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Huang S, Hu P, Zhao Z, Shi L. Dynamic Nonlinear Spatial Integrations on Encoding Contrasting Stimuli of Tectal Neurons. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1577. [PMID: 38891623 PMCID: PMC11171053 DOI: 10.3390/ani14111577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals detect targets using a variety of visual cues, with the visual salience of these cues determining which environmental features receive priority attention and further processing. Surround modulation plays a crucial role in generating visual saliency, which has been extensively studied in avian tectal neurons. Recent work has reported that the suppression of tectal neurons induced by motion contrasting stimulus is stronger than that by luminance contrasting stimulus. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we built a computational model (called Generalized Linear-Dynamic Modulation) which incorporates independent nonlinear tuning mechanisms for excitatory and inhibitory inputs. This model aims to describe how tectal neurons encode contrasting stimuli. The results showed that: (1) The dynamic nonlinear integration structure substantially improved the accuracy (significant difference (p < 0.001, paired t-test) in the goodness of fit between the two models) of the predicted responses to contrasting stimuli, verifying the nonlinear processing performed by tectal neurons. (2) The modulation difference between luminance and motion contrasting stimuli emerged from the predicted response by the full model but not by that with only excitatory synaptic input (spatial luminance: 89 ± 2.8% (GL_DM) vs. 87 ± 2.1% (GL_DMexc); motion contrasting stimuli: 87 ± 1.7% (GL_DM) vs. 83 ± 2.2% (GL_DMexc)). These results validate the proposed model and further suggest the role of dynamic nonlinear spatial integrations in contextual visual information processing, especially in spatial integration, which is important for object detection performed by birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuman Huang
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Personalized Learning in Education of Henan Province, College of Computer and Information Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China
| | - Pingge Hu
- Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
| | - Zhenmeng Zhao
- School of Software, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China;
| | - Li Shi
- Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
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Ouerfelli-Ethier J, Comtois Bona I, Fournet R, Pisella L, Khan AZ. Pre-saccadic attention relies more on suppression than does covert attention. J Vis 2023; 23:1. [PMID: 36595283 PMCID: PMC9819743 DOI: 10.1167/jov.23.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
During covert and pre-saccadic attentional shifts, it is unclear how facilitation and suppression processes interact for target selection. A recent countermanding task pointed to greater suppression at unattended locations during trials with saccades compared to trials without saccades (i.e., fixation and successful stop trials), whereas target facilitation did not differ. It is unknown whether this finding is restricted to countermanding paradigms that involve inhibitory processes. To test this, we adapted Gaspelin and colleagues (2015)'s attention capture task where, within the same block, one location was primed with frequent line discrimination trials, and all locations were occasionally probed using letters report trials. Participants also performed a baseline condition without priming. We tested 15 participants and examined how performance at non-primed locations was affected by covert versus pre-saccadic attention in blocks of four or six items, as well as by position from the primed location and timing from saccade onset. For both attention conditions, letter report at non-primed locations was worse compared to baseline, demonstrating suppression, and letter report at primed location was better, demonstrating facilitation. In saccades trials, letter report was better at primed locations and worse at non-primed locations compared to fixation trials. The timing of this additional pre-saccadic suppression differed from saccadic suppression. In both attention conditions, suppression was greater when primed and non-primed locations were within the same hemifield or in diagonal opposite quadrants. These results confirmed that attention preceding saccade execution suppressed non-primed locations to a larger extent than covert attention, with the same spatial quadrant effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Ouerfelli-Ethier
- School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.,Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Trajectoires team, University of Lyon I Claude-Bernard, Bron, France.,
| | | | - Romain Fournet
- School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.,
| | - Laure Pisella
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Trajectoires team, University of Lyon I Claude-Bernard, Bron, France.,
