Visual information is encoded in distinct retinal ganglion cell (RGC) types in the eye tuned to specific features of the visual space. These streams of information project to the visual thalamus, the first station of the image-forming pathway. In the mouse, this connection between RGCs and thalamocortical neurons, the retinogeniculate synapse, has become a powerful experimental model for understanding how circuits in the thalamus are constructed to process these incoming lines of information. Using modern molecular and genetic tools, recent studies have suggested a more complex circuit organization than was previously understood. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the structural and functional organization of the retinogeniculate synapse in the mouse. We discuss a framework by which a seemingly complex circuit can effectively integrate and parse information to downstream stations of the visual pathway. Finally, we review how activity and visual experience can sculpt this exquisite connectivity.
Keywords: convergence; divergence; dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; information processing; multiplexing; plasticity; retinal ganglion cell; synapse refinement; thalamus.