https://news.yale.edu/2021/07/22/eyes-wide-shut-how-newborn-mammals-dream-world-theyre-entering

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Eyes wide shut: How newborn mammals dream the world they're entering

By Bill Hathaway
July 22, 2021
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Retinal waves in neonatal miceRetinal waves in neonatal mice

As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already
make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen
before they have experienced sight?

A new Yale study suggests that, in a sense, mammals dream about the
world they are about to experience before they are even born. 

Writing in the July 23 issue of Science, a team led by Michael Crair,
the William Ziegler III Professor of Neuroscience and professor of
ophthalmology and visual science, describes waves of activity that
emanate from the neonatal retina in mice before their eyes ever
open. 

This activity disappears soon after birth and is replaced by a more
mature network of neural transmissions of visual stimuli to the
brain, where information is further encoded and stored. 

"At eye opening, mammals are capable of pretty sophisticated
behavior," said Crair, senior author of the study, who is also vice
provost for research at Yale." But how do the circuits form that
allow us to perceive motion and navigate the world? It turns out we
are born capable of many of these behaviors, at least in rudimentary
form." 

In the study, Crair's team, led by Yale graduate students Xinxin Ge
and Kathy Zhang, explored the origins of these waves of activity.
Imaging the brains of mice soon after birth but before their eyes
opened, the Yale team found that these retinal waves flow in a
pattern that mimics the activity that would occur if the animal were
moving forward through the environment. 

"This early dream-like activity makes evolutionary sense because it
allows a mouse to anticipate what it will experience after opening
its eyes, and be prepared to respond immediately to environmental
threats," Crair noted. 

Going further, the Yale team also investigated the cells and circuits
responsible for propagating the retinal waves that mimic forward
motion in neonatal mice. They found that blocking the function of
starburst amacrine cells, which are cells in the retina that release
neurotransmitters, prevents the waves from flowing in the direction
that mimics forward motion. This in turn impairs the development of
the mouse's ability to respond to visual motion after birth. 

Intriguingly, within the adult retina of the mouse these same cells
play a crucial role in a more sophisticated motion detection circuit
that allows them to respond to environmental cues.

Mice, of course, differ from humans in their ability to quickly
navigate their environment soon after birth. However, human babies
are also able to immediately detect objects and identify motion, such
as a finger moving across their field of vision, suggesting that
their visual system was also primed before birth. 

"These brain circuits are self-organized at birth and some of the
early teaching is already done," Crair said. "It's like dreaming
about what you are going to see before you even open your eyes."

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Media Contact

Bess Connolly : elizabeth.connolly@yale.edu,

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