Superior sensation: superior colliculus participation in rat vibrissa system

Hemelt, Marie E.; Keller, Asaf

doi:10.1186/1471-2202-8-12

Cited by 37 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Previously, Hemelt and Keller (2007) have reported that the neurons of the superior colliculus have more angular selectivity when compared to neurons in of barrel: 16% of barrel cortex neurons have a high selectivity index in comparison to 43% of collicular neurons. Thus, it is truly significant to see such a clear spatial representation of the angular selectivity in the barrel area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Thus it is a logical inference that the whisker's angular selectivity is a key element of barrel cortex stimulus representations. Angular selectivity of the neurons has been described at different levels of the vibrissae system (Li and Ebner, 2007;Minnery and Simons, 2003;Hemelt and Keller, 2007) but its mechanism is still not clarified completely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Study of the cortical representation of whisker directional deflection using voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging

et al. 2010

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of the cortical representation of whisker directional deflection using voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging

et al. 2010

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“…The results also revealed a large increase in SC firing during active exploration. This is significant because during anesthesia, many whisker-responsive cells have nil spontaneous firing (Cohen et al 2008;Hemelt and Keller 2007). A large number of variables may contribute to the increased firing.…”

Section: Sc Spontaneous Firingmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The superior colliculus is well known to be involved in orienting responses to stimuli from a wide range of modalities, including somatosensory, auditory, and visual (Dean et al 1989;Meredith and Stein 1985;Schneider 1969;Sparks 1986;Sprague and Meikle 1965;Stein 1998;Stein and Meredith 1993;Wurtz and Albano 1980). Neurons in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus of rats are highly responsive to vibrissa (whisker) stimulation Castro-Alamancos 2007, 2010;Cohen et al 2008;Grunwerg and Krauthamer 1990;Hemelt and Keller 2007;McHaffie et al 1989;Weldon and Best 1992). These whisker responses are driven by direct inputs from the trigeminal complex (trigeminotectal; peak1 at ϳ5 ms poststimulus) followed by activity returning from the barrel cortex (corticotectal; peak2 at ϳ12 ms) (Cohen et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Behavioral State Dependency of Neural Activity and Sensory (Whisker) Responses in Superior Colliculus

Cohen

Castro‐Alamancos

2010

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Rats use their vibrissa (whiskers) to explore and navigate the environment. These sensory signals are distributed within the brain stem by the trigeminal complex and are also relayed to the superior colliculus in the midbrain and to the thalamus (and subsequently barrel cortex) in the forebrain. In the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus, whisker-evoked responses are driven by direct inputs from the trigeminal complex (trigeminotectal) and feedback from the barrel cortex (corticotectal). But the effects of the behavioral state of the animal on the spontaneous firing and sensory responses of these neurons are unknown. By recording from freely behaving rats, we show that the spontaneous firing of whisker sensitive neurons in superior colliculus is higher, or in an activated mode, during active exploration and paradoxical sleep and much lower, or in a quiescent/deactivated mode, during awake immobility and slow-wave sleep. Sensory evoked responses in superior colliculus also depend on behavioral state. Most notably, feedback corticotectal responses are significantly larger during the quiescent/deactivated mode, which tracks the barrel cortex responses on which they depend. Finally, sensory evoked responses depend not only on the state of the animal but also on the orienting response elicited by the stimulus, which agrees with the well known role of the superior colliculus in orienting about salient stimuli.

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“…Cells in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus are highly responsive to passive touch of vibrissa (i.e., deflection of stationary whiskers) Castro-Alamancos 2007, 2010b;Cohen et al 2008;Grunwerg and Krauthamer 1990;Hemelt and Keller 2007;McHaffie et al 1989). Superior colliculus passive touch responses are driven by direct inputs from the trigeminal complex (trigeminotectal; peak1) followed by activity returning from the barrel cortex (corticotectal; peak2) in both anesthetized (Cohen et al 2008) and freely behaving rats (Cohen and Castro-Alamancos 2010a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Superior colliculus cells sensitive to active touch and texture during whisking

Bezdudnaya

Castro‐Alamancos

2011

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Rats sense the environment through rhythmic vibrissa protractions, called active whisking, which can be simulated in anesthetized rats by electrically stimulating the facial motor nerve. Using this method, we investigated barrel cortex field potential and superior colliculus single-unit responses during passive touch, whisking movement, active touch, and texture discrimination. Similar to passive touch, whisking movement is signaled during the onset of the whisker protraction by short-latency responses in barrel cortex that drive corticotectal responses in superior colliculus, and all these responses show robust adaptation with increases in whisking frequency. Active touch and texture are signaled by longer latency responses, first in superior colliculus during the rising phase of the protraction, likely driven by trigeminotectal inputs, and later in barrel cortex by the falling phase of the protraction. Thus, superior colliculus is part of a broader vibrissa neural network that can decode whisking movement, active touch, and texture.

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Superior sensation: superior colliculus participation in rat vibrissa system

Cited by 37 publications

References 48 publications

Study of the cortical representation of whisker directional deflection using voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging

Study of the cortical representation of whisker directional deflection using voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging

Behavioral State Dependency of Neural Activity and Sensory (Whisker) Responses in Superior Colliculus

Superior colliculus cells sensitive to active touch and texture during whisking

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