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Visual Responses to Moving and Flashed Stimuli of Neurons in Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia domestica) Optic Tectum. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12141798. [PMID: 35883345 PMCID: PMC9312236 DOI: 10.3390/ani12141798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Revised: 07/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Avian can quickly and accurately detect surrounding objects (especially, moving ones). However, it was unknown how different neurons in the optic tectum (OT) in domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica) processed moving objects compared to static ones. The electrophysiological results showed that the latency of response to moving stimuli was shorter than that to flashed ones, while the firing rates of response to moving stimulus were higher than that to flashed ones. Furthermore, the modeling study demonstrated that the faster and stronger response to a moving stimulus compared to a flashed stimulus may result from the accumulation process across space and time by tectal neurons. This study also sheds new light on the understanding of motion processing by birds. Abstract Birds can rapidly and accurately detect moving objects for better survival in complex environments. This visual ability may be attributed to the response properties of neurons in the optic tectum. However, it is unknown how neurons in the optic tectum respond differently to moving objects compared to static ones. To address this question, neuronal activities were recorded from domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) optic tectum, responsible for orienting to moving objects, and the responses to moving and flashed stimuli were compared. An encoding model based on the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) framework was established to explain the difference in neuronal responses. The experimental results showed that the first spike latency to moving stimuli was smaller than that to flashed ones and firing rate was higher. The model further implied the faster and stronger response to a moving target result from spatiotemporal integration process, corresponding to the spatially sequential activation of tectal neurons and the accumulation of information in time. This study provides direct electrophysiological evidence about the different tectal neuron responses to moving objects and flashed ones. The findings of this investigation increase our understanding of the motion detection mechanism of tectal neurons.
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Lev-Ari T, Zahar Y, Agarwal A, Gutfreund Y. Behavioral and neuronal study of inhibition of return in barn owls. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7267. [PMID: 32350332 PMCID: PMC7190666 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64197-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibition of return (IOR) is the reduction of detection speed and/or detection accuracy of a target in a recently attended location. This phenomenon, which has been discovered and studied thoroughly in humans, is believed to reflect a brain mechanism for controlling the allocation of spatial attention in a manner that enhances efficient search. Findings showing that IOR is robust, apparent at a very early age and seemingly dependent on midbrain activity suggest that IOR is a universal attentional mechanism in vertebrates. However, studies in non-mammalian species are scarce. To explore this hypothesis comparatively, we tested for IOR in barn owls (Tyto alba) using the classical Posner cueing paradigm. Two barn owls were trained to initiate a trial by fixating on the center of a computer screen and then turning their gaze to the location of a target. A short, non-informative cue appeared before the target, either at a location predicting the target (valid) or a location not predicting the target (invalid). In one barn owl, the response times (RT) to the valid targets compared to the invalid targets shifted from facilitation (lower RTs) to inhibition (higher RTs) when increasing the time lag between the cue and the target. The second owl mostly failed to maintain fixation and responded to the cue before the target onset. However, when including in the analysis only the trials in which the owl maintained fixation, an inhibition in the valid trials could be detected. To search for the neural correlates of IOR, we recorded multiunit responses in the optic tectum (OT) of four head-fixed owls passively viewing a cueing paradigm as in the behavioral experiments. At short cue to target lags (<100 ms), neural responses to the target in the receptive field (RF) were usually enhanced if the cue appeared earlier inside the RF (valid) and were suppressed if the cue appeared earlier outside the RF (invalid). This was reversed at longer lags: neural responses were suppressed in the valid conditions and were unaffected in the invalid conditions. The findings support the notion that IOR is a basic mechanism in the evolution of vertebrate behavior and suggest that the effect appears as a result of the interaction between lateral and forward inhibition in the tectal circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tidhar Lev-Ari
- Department of Neuroscience, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 31096, Israel
| | - Yael Zahar
- Department of Neuroscience, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 31096, Israel
| | - Arpit Agarwal
- Department of Neuroscience, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 31096, Israel
| | - Yoram Gutfreund
- Department of Neuroscience, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 31096, Israel.
