Possible excitatory and inhibitory feedback to the superior colliculus: a combined retrograde and immunocytochemical study in the prepositus hypoglossi nucleus of the guinea pig

Integrating Brain and Biomechanical Models-A New Paradigm for Understanding Neuro-muscular Control

To date, realistic models of how the central nervous system governs behavior have been restricted in scope to the brain, brainstem or spinal column, as if these existed as disembodied organs. Further, the model is often exercised in relation to an in vivo physiological experiment with input comprising an impulse, a periodic signal or constant activation, and output as a pattern of neural activity in one or more neural populations. Any link to behavior is inferred only indirectly via these activity patterns. We argue that to discover the principles of operation of neural systems, it is necessary to express their behavior in terms of physical movements of a realistic motor system, and to supply inputs that mimic sensory experience. To do this with confidence, we must connect our brain models to neuro-muscular models and provide relevant visual and proprioceptive feedback signals, thereby closing the loop of the simulation. This paper describes an effort to develop just such an integrated brain and biomechanical system using a number of pre-existing models. It describes a model of the saccadic oculomotor system incorporating a neuromuscular model of the eye and its six extraocular muscles. The position of the eye determines how illumination of a retinotopic input population projects information about the location of a saccade target into the system. A pre-existing saccadic burst generator model was incorporated into the system, which generated motoneuron activity patterns suitable for driving the biomechanical eye. The model was demonstrated to make accurate saccades to a target luminance under a set of environmental constraints. Challenges encountered in the development of this model showed the importance of this integrated modeling approach. Thus, we exposed shortcomings in individual model components which were only apparent when these were supplied with the more plausible inputs available in a closed loop design. Consequently we were able to suggest missing functionality which the system would require to reproduce more realistic behavior. The construction of such closed-loop animal models constitutes a new paradigm of computational neurobehavior and promises a more thoroughgoing approach to our understanding of the brain's function as a controller for movement and behavior.

The nucleus prepositus predominantly outputs eye movement-related information during passive and active self-motion

Maintaining a constant representation of our heading as we move through the world requires the accurate estimate of spatial orientation. As one turns (or is turned) toward a new heading, signals from the semicircular canals are relayed through the vestibular system to higher-order centers that encode head direction. To date, there is no direct electrophysiological evidence confirming the first relay point of head-motion signals from the vestibular nuclei, but previous anatomical and lesion studies have identified the nucleus prepositus as a likely candidate. Whereas burst-tonic neurons encode only eye-movement signals during head-fixed eye motion and passive vestibular stimulation, these neurons have not been studied during self-generated movements. Here, we specifically address whether burst-tonic neurons encode head motion during active behaviors. Single-unit responses were recorded from the nucleus prepositus of rhesus monkeys and compared for head-restrained and active conditions with comparable eye velocities. We found that neurons consistently encoded eye position and velocity across conditions but did not exhibit significant sensitivity to head position or velocity. Additionally, response sensitivities varied as a function of eye velocity, similar to abducens motoneurons and consistent with their role in gaze control and stabilization. Thus our results demonstrate that the primate nucleus prepositus chiefly encodes eye movement even during active head-movement behaviors, a finding inconsistent with the proposal that this nucleus makes a direct contribution to head-direction cell tuning. Given its ascending projections, however, we speculate that this eye-movement information is integrated with other inputs in establishing higher-order spatial representations.

Effects of Initial Eye Position on Saccades Evoked by Microstimulation in the Primate Superior Colliculus: Implications for Models of the SC Read-Out Process

The motor layers of the superior colliculus (SC) are thought to specify saccade amplitude and direction, independent of initial eye position. However, recent evidence suggests that eye position can modulate the level of activity of SC motor neurons. In this study, we tested whether initial eye position has an effect on microstimulation-evoked saccade amplitude. High (>300 Hz) and low (<300 Hz) frequency microstimulation was applied to 30 sites in the rostral part of the SC of two monkeys while they fixated one of six different locations. We found that the amplitude of the evoked saccades decreased with more contralateral initial eye positions. This effect was more pronounced in low frequency- compared to high frequency-evoked saccades, although it was present for both. Replication of these findings in head-free experiments showed that the effect of initial eye position was not due to physical constraints imposed by the oculomotor range. In addition to the effect of eye position on saccade amplitude, we also observed an increase in saccade latency and a decrease in the probability that microstimulation would evoke a saccade for low frequency stimulation at more contralateral eye positions. These findings suggest that an eye position signal can contribute to the read-out of the SC. Models of the saccadic pulse-step generator may need revision to incorporate an eye position modulation at the input stage.

