Chattering and Differential Signal Processing in Identified Motion-Sensitive Neurons of Parallel Visual Pathways in the Chick Tectum

Luksch, Harald; Karten, Harvey J.; Kleinfeld, David; Weßel, Ralf

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.21-16-06440.2001

Cited by 63 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…This implies that this bursting activity may be endogenous to nBOR cells. Similar bursting activity has been found in the visual cortex (Gray and McCormick, 1996;Mancilla et al, 1998), in the pigeon tectum (Hardy et al, 1987;Luksch et al, 2001), and in the lateral geniculate nucleus (Weyand et al, 2001). These authors have suggested that bursting firing may be related to behavioral state (Weyand et al, 2001), and the switch between bursting and tonic modes can be controlled by modulatory afferents (Sherman, 2001), for example, from the pretectal nucleus lentiformis mesencephali (Nogueira and Britto, 1991;Wang et al, 2001) and from the visual forebrain .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Visual responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to stationary stimuli in pigeons

Wang

2002

J of Neuroscience Research

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The nucleus of the basal optic root of the accessory optic system in pigeons is involved in generating optokinetic nystagmus, which stabilizes object images on the retina by compensatory eye movements. Previous studies have indicated that basal optic neurons are selective for the direction and velocity of motion. The present study shows that these optokinetic cells also respond to stationary stimuli and thereby could be categorized into three groups. The first group of cells (69.1%) responds to stationary gratings orthogonal to the preferred direction but not to gratings parallel to the preferred direction. They do not respond to stationary random-dot patterns without any orientational cues. The second group of cells (7.4%) almost equally discharges a series of bursts in response to stationary gratings with any orientations and to random-dot patterns as well. The third group of cells (23.5%) is responsive to motion but not to stationary gratings and random-dot patterns. The receptive field of basal optic cells is composed of an excitatory field and an inhibitory field, both of which overlap or occupy different regions in the visual field. The aforementioned properties may be attributed to the excitatory receptive field, whereas the inhibitory receptive field is functional when visual stimuli are moving in the direction opposite to the preferred direction of basal optic cells. The functional significance of visual responses of optokinetic neurons to stationary patterns is discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Visual responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to stationary stimuli in pigeons

Wang

2002

J of Neuroscience Research

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“…Neurons in the deep SGS and the SO have large visual receptive fields and are sensitive to visual motion (Albano et al 1978;Cynader and Berman 1972;Humphrey 1968;Mooney et al 1988;Schiller and Koerner 1971). Recent studies have shown that type I neurons in the stratum griseum centrale (SGC) in the avian optic tectum, which are analogous to WFV cells (Luksch et al 2001;Major et al 2000), can discriminate between static stationary stimuli and dynamic spatiotemporal stimuli, independent of the details of the stimulus (Luksch et al 2004). Collectively, these findings, in addition to our present results, suggest that WFV cells are key elements in visuomotor transformation in the SC, especially for short-latency responses to moving targets.…”

Section: Interlaminar Propagation Of Neural Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Organization of Interlaminar Interactions in the Rat Superior Colliculus

