Higher-order visual responses depend on superior colliculus

Joshua M. Brenner and Riccardo Beltramo et al. from Massimo Scanziani’s lab at UCSF used three NeuroNexus acute probe designs (A1x32-Edge-5mm-20-177-A32, A4x2-tet-5mm-150-200-121-A32, and A1x16-5mm-25-177-A16) plus optoelectrodes (A1x16-5mm-25-177-OA16LP) to record throughout the lateral visual pathway in awake, head-fixed mice. Simultaneous single-unit recordings with optogenetic silencing of specific neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) were one key part of their study to identify and characterize the pathway from SC to visual cortices via the pulvinar.