Retinal waves but not visual experience are required for development of retinal direction selectivity maps

Retinal waves and visual experience have been implicated in the formation of retinotopic and eye-specific maps throughout the visual system, but whether either play a role in the development of the maps within the retina itself is unknown. We explore this question using direction-selective retinal ganglion cells, which are organized into a map that aligns to the body and gravitational axes of optic flow. Using two-photon population calcium imaging, we find that the direction selectivity map is present at eye opening and is unaltered by dark-rearing. Remarkably, the horizontal component of the direction selectivity map is absent in mice lacking normal retinal waves, whereas the vertical component remains normal. These results indicate that intrinsic patterns of activity, rather than extrinsic motion signals are critical for the establishment of direction selectivity maps in the retina. One Sentence SummaryHorizontal direction selectivity in the retina is absent in mice lacking normal retinal waves.