Saito

Isa²

2005

Journal of Neurophysiology

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. Our previous studies have shown that when slices of the rat superior colliculus (SC) are exposed to a solution containing 10 M bicuculline and a low concentration of Mg 2ϩ (0.1 mM), most neurons in the intermediate gray layer (stratum griseum intermediale; SGI), wide-field vertical (WFV) cells in the optic layer (stratum opticum; SO), and a minor population of neurons in the superficial gray layer (stratum griseum superficiale; SGS) exhibit spontaneous depolarization and burst firing, which are synchronous among adjacent neurons. These spontaneous and synchronous depolarizations were thought to share common mechanisms with presaccadic burst activity in SGI neurons. In the present study, we explored the site responsible for generation of synchronous depolarization of SGI neurons by performing dual whole cell recordings under different slice conditions. A pair of SGI neurons recorded in a small rectangular piece of the SGI punched out from the SC slice showed synchronous depolarization but far less frequently than those recorded in a small rectangular piece including SGS and SO. This suggests that the superficial layers are needed for triggering synchronous depolarization in the SGI. Furthermore, we recorded spontaneous depolarizations in pairs of neurons belonging to the different layers. Analysis of their synchronicity revealed that WFV cells in the SO exhibit synchronous depolarizations with both SGS and SGI neurons, and the onset of spontaneous depolarization in WFV cells precedes those of neurons in other layers. Further, when SGS and SGI neurons exhibit synchronous depolarizations, SGI neurons usually precede the SGS neurons. These observations give further evidence to the existence of interlaminar interaction between superficial and deeper layers of the SC. In addition, it is suggested that WFV cells can trigger burst activity in other layers of the SC and that there is an excitatory signal transmission from the deeper layers to the superficial layers. I N T R O D U C T I O NOrienting behaviors such as saccades are preceded by burst firing of neurons in the deeper layers (intermediate and deep layers) of the mammalian superior colliculus (SC). The burst activity determines both the metrics and timing of saccades (Munoz and Wurtz 1995;Schiller and Koerner 1971;Schiller and Stryker 1972; Sparks and May 1980;Sparks et al. 1976;Wurtz and Goldberg 1972). Previous studies have suggested that the burst activity is attributed to local excitatory interactions by recurrent collaterals of deep layer neurons (Bozis and Moschovakis 1998; Moschovakis et al. 1988a,b).In our previous studies, using whole cell patch-clamp technique in rat brain stem slice preparations, we demonstrated the presence of local excitatory interactions among a large number of SGI neurons that communicate through excitatory recurrent connections (Isa et al. 1998; Isa 2003, 2004). Recruitment of these neurons to excitatory interactions was dependent on both activation of N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and release from GABAergic inhibition...

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“…Tectal ganglion cells (TGCs) in deeper layers pool this precise retinotopy and project to the thalamic nucleus rotundus ( Fig. 1 A, B) (Benowitz and Karten, 1976;Karten et al, 1997;Luksch et al, 1998;Hellmann and Gü ntü rkü n, 2001;Luksch et al, 2001;Marín et al, 2003), resulting in large receptive fields (RFs), which typically would contain several stimuli simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional Capture? Synchronized Feedback Signals from the Isthmi Boost Retinal Signals to Higher Visual Areas

Marı́n

Durán²,

Morales³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

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When a salient object in the visual field captures attention, the neural representation of that object is enhanced at the expense of competing stimuli. How neural activity evoked by a salient stimulus evolves to take precedence over the neural activity evoked by other stimuli is a matter of intensive investigation. Here, we describe in pigeons (Columba livia) how retinal inputs to the optic tectum (TeO, superior colliculus in mammals), triggered by moving stimuli, are selectively relayed on to the rotundus (Rt, caudal pulvinar) in the thalamus, and to its pallial target, the entopallium (E, extrastriate cortex). We show that two satellite nuclei of the TeO, the nucleus isthmi parvocelullaris (Ipc) and isthmi semilunaris (SLu), send synchronized feedback signals across tectal layers. Preventing the feedback from Ipc but not from SLu to a tectal location suppresses visual responses to moving stimuli from the corresponding region of visual space in all Rt subdivisions. In addition, the bursting feedback from the Ipc imprints a bursting rhythm on the visual signals, such that the visual responses of the Rt and the E acquire a bursting modulation significantly synchronized to the feedback from Ipc. As the Ipc feedback signals are selected by competitive interactions, the visual responses within the receptive fields in the Rt tend to synchronize with the tectal location receiving the "winning" feedback from Ipc. We propose that this selective transmission of afferent activity combined with the cross-regional synchronization of the areas involved represents a bottom-up mechanism by which salient stimuli capture attention.

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Chattering and Differential Signal Processing in Identified Motion-Sensitive Neurons of Parallel Visual Pathways in the Chick Tectum

Cited by 63 publications

References 54 publications

Visual responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to stationary stimuli in pigeons

Visual responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to stationary stimuli in pigeons

Organization of Interlaminar Interactions in the Rat Superior Colliculus

Attentional Capture? Synchronized Feedback Signals from the Isthmi Boost Retinal Signals to Higher Visual Areas

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