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Kloos M, Weigel S, Luksch H. Anatomy and Physiology of Neurons in Layer 9 of the Chicken Optic Tectum. Front Neural Circuits 2019; 13:63. [PMID: 31680877 PMCID: PMC6802604 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2019.00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual information in birds is to great extent processed in the optic tectum (TeO), a prominent laminated midbrain structure. Retinal input enters the TeO in its superficial layers, while output is limited to intermediate and deeper layers. In addition to visual information, the TeO receives multimodal input from the auditory and somatosensory pathway. The TeO gives rise to a major ascending tectofugal projection where neurons of tectal layer 13 project to the thalamic nucleus rotundus, which then projects to the entopallium. A second tectofugal projection system, called the accessory pathway, has however not been studied as thoroughly. Again, cells of tectal layer 13 form an ascending projection that targets a nucleus known as either the caudal part of the nucleus dorsolateralis posterior of the thalamus (DLPc) or nucleus uveaformis (Uva). This nucleus is known for multimodal integration and receives additional input from the lateral pontine nucleus (PL), which in turn receives projections from layer 8–15 of the TeO. Here, we studied a particular cell type afferent to the PL that consists of radially oriented neurons in layer 9. We characterized these neurons with respect to their anatomy, their retinal input, and the modulation of retinal input by local circuits. We found that comparable to other radial neurons in the tectum, cells of layer 9 have columnar dendritic fields and reach up to layer 2. Sholl analysis demonstrated that dendritic arborization concentrates on retinorecipient layers 2 and 4, with additional arborization in layers 9 and 10. All neurons recorded in layer 9 received retinal input via glutamatergic synapses. We analyzed the influence of modulatory circuits of the TeO by application of antagonists to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and acetylcholine (ACh). Our data show that the neurons of layer 9 are integrated in a network under strong GABAergic inhibition, which is controlled by local cholinergic activation. Output to the PL and to the accessory tectofugal pathway thus appears to be under strict control of local tectal networks, the relevance of which for multimodal integration is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marinus Kloos
- Department of Animal Sciences, Chair of Zoology, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany.,Institute of Neuroscience, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefan Weigel
- Department of Animal Sciences, Chair of Zoology, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Harald Luksch
- Department of Animal Sciences, Chair of Zoology, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
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6
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Krauzlis RJ, Bogadhi AR, Herman JP, Bollimunta A. Selective attention without a neocortex. Cortex 2018; 102:161-175. [PMID: 28958417 PMCID: PMC5832524 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Revised: 08/04/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Selective attention refers to the ability to restrict neural processing and behavioral responses to a relevant subset of available stimuli, while simultaneously excluding other valid stimuli from consideration. In primates and other mammals, descriptions of this ability typically emphasize the neural processing that takes place in the cerebral neocortex. However, non-mammals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, which completely lack a neocortex, also have the ability to selectively attend. In this article, we survey the behavioral evidence for selective attention in non-mammals, and review the midbrain and forebrain structures that are responsible. The ancestral forms of selective attention are presumably selective orienting behaviors, such as prey-catching and predator avoidance. These behaviors depend critically on a set of subcortical structures, including the optic tectum (OT), thalamus and striatum, that are highly conserved across vertebrate evolution. In contrast, the contributions of different pallial regions in the forebrain to selective attention have been subject to more substantial changes and reorganization. This evolutionary perspective makes plain that selective attention is not a function achieved de novo with the emergence of the neocortex, but instead is implemented by circuits accrued and modified over hundreds of millions of years, beginning well before the forebrain contained a neocortex. Determining how older subcortical circuits interact with the more recently evolved components in the neocortex will likely be crucial for understanding the complex properties of selective attention in primates and other mammals, and for identifying the etiology of attention disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA.
