Respuestas visuales al movimiento medidas con imágenes funcionales de Calcio

MARTÍN BERÓN DE ASTRADA; MERCEDES BENGOCHEA; DANIEL TOMSIC

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; Segunda reunión conjunta SAN-TAN. 2010; 2010

Crabs are highly visual and reactive animals that offer important advantages for studying the physiology of animal behaviour. Here, we developed a preparation that allows assessing the response of neural visual elements to visual stimulation using Ca++ imaging in the intact animal. First, as the retinal maps of crab optic neuropils were unknown, based on detailed tracing from retinal photoreceptors and neuronal projections along the optic neuropiles we disclosed the crab retinal maps. Second, to perform Ca++ imaging in the intact animal the crab was restrained and a small window was opened on the cuticle of the eyestalk. Trough this window, columnar neurons were stained with dextran Calcium Green, a Ca++ sensitive dye. We found consistent and clear responses from narrow field columnar elements from the lobula to different visual stimuli. The analysis of correspondence between the areas of columnar activation and the positions of stimulus presentation confirm the retinal maps derived from the anatomical studies. Ongoing studies conclusively show that these anatomically peripheral elements are able to undergo plastic changes when confronted with repetitive presentation of a moving visual danger stimulus.