A new study by researchers from Brown University helps to explain how specialized retinal cells help mammals stabilize their vision and keep their balance as they move.
According to researchers, the brain uses information from the motion-sensing vestibular system in the ears and/or images moving across the retina from vision to sense how it is moving in space. Using a mouse model, the researchers reportedly determined direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGSs) became active when their sensed radiating optical flow resulting from four distinct motions — advancing, retreating, rising or falling — through the mouse's vision. The information was enough to help the brain sense rotation in space, which researchers say is crucial for image stabilization.
The study was published in the journal Nature.
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