| | | | - James P Herman
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA
| | - Anil Bollimunta
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA
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7
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Suzuki DG, Grillner S. The stepwise development of the lamprey visual system and its evolutionary implications. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 93:1461-1477. [PMID: 29488315 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Lampreys, which represent the oldest group of living vertebrates (cyclostomes), show unique eye development. The lamprey larva has only eyespot-like immature eyes beneath a non-transparent skin, whereas after metamorphosis, the adult has well-developed image-forming camera eyes. To establish a functional visual system, well-organised visual centres as well as motor components (e.g. trunk muscles for locomotion) and interactions between them are needed. Here we review the available knowledge concerning the structure, function and development of the different parts of the lamprey visual system. The lamprey exhibits stepwise development of the visual system during its life cycle. In prolarvae and early larvae, the 'primary' retina does not have horizontal and amacrine cells, but does have photoreceptors, bipolar cells and ganglion cells. At this stage, the optic nerve projects mostly to the pretectum, where the dendrites of neurons in the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (nMLF) appear to receive direct visual information and send motor outputs to the neck and trunk muscles. This simple neural circuit may generate negative phototaxis. Through the larval period, the lateral region of the retina grows again to form the 'secondary' retina and the topographic retinotectal projection of the optic nerve is formed, and at the same time, the extra-ocular muscles progressively develop. During metamorphosis, horizontal and amacrine cells differentiate for the first time, and the optic tectum expands and becomes laminated. The adult lamprey then has a sophisticated visual system for image-forming and visual decision-making. In the adult lamprey, the thalamic pathway (retina-thalamus-cortex/pallium) also transmits visual stimuli. Because the primary, simple light-detecting circuit in larval lamprey shares functional and developmental similarities with that of protochordates (amphioxus and tunicates), the visual development of the lamprey provides information regarding the evolutionary transition of the vertebrate visual system from the protochordate-type to the vertebrate-type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daichi G Suzuki
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sten Grillner
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
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8
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Lischka K, Ladel S, Luksch H, Weigel S. Expression patterns of ion channels and structural proteins in a multimodal cell type of the avian optic tectum. J Comp Neurol 2017; 526:412-424. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Revised: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Simone Ladel
- Chair of Zoology; Technical University of Munich; Freising Germany
| | - Harald Luksch
- Chair of Zoology; Technical University of Munich; Freising Germany
| | - Stefan Weigel
- Chair of Zoology; Technical University of Munich; Freising Germany
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9
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Hoke KL, Hebets EA, Shizuka D. Neural Circuitry for Target Selection and Action Selection in Animal Behavior. Integr Comp Biol 2017; 57:808-819. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icx109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
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Responses to Pop-Out Stimuli in the Barn Owl's Optic Tectum Can Emerge through Stimulus-Specific Adaptation. J Neurosci 2016; 36:4876-87. [PMID: 27122042 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3339-15.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/20/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Here, we studied neural correlates of orientation-contrast-based saliency in the optic tectum (OT) of barn owls. Neural responses in the intermediate/deep layers of the OT were recorded from lightly anesthetized owls confronted with arrays of bars in which one bar (the target) was orthogonal to the remaining bars (the distractors). Responses to target bars were compared with responses to distractor bars in the receptive field (RF). Initially, no orientation-contrast sensitivity was observed. However, if the position of the target bar in the array was randomly shuffled across trials so that it occasionally appeared in the RF, then such sensitivity emerged. The effect started to become significant after three or four positional changes of the target bar and strengthened with additional trials. Our data further suggest that this effect arises due to specific adaptation to the stimulus in the RF combined with suppression from the surround. By jittering the position of the bar inside the RF across trials, we demonstrate that the adaptation has two components, one position specific and one orientation specific. The findings give rise to the hypothesis that barn owls, by active scanning of the scene, can induce adaptation of the tectal circuitry to the common orientation and thus achieve a "pop-out" of rare orientations. Such a model is consistent with several behavioral observations in owls and may be relevant to other visual features and species. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Natural scenes are often characterized by a dominant orientation, such as the scenery of a pine forest or the sand dunes in a windy desert. Therefore, orientation that contrasts the regularity of the scene is perceived salient for many animals as a means to break camouflage. By actively moving the scene between each trial, we show here that neurons in the retinotopic map of the barn owl's optic tectum specifically adapt to the common orientation, giving rise to preferential representation of odd orientations. Based on this, we suggest a new mechanism for orientation-based camouflage breaking that links active scanning of scenes with neural adaptation. This mechanism may be relevant to pop-out in other species and visual features.
