Neural circuits in the mouse retina support color vision in the upper visual field

Color vision is essential for an animal’s survival. It starts in the retina, where signals from different photoreceptor types are locally compared by neural circuits. Mice, like most mammals, are dichromatic with two cone types. They can discriminate colors only in their upper visual field. In the corresponding ventral retina, however, most cones display the same spectral preference, thereby presumably impairing spectral comparisons. In this study, we systematically investigated the retinal circuits underlying mouse color vision by recording light responses from cones, bipolar and ganglion cells. Surprisingly, most color-opponent cells are located in the ventral retina, with rod photoreceptors likely being involved. Here, the complexity of chromatic processing increases from cones towards the retinal output, where non-linear center-surround interactions create specific color-opponent output channels to the brain. This suggests that neural circuits in the mouse retina are tuned to extract color from the upper visual field, aiding robust detection of predators and ensuring the animal’s survival.