Maintained Discharge in the Visual System and its Role for Information Processing

Electrical induction of vision

We assess what monkeys see during electrical stimulation of primary visual cortex (area V1) and relate the findings to visual percepts evoked electrically from human V1. Discussed are: (1) the electrical, cytoarchitectonic, and visuo-behavioural factors that affect the ability of monkeys to detect currents in V1; (2) the methods used to ascertain what monkeys see when electrical stimulation is delivered to V1; (3) a corticofugal mechanism for the induction of visual percepts; and (4) the quantity of information transferred to V1 by electrical stimulation. Experiments are proposed that should advance our understanding of how electrical stimulation affects macaque and human V1. This work contributes to the development of a cortical visual prosthesis for the blind. We dedicate this work to the late Robert W. Doty.

Cellular mechanisms underlying the pharmacological induction of phosphenes

Visual sensations evoked by stimuli other than luminance changes are called phosphenes. Phosphenes may be an early symptom in a variety of diseases of the retina or of the visual pathways, but healthy individuals may perceive them as well. Phosphene-like phenomena are perhaps the most common side effect reported in clinical pharmacology. Ivabradine, a novel anti-anginal drug that reduces heart-rate by inhibiting the hyperpolarization activated current expressed in cardiac sinoatrial node cells (I(f)) induces phosphenes in some patients. One hypothesis is that ivabradine interacts with the visual system by inhibiting hyperpolarization-activated current in retinal cells (Ih). An Ih current with properties similar to cardiac I(f) has been reported in retinal neurones. Under normal circumstances most of the random fluctuations generated within the retinal circuits do not reach the level of conscious perception because they are filtered out. Presumably, filtering occurs mostly within the retina and one serious candidate for this action is the ability of Ih to act as a negative-feedback mechanism. Ih activation in the membrane of visual cells causes dampening of responses to slow noisy inputs thus tuning the visual system to perceptually more relevant signals of higher frequency. Ih inhibition, by altering at the retinal synapses the filtering of signals generated by thermal breakdown of rhodopsin or other fluctuations, is expected to increase the probability of phosphene occurrence. It is the purpose of the present paper to outline and discuss the features of the visual system and the pharmacological conditions relevant to phosphene perception.

Effects of ON channel blockade with 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (APB) on brightness and contrast perception in monkeys

Four experiments were performed to assess the effects of ON channel blockade with the glutamate analog 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (APB) on brightness and contrast perception in monkeys. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that stimuli brighter than background (incremental stimuli) appear less bright following ON channel blockade. This decrease in brightness is not enough to account for the previously observed threshold increase for detection of incremental stimuli following APB administration (Schiller et al., 1986; Dolan & Schiller, 1989). Experiment 2 examines the role of the ON and OFF channels in the interaction between local contrast and apparent brightness. The phenomenon of simultaneous contrast was examined under normal conditions and following APB administration. We find that even following ON channel blockade, the brightness of a stimulus is determined primarily by its contrast with its immediate background. This indicates that the lateral processes involved in simultaneous contrast can operate even when one channel has been compromised. In Experiment 3, we examined the role of the ON channel in detection of stimuli that appear by virtue of changes in background vs. foreground luminance. We find that the ON channel selectively conveys information pertaining not only to the temporal nature that defines the stimulus as incremental but also to the spatial features that define it as incremental. In Experiment 4, we test the hypothesis that incremental and decremental temporal luminance ramps are differentially processed by the ON and OFF channels to a higher degree than are step-luminance changes. We find that the detection of incremental ramps is no more affected than is the detection of incremental steps following APB administration.

Electrophysiological correlates of positive and negative afterimages

We report here measurements of visual evoked potential (VEP) activity after induction of afterimages in human observers. Drifting gratings normally produce no measurable phase synchronized VEP. However, after an afterimage of a high contrast grating of the same orientation and spatial frequency of that of the drifting grating has been flashed on the retina. VEPs in synchrony with the drift frequency are produced. For up to about two minutes after the flash, the VEPs were all clustered in one phase, then declined for a minute or so, to reappear 180 degrees out of phase from the first VEPs. The first group of VEPs coincides with the percept of a positive afterimage, and the second with that of a negative afterimage. Possible explanations for the existence of positive and negative afterimages and the associated VEPs are considered.