The visuomotor transformations underlying defensive behaviors and hunting

The visual system can identify stimuli as predators or prey, and respond with appropriate behaviors. To observe the transformation of visual information into behavior, we imaged the zebrafish visual system while larvae responded to three types of visual stimuli with innate hunting, freezing, and escape behaviors. We systematically identified visually driven neurons and behaviorally correlated sensorimotor neurons, and analyzed their responses to the different stimuli and behaviors. We found that the optic tectum contains broadly tuned sensory neurons, and sensorimotor neurons that respond specifically during one behavior. We also identified sensorimotor neurons in four other areas thought to be downstream of the tectum. Our findings support a model in which neurons in the tectum receive visual information describing an object’s location, and may also receive input on the object’s identity and the animal’s state, in order to select a single behavioral outcome, which is then relayed to downstream areas.