correct action-specific visual distortions and to refine perception, as shown for the superior colliculus and in a depth-estimation task. Simultaneously, brain-wide vLGN projections drive corrective actions necessary for accurate visuomotor control. Our results reveal an extended corollary discharge architecture that refines early visual transformations and coordinates actions via a distributed hub-and-spoke network to enable visual perception during action.},
  author       = {Vega Zuniga, Tomas A and Sumser, Anton L and Symonova, Olga and Koppensteiner, Peter and Schmidt, Florian and Jösch, Maximilian A},
  issn         = {1546-1726},
  journal      = {Nature Neuroscience},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{A thalamic hub-and-spoke network enables visual perception during action by coordinating visuomotor dynamics}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41593-025-01874-w},
  volume       = {28},
  year         = {2025},
}

@article{17142,
  abstract     = {Despite the diverse genetic origins of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), affected individuals share strikingly similar and correlated behavioural traits that include perceptual and sensory processing challenges. Notably, the severity of these sensory symptoms is often predictive of the expression of other autistic traits. However, the origin of these perceptual deficits remains largely elusive. Here, we show a recurrent impairment in visual threat perception that is similarly impaired in 3 independent mouse models of ASD with different molecular aetiologies. Interestingly, this deficit is associated with reduced avoidance of threatening environments—a nonperceptual trait. Focusing on a common cause of ASDs, the Setd5 gene mutation, we define the molecular mechanism. We show that the perceptual impairment is caused by a potassium channel (Kv1)-mediated hypoexcitability in a subcortical node essential for the initiation of escape responses, the dorsal periaqueductal grey (dPAG). Targeted pharmacological Kv1 blockade rescued both perceptual and place avoidance deficits, causally linking seemingly unrelated trait deficits to the dPAG. Furthermore, we show that different molecular mechanisms converge on similar behavioural phenotypes by demonstrating that the autism models Cul3 and Ptchd1, despite having similar behavioural phenotypes, differ in their functional and molecular alteration. Our findings reveal a link between rapid perception controlled by subcortical pathways and appropriate learned interactions with the environment and define a nondevelopmental source of such deficits in ASD.},
  author       = {Burnett, Laura and Koppensteiner, Peter and Symonova, Olga and Masson, Tomas and Vega Zuniga, Tomas A and Contreras, Ximena and Rülicke, Thomas and Shigemoto, Ryuichi and Novarino, Gaia and Jösch, Maximilian A},
  issn         = {1545-7885},
  journal      = {PLoS Biology},
  publisher    = {Public Library of Science},
  title        = {{Shared behavioural impairments in visual perception and place avoidance across different autism models are driven by periaqueductal grey hypoexcitability in Setd5 haploinsufficient mice}},
  doi          = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3002668},
  volume       = {22},
  year         = {2024},
}

@misc{18579,
  abstract     = {Electrophysiological, calcium two-photon recordings and behavioral data for Vega-Zuniga et al.  Relevant information can be found in the 'README.txt' files. },
  author       = {Vega Zuniga, Tomas A and Sumser, Anton L and Symonova, Olga and Koppensteiner, Peter and Schmidt, Florian and Jösch, Maximilian A},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{A thalamic hub-and-spoke network enables visual perception during action by coordinating visuomotor dynamics}},
  doi          = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:18579},
  year         = {2024},
}

@phdthesis{18574,
  abstract     = {Biological vision is unlike a camera; rather than transmitting light information faithfully, early
visual circuits process the visual scene to convey only the relevant information in an efficient
manner. Consequentially, the nature of this visual processing then depends on what is the
relevant information in a scene and on the notion of efficiency. In this work, I study how visual
processing is modulated by two different variations in the visual scene. First, I discovered that
in the mouse (Mus musculus) retina, Retinal Ganglion Cells in the upper and lower visual
field have differences in the center surround structure of their receptive fields. Comparison
with models of efficient coding show that this adaptation likely evolved to cope with the
brightness gradient from the sky to the ground that is pervasive in natural scenes. In the
second project, I study how the downstream neurons in the Superior Colliculus dynamically
change their temporal selectivity depending on the ambient luminance and behavioral state.
As the scene gets darker or when the animal is is less aroused, the neuronal responses get
laggier, while still maintaining their relative timing with respect to the population. Overall, this
work emphasises the need to understand visual processing in the context of specific demands
of the animal in its the environment. The adaptive changes in the visual system, from the
retinal ganglion cells to the superior colliculus, highlight the intricate ways in which biological
vision optimizes the processing of visual information.
},
  author       = {Gupta, Divyansh},
  isbn         = {978-3-99078-050-3},
  issn         = {2663-337X},
  pages        = {86},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{Visual adaptations to natural statistics}},
  doi          = {10.15479/at:ista:18574},
  year         = {2024},
}