Commissural mirror-symmetric excitation and reciprocal inhibition between the two superior colliculi and their roles in vertical and horizontal eye movements

The functional roles of commissural excitation and inhibition between the two superior colliculi (SCs) are not yet well understood. We previously showed the existence of strong excitatory commissural connections between the rostral SCs, although commissural connections had been considered to be mainly inhibitory. In this study, by recording intracellular potentials, we examined the topographical distribution of commissural monosynaptic excitation and inhibition from the contralateral medial and lateral SC to tectoreticular neurons (TRNs) in the medial or lateral SC of anesthetized cats. About 85% of TRNs examined projected to both the ipsilateral Forel's field H and the contralateral inhibitory burst neuron region where the respective premotor neurons for vertical and horizontal saccades reside. Medial TRNs received strong commissural excitation from the medial part of the opposite SC, whereas lateral TRNs received excitation mainly from its lateral part. Injection of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase into the lateral or medial SC retrogradely labeled many larger neurons in the lateral or medial part of the contralateral SC, respectively. These results indicated that excitatory commissural connections exist between the medial and medial parts and between the lateral and lateral parts of the rostral SCs. These may play an important role in reinforcing the conjugacy of upward and downward saccades, respectively. In contrast, medial SC projections to lateral SC TRNs and lateral SC projections to medial TRNs mainly produce strong inhibition. This shows that regions representing upward saccades inhibit contralateral regions representing downward saccades and vice versa.

The mammalian superior colliculus: laminar structure and connections

The superior colliculus is a laminated midbrain structure that acts as one of the centers organizing gaze movements. This review will concentrate on sensory and motor inputs to the superior colliculus, on its internal circuitry, and on its connections with other brainstem gaze centers, as well as its extensive outputs to those structures with which it is reciprocally connected. This will be done in the context of its laminar arrangement. Specifically, the superficial layers receive direct retinal input, and are primarily visual sensory in nature. They project upon the visual thalamus and pretectum to influence visual perception. These visual layers also project upon the deeper layers, which are both multimodal, and premotor in nature. Thus, the deep layers receive input from both somatosensory and auditory sources, as well as from the basal ganglia and cerebellum. Sensory, association, and motor areas of cerebral cortex provide another major source of collicular input, particularly in more encephalized species. For example, visual sensory cortex terminates superficially, while the eye fields target the deeper layers. The deeper layers are themselves the source of a major projection by way of the predorsal bundle which contributes collicular target information to the brainstem structures containing gaze-related burst neurons, and the spinal cord and medullary reticular formation regions that produce head turning.

Nucleus prepositus

The cytoarchitecture and the histochemistry of nucleus prepositus hypoglossi and its afferent and efferent connections to oculomotor structures are described. The functional significance of the afferent connections of the nucleus is discussed in terms of current knowledge of the firing behavior of prepositus neurons in alert animals. The efferent connections of the nucleus and the results of lesion experiments suggest that it plays a role in a variety of functions related to the control of gaze.

Commissural excitation and inhibition by the superior colliculus in tectoreticular neurons projecting to omnipause neuron and inhibitory burst neuron regions

Previous electrophysiological studies have shown that the commissural connections between the two superior colliculi are mainly inhibitory with fewer excitatory connections. However, the functional roles of the commissural connections are not well understood, so we sought to clarify the physiology of tectal commissural excitation and inhibition of tectoreticular neurons (TRNs) in the "fixation " and "saccade " zones of the superior colliculus (SC). By recording intracellular potentials, we identified TRNs by their antidromic responses to stimulation of the omnipause neuron (OPN) and inhibitory burst neuron (IBN) regions and analyzed the effects of stimulation of the contralateral SC on these TRNs in anesthetized cats. TRNs in the caudal SC (saccade neurons) projected to the IBN region, and received mono- or disynaptic inhibition from the entire rostrocaudal extent of the contralateral SC. In contrast, TRNs in the rostral SC projected to the OPN or IBN region and received monosynaptic excitation from the most rostral level of the contralateral SC, and mono- or disynaptic inhibition from its entire rostrocaudal extent. Among the rostral TRNs with commissural excitation, IBN-projecting TRNs also projected to Forel's field H (vertical gaze center), suggesting that they were most likely saccade neurons related to vertical saccades. In contrast, TRNs projecting only to the OPN region were most likely fixation neurons. Most putative inhibitory neurons in the rostral SC had multiple axon branches throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the contralateral SC, whereas excitatory commissural neurons, most of which were rostral TRNs, distributed terminals to a discrete region in the rostral SC.

