Visual pathway origins: an electron microscopic volume for connectomic analysis of the human foveal retina
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With over 10 14 synapses, the human brain presents a seemingly insurmountable challenge to a nano-scale circuit-level understanding of its diverse neural systems. The foveal retina however presents a feasible site for a complete connectome of a key human CNS structure. Foveal cells and circuits are miniaturized and compressed to densely sample the visual image at highest resolution to initiate form, color and motion perception. Here we use computational methods first applied to the fly brain to provide a draft connectome of all neurons in a foveal volume. We found synaptic connections distinct to humans linking short-wavelength sensitive cones to color vision pathways. Moreover, by reconstructing excitatory synaptic pathways arising from cone photoreceptors we found that 96% of foveal ganglion cells contribute to only three major pathways to the brain. This new resource reveals unique features of a human neural system and opens a door to its complete connectome.
In Brief
Deep-learning based reconstruction of cells and synapses in a human fovea reveals visual pathway origins and human-specific wiring for color vision, opening the door to a complete synaptic-level connectome of this critical locus in the human central nervous system.
Highlights
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Complete EM level reconstruction of cells and synaptic circuitry in a human fovea
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New circuit motifs for short-wavelength (S-cone) pathways feeding color vision
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Pathways to the brain are greatly reduced relative to non-primate mammals