@phdthesis{12716,
  abstract     = {The process of detecting and evaluating sensory information to guide behaviour is termed perceptual decision-making (PDM), and is critical for the ability of an organism to interact with its external world. Individuals with autism, a neurodevelopmental condition primarily characterised by social and communication difficulties, frequently exhibit altered sensory processing and PDM difficulties are widely reported. Recent technological advancements have pushed forward our understanding of the genetic changes accompanying this condition, however our understanding of how these mutations affect the function of specific neuronal circuits and bring about the corresponding behavioural changes remains limited. Here, we use an innate PDM task, the looming avoidance response (LAR) paradigm, to identify a convergent behavioural abnormality across three molecularly distinct genetic mouse models of autism (Cul3, Setd5 and Ptchd1). Although mutant mice can rapidly detect threatening visual stimuli, their responses are consistently delayed, requiring longer to initiate an appropriate response than their wild-type siblings. Mutant animals show abnormal adaptation in both their stimulus- evoked escape responses and exploratory dynamics following repeated stimulus presentations. Similarly delayed behavioural responses are observed in wild-type animals when faced with more ambiguous threats, suggesting the mutant phenotype could arise from a dysfunction in the flexible control of this PDM process.
Our knowledge of the core neuronal circuitry mediating the LAR facilitated a detailed dissection of the neuronal mechanisms underlying the behavioural impairment. In vivo extracellular recording revealed that visual responses were unaffected within a key brain region for the rapid processing of visual threats, the superior colliculus (SC), indicating that the behavioural delay was unlikely to originate from sensory impairments. Delayed behavioural responses were recapitulated in the Setd5 model following optogenetic stimulation of the excitatory output neurons of the SC, which are known to mediate escape initiation through the activation of cells in the underlying dorsal periaqueductal grey (dPAG). In vitro patch-clamp recordings of dPAG cells uncovered a stark hypoexcitability phenotype in two out of the three genetic models investigated (Setd5 and Ptchd1), that in Setd5, is mediated by the misregulation of voltage-gated potassium channels. Overall, our results show that the ability to use visual information to drive efficient escape responses is impaired in three diverse genetic mouse models of autism and that, in one of the models studied, this behavioural delay likely originates from differences in the intrinsic excitability of a key subcortical node, the dPAG. Furthermore, this work showcases the use of an innate behavioural paradigm to mechanistically dissect PDM processes in autism.},
  author       = {Burnett, Laura},
  issn         = {2663-337X},
  pages        = {178},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{To flee, or not to flee? Using innate defensive behaviours to investigate rapid perceptual decision-making through subcortical circuits in mouse models of autism}},
  doi          = {10.15479/at:ista:12716},
  year         = {2023},
}

@article{12349,
  abstract     = {Statistics of natural scenes are not uniform - their structure varies dramatically from ground to sky. It remains unknown whether these non-uniformities are reflected in the large-scale organization of the early visual system and what benefits such adaptations would confer. Here, by relying on the efficient coding hypothesis, we predict that changes in the structure of receptive fields across visual space increase the efficiency of sensory coding. We show experimentally that, in agreement with our predictions, receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells change their shape along the dorsoventral retinal axis, with a marked surround asymmetry at the visual horizon. Our work demonstrates that, according to principles of efficient coding, the panoramic structure of natural scenes is exploited by the retina across space and cell-types.},
  author       = {Gupta, Divyansh and Mlynarski, Wiktor F and Sumser, Anton L and Symonova, Olga and Svaton, Jan and Jösch, Maximilian A},
  issn         = {1546-1726},
  journal      = {Nature Neuroscience},
  pages        = {606--614},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Panoramic visual statistics shape retina-wide organization of receptive fields}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41593-023-01280-0},
  volume       = {26},
  year         = {2023},
}

@misc{12370,
  abstract     = {Statistics of natural scenes are not uniform - their structure varies dramatically from ground to sky. It remains unknown whether these non-uniformities are reflected in the large-scale organization of the early visual system and what benefits such adaptations would confer. Here, by relying on the efficient coding hypothesis, we predict that changes in the structure of receptive fields across visual space increase the efficiency of sensory coding. We show experimentally that, in agreement with our predictions, receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells change their shape along the dorsoventral retinal axis, with a marked surround asymmetry at the visual horizon. Our work demonstrates that, according to principles of efficient coding, the panoramic structure of natural scenes is exploited by the retina across space and cell-types. },
  author       = {Gupta, Divyansh and Sumser, Anton L and Jösch, Maximilian A},
  publisher    = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria},
  title        = {{Research Data for: Panoramic visual statistics shape retina-wide organization of receptive fields}},
  doi          = {10.15479/AT:ISTA:12370},
  year         = {2023},
}

@article{12288,
  abstract     = {To understand the function of neuronal circuits, it is crucial to disentangle the connectivity patterns within the network. However, most tools currently used to explore connectivity have low throughput, low selectivity, or limited accessibility. Here, we report the development of an improved packaging system for the production of the highly neurotropic RVdGenvA-CVS-N2c rabies viral vectors, yielding titers orders of magnitude higher with no background contamination, at a fraction of the production time, while preserving the efficiency of transsynaptic labeling. Along with the production pipeline, we developed suites of ‘starter’ AAV and bicistronic RVdG-CVS-N2c vectors, enabling retrograde labeling from a wide range of neuronal populations, tailored for diverse experimental requirements. We demonstrate the power and flexibility of the new system by uncovering hidden local and distal inhibitory connections in the mouse hippocampal formation and by imaging the functional properties of a cortical microcircuit across weeks. Our novel production pipeline provides a convenient approach to generate new rabies vectors, while our toolkit flexibly and efficiently expands the current capacity to label, manipulate and image the neuronal activity of interconnected neuronal circuits in vitro and in vivo.},
  author       = {Sumser, Anton L and Jösch, Maximilian A and Jonas, Peter M and Ben Simon, Yoav},
  issn         = {2050-084X},
  journal      = {eLife},
  keywords     = {General Immunology and Microbiology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Medicine, General Neuroscience},
  publisher    = {eLife Sciences Publications},
  title        = {{Fast, high-throughput production of improved rabies viral vectors for specific, efficient and versatile transsynaptic retrograde labeling}},
  doi          = {10.7554/elife.79848},
  volume       = {11},
  year         = {2022},
}