Connectivity of the goldfish optic tectum with the mesencephalic and rhombencephalic reticular formation

The optic tectum of goldfish, as in other vertebrates, plays a major role in the generation of orienting movements, including eye saccades. To perform these movements, the optic tectum sends a motor command through the mesencephalic and rhombencephalic reticular formation, to the extraocular motoneurons. Furthermore, the tectal command is adjusted by a feedback signal arising from the reticular targets. Since the features of the motor command change with respect to the tectal site, the present work was devoted to determining, quantitatively, the particular reciprocal connectivity between the reticular regions and tectal sites having different motor properties. With this aim, the bidirectional tracer, biotin dextran amine, was injected into anteromedial tectal sites, where eye movements with small horizontal and large vertical components were evoked, or into posteromedial tectal sites, where eye movements with large horizontal and small vertical components were evoked. Labeled boutons and somas were then located and counted in the reticular formation. Both were more numerous in the mesencephalon than in the rhombencephalon, and ipsilaterally than contralaterally, with respect to the injection site. Furthermore, the somas showed a tendency to be located in the area containing the most dense labeling of synaptic endings. In addition, labeled boutons were often observed in close association with retrogradely stained neurons, suggesting the presence of a tectoreticular feedback circuit. Following the injection in the anteromedial tectum, most of the boutons and labeled neurons were found in the reticular formation rostral to the oculomotor nucleus. Conversely, following the injection in the posteromedial tectum, most of the boutons and neurons were also located in the caudal mesencephalic reticular formation. Finally, boutons and neurons were found in the rhombencephalic reticular formation surrounding the abducens nucleus. They were more numerous following the injection in the posteromedial tectum. These results demonstrate characteristic patterns of reciprocal connectivity between physiologically different tectal sites and the mesencephalic and rhombencephalic reticular formation. These patterns are discussed in the framework of the neural substratum that underlies the codification of orienting movements in goldfish.

Gaze shifts evoked by electrical stimulation of the superior colliculus in the head-unrestrained cat. II. Effect of muscimol inactivation of the caudal fastigial nucleus

The medioposterior cerebellum [vermian lobules VI and VII and caudal fastigial nucleus (cFN)] is known to play a major role in the control of saccadic gaze shifts toward a visual target. To determine the relative contribution of the cFN efferent pathways to the brainstem reticular formation and to the superior colliculus (SC), we recorded in the head-unrestrained cat the effects of cFN unilateral inactivation on gaze shifts evoked by electrical microstimulation of the deeper SC layers. Gaze shifts evoked after muscimol injection still exhibited the typical qualitative features of normal saccadic gaze shifts. Nevertheless, consistent modifications in amplitude and latency were observed. For ipsiversive movements (evoked by the SC contralateral to the inactivated cFN), these changes depended on the locus of stimulation on the motor map: for the anterior 2/3 of the SC, amplitude increased and latency tended to decrease; for the posterior 1/3 of the SC, amplitude decreased and latency increased. For the contraversive direction, amplitude moderately decreased and latency tended to increase for all but the caudal-most stimulated SC site. These modifications of SC-evoked gaze shifts during cFN inactivation differed from the ipsiversive hypermetria/contraversive hypometria pattern observed for visually triggered gaze shifts recorded during the same recording sessions. We conclude that (i) the topographical organization of gaze shift amplitude in the deeper SC layers is influenced by the cerebellum and is either severely distorted or demonstrates an amplitude reduction during inactivation of the contralateral or ipsilateral cFN, respectively; (ii) gaze shifts evoked by SC microstimulation and visually triggered gaze shifts either rely on distinct cerebellar-dependent control processes or differ by the location of the caudal-most active SC population. We present a functional scheme providing several predictions regarding the modulatory influence of the cerebellum on SC neuronal activities and on the topographical organization of fastigial-SC projections.