Neural modulation of visuomotor functions underlying prey-catching behaviour in anurans: perception, attention, motor performance, learning

Ewert, Jörg-Peter; Buxbaum-Conradi, H.; Dreisvogt, F; Glagow, M.; Merkel-Harff, C; Röttgen, A.; Schürg-Pfeiffer, E.; Schwippert, Wolfgang W.

doi:10.1016/s1095-6433(00)00333-0

Cited by 86 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 162 publications

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“…D, Prey capture performance in a bilateral MeLc and MeLr ablated group (a separate group from that presented in C) and control ablated group in which an equal number of identified RS neurons from within hindbrain rhombomeres 4 -6 were ablated. The control ablated group captured significantly more paramecia than the bilateral MeLc and MeLr group across the 5 h assay period and was indistinguishable from the unablated group in C. confirms previous electrophysiological and lesioning studies in other vertebrates (Ewert et al, 2001;Lomber et al, 2001;Doubell et al, 2003). For instance, in trout, activation of the tectum elicits orienting movements, the direction and amplitude of which depend on the site of stimulation (Herrero et al, 1998b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…In amphibians, a tegmental area called the large-celled column (LCC) has been implicated previously in prey recognition (Ewert, 1987;Ewert et al, 2001). It is likely that lesions of the LCC in previous studies encompassed the amphibian homologs of MeLr and MeLc and thus led to similar effects on prey capture to those seen here in fish larvae.…”

Section: Bsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…For instance, in amphibians, pretectal pathways are necessary for encoding prey identity (Ewert et al, 2001). Pretectum-lesioned toads snap at all objects indiscriminately.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual Prey Capture in Larval Zebrafish Is Controlled by Identified Reticulospinal Neurons Downstream of the Tectum

Gahtan¹,

Tanger²,

Baier³

2005

J. Neurosci.

303

335

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Many vertebrates are efficient hunters and recognize their prey by innate neural mechanisms. During prey capture, the internal representation of the prey's location must be constantly updated and made available to premotor neurons that convey the information to spinal motor circuits. We studied the neural substrate of this specialized visuomotor system using high-speed video recordings of larval zebrafish and laser ablations of candidate brain structures. Seven-day-old zebrafish oriented toward, chased, and consumed paramecia with high accuracy. Lesions of the retinotectal neuropil primarily abolished orienting movements toward the prey. Wild-type fish tested in darkness, as well as blind mutants, were impaired similarly to tectum-ablated animals, suggesting that prey capture is mainly visually mediated. To trace the pathway further, we examined the role of two pairs of identified reticulospinal neurons, MeLc and MeLr, located in the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus of the tegmentum. These two neurons extend dendrites into the ipsilateral tectum and project axons into the spinal cord. Ablating MeLc and MeLr bilaterally impaired prey capture but spared several other behaviors. Ablating different sets of reticulospinal neurons did not impair prey capture, suggesting a selective function of MeLr and MeLc in this behavior. Ablating MeLc and MeLr neurons unilaterally in conjunction with the contralateral tectum also mostly abolished prey capture, but ablating them together with the ipsilateral tectum had a much smaller effect. These results suggest that MeLc and MeLr function in series with the tectum, as part of a circuit that coordinates prey capture movements.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Bsupporting

confidence: 55%

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Visual Prey Capture in Larval Zebrafish Is Controlled by Identified Reticulospinal Neurons Downstream of the Tectum

Gahtan¹,

Tanger²,

Baier³

2005

J. Neurosci.

303

335

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similar ideas have for a long time been central to theories in ethology (Hinde 1966;Ewert et al 2001) and have recently led to several viewpoints on cognition (Adams & Mele 1989;Clark 1997;Beer 2000;Nú ñ ez & Freeman 2000;Thelen et al 2001) and interactive behaviour (Brooks 1991;Hendriks-Jansen 1996;Prescott et al 1999;Seth 2007). All these are similar to several lines of thought that are much older (Mead 1938;Merleau-Ponty 1945;Ashby 1965;Powers 1973;Gibson 1979;Maturana & Varela 1980) in some cases by over a hundred years (Jackson 1884;Bergson 1896;Dewey 1896).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Cortical mechanisms of action selection: the affordance competition hypothesis

Cisek¹

2011

Modelling Natural Action Selection

197

313

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At every moment, the natural world presents animals with two fundamental pragmatic problems: selection between actions that are currently possible and specification of the parameters or metrics of those actions. It is commonly suggested that the brain addresses these by first constructing representations of the world on which to build knowledge and make a decision, and then by computing and executing an action plan. However, neurophysiological data argue against this serial viewpoint. In contrast, it is proposed here that the brain processes sensory information to specify, in parallel, several potential actions that are currently available. These potential actions compete against each other for further processing, while information is collected to bias this competition until a single response is selected. The hypothesis suggests that the dorsal visual system specifies actions which compete against each other within the fronto-parietal cortex, while a variety of biasing influences are provided by prefrontal regions and the basal ganglia. A computational model is described, which illustrates how this competition may take place in the cerebral cortex. Simulations of the model capture qualitative features of neurophysiological data and reproduce various behavioural phenomena.

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“…Being analogous to mammalian superior colliculus, it has been a subject of electrophysiological, morphological and behavioral studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . The optic tectum is composed of 9 layers numbered from 9 (superficial layer) to 1 (periventricular layer) [11,12] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intracellular and current source density analysis of pretectal input to the optic tectum of the frog

Kang

et al. 2010

Neurosci. Bull.

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Objective Electrophysiological examination of the ipsilateral pretectotectal projection has proved that pretectal cells elicit strong suppressive responses to the ipsilateral tectum. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the contralateral pretectotectal prejection are still obscure. The present study aimed to examine the synaptic nature of pretectal nuclei and contralateral tectal cells, and to demonstrate the spatiotemporal pattern of neuronal activity in the 2 main brain structures.Methods Intracellular recording and current source density (CSD) analysis were used to test the complexity of neuronal mechanism of pretectotectal information transfer. Results The pretectal stimulation elicited only one type of response on the contralateral tectum, the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The majority of contra-induced IPSPs were assumed to be polysynaptically driven. In the CSD analysis, only one sink with short latency was observed in each profile. The ipsilateral projection produced a prominent monosynaptic sink in layer 8 of tectum. Recipient neurons were located in layers 6 and 7 of tectum. The result confirmed former findings from ipsilateral intracellular recordings. Conclusion These results suggest the following neuronal circuit: afferents from the pretectal nuclei broadly inhibit both tectal neuron, and since no second sink occurs in tectal layers, the pretectotectal excitatory afferents probably do not extend over the whole tectum, but are within limited state. The results of intracellular recording and CSD analysis further provide evidence of how pretectal afferent activity flows within the tectal laminae.

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Neural modulation of visuomotor functions underlying prey-catching behaviour in anurans: perception, attention, motor performance, learning

Cited by 86 publications

References 162 publications

Visual Prey Capture in Larval Zebrafish Is Controlled by Identified Reticulospinal Neurons Downstream of the Tectum

Visual Prey Capture in Larval Zebrafish Is Controlled by Identified Reticulospinal Neurons Downstream of the Tectum

Cortical mechanisms of action selection: the affordance competition hypothesis

Intracellular and current source density analysis of pretectal input to the optic tectum of the frog

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