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Netser S, Dutta A, Gutfreund Y. Ongoing activity in the optic tectum is correlated on a trial-by-trial basis with the pupil dilation response. J Neurophysiol 2014; 111:918-29. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00527.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The selection of the appropriate stimulus to induce an orienting response is a basic task thought to be partly achieved by tectal circuitry. Here we addressed the relationship between neural activity in the optic tectum (OT) and orienting behavioral responses. We recorded multiunit activity in the intermediate/deep layers of the OT of the barn owl simultaneously with pupil dilation responses (PDR, a well-known orienting response common to birds and mammals). A trial-by-trial analysis of the responses revealed that the PDR generally did not correlate with the evoked neural responses but significantly correlated with the rate of ongoing neural activity measured shortly before the stimulus. Following this finding, we characterized ongoing activity in the OT and showed that in the intermediate/deep layers it tended to fluctuate spontaneously. It is characterized by short periods of high ongoing activity during which the probability of a PDR to an auditory stimulus inside the receptive field is increased. These high-ongoing activity periods were correlated with increase in the power of gamma band local field potential oscillations. Through dual recordings, we showed that the correlation coefficients of ongoing activity decreased as a function of distance between recording sites in the tectal map. Significant correlations were also found between recording sites in the OT and the forebrain entopallium. Our results suggest that an increase of ongoing activity in the OT reflects an internal state during which coupling between sensory stimulation and behavioral responses increases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shai Netser
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Arkadeb Dutta
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Yoram Gutfreund
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion, Haifa, Israel
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Dutta A, Gutfreund Y. Saliency mapping in the optic tectum and its relationship to habituation. Front Integr Neurosci 2014; 8:1. [PMID: 24474908 PMCID: PMC3893637 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2014.00001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2013] [Accepted: 01/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Habituation of the orienting response has long served as a model system for studying fundamental psychological phenomena such as learning, attention, decisions, and surprise. In this article, we review an emerging hypothesis that the evolutionary role of the superior colliculus (SC) in mammals or its homolog in birds, the optic tectum (OT), is to select the most salient target and send this information to the appropriate brain regions to control the body and brain orienting responses. Recent studies have begun to reveal mechanisms of how saliency is computed in the OT/SC, demonstrating a striking similarity between mammals and birds. The saliency of a target can be determined by how different it is from the surrounding objects, by how different it is from its history (that is habituation) and by how relevant it is for the task at hand. Here, we will first review evidence, mostly from primates and barn owls, that all three types of saliency computations are linked in the OT/SC. We will then focus more on neural adaptation in the OT and its possible link to temporal saliency and habituation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arkadeb Dutta
- Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel
| | - Yoram Gutfreund
- Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel
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13
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Weigel S, Luksch H. Local cholinergic interneurons modulate GABAergic inhibition in the chicken optic tectum. Eur J Neurosci 2013; 39:730-7. [PMID: 24304133 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Revised: 10/15/2013] [Accepted: 11/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The chicken optic tectum (TeO) and its mammalian counterpart, the superior colliculus, are important sensory integration centers. Multimodal information is represented in a topographic map, which plays a role in spatial attention and orientation movements. The TeO is organised in 15 layers with clear input and output regions, and further interconnected with the isthmic nuclei (NI), which modulate the response in a winner-takes-all fashion. While many studies have analysed tectal cell types and their modulation from the isthmic system physiologically, little is known about local network activity and its modulation in the tectum. We have recently shown with voltage-sensitive dye imaging that electrical stimulation of the retinorecipient layers results in a stereotypic response, which is under inhibitory control [S. Weigel & H. Luksch (2012) J. Neurophysiol., 107, 640-648]. Here, we analysed the contribution of acetylcholine (ACh) and the NI to evoked tectal responses using a pharmacological approach in a midbrain slice preparation. Application of the nicotinic ACh receptor (AChR) antagonist curarine increased the tectal response in amplitude, duration and lateral extent. This effect was similar but less pronounced when γ-aminobutyric acid(A) receptors were blocked, indicating interaction of inhibitory and cholinergic neurons. The muscarinic AChR antagonist atropine did not change the response pattern. Removal of the NI, which are thought to be the major source of cholinergic input to the TeO, reduced the response only slightly and did not result in a disinhibition. Based on the data presented here and the neuroanatomical literature of the avian TeO, we propose a model of the underlying local circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Weigel
- Chair of Zoology, Technische Universität München, Liesel-Beckmann Straße 4, 85354, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
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Faunes M, Fernández S, Gutiérrez-Ibáñez C, Iwaniuk AN, Wylie DR, Mpodozis J, Karten HJ, Marín G. Laminar segregation of GABAergic neurons in the avian nucleus isthmi pars magnocellularis: a retrograde tracer and comparative study. J Comp Neurol 2013; 521:1727-42. [PMID: 23124899 DOI: 10.1002/cne.23253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2012] [Revised: 10/09/2012] [Accepted: 10/25/2012] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The isthmic complex is part of a visual midbrain circuit thought to be involved in stimulus selection and spatial attention. In birds, this circuit is composed of the nuclei isthmi pars magnocellularis (Imc), pars parvocellularis (Ipc), and pars semilunaris (SLu), all of them reciprocally connected to the ipsilateral optic tectum (TeO). The Imc conveys heterotopic inhibition to the TeO, Ipc, and SLu via widespread γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic axons that allow global competitive interactions among simultaneous sensory inputs. Anatomical studies in the chick have described a cytoarchitectonically uniform Imc nucleus containing two intermingled cell types: one projecting to the Ipc and SLu and the other to the TeO. Here we report that in passerine species, the Imc is segregated into an internal division displaying larger, sparsely distributed cells, and an external division displaying smaller, more densely packed cells. In vivo and in vitro injections of neural tracers in the TeO and the Ipc of the zebra finch demonstrated that neurons from the external and internal subdivisions project to the Ipc and the TeO, respectively, indicating that each Imc subdivision contains one of the two cell types hodologically defined in the chick. In an extensive survey across avian orders, we found that, in addition to passerines, only species of Piciformes and Rallidae exhibited a segregated Imc, whereas all other groups exhibited a uniform Imc. These results offer a comparative basis to investigate the functional role played by each Imc neural type in the competitive interactions mediated by this nucleus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Macarena Faunes
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, 7800003, Santiago, Chile.
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Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) has long been known to be part of the network of brain areas involved in spatial attention, but recent findings have dramatically refined our understanding of its functional role. The SC both implements the motor consequences of attention and plays a crucial role in the process of target selection that precedes movement. Moreover, even in the absence of overt orienting movements, SC activity is related to shifts of covert attention and is necessary for the normal control of spatial attention during perceptual judgments. The neuronal circuits that link the SC to spatial attention may include attention-related areas of the cerebral cortex, but recent results show that the SC's contribution involves mechanisms that operate independently of the established signatures of attention in visual cortex. These findings raise new issues and suggest novel possibilities for understanding the brain mechanisms that enable spatial attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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16
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Patel M, Reed M. Stimulus encoding within the barn owl optic tectum using gamma oscillations vs. spike rate: a modeling approach. NETWORK (BRISTOL, ENGLAND) 2013; 24:52-74. [PMID: 23406211 DOI: 10.3109/0954898x.2013.763405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The optic tectum of the barn owl is a multimodal structure with multiple layers, with each layer topographically organized according to spatial receptive field. The response of a site to a stimulus can be measured as either spike rate or local field potential (LFP) gamma (25-90 Hz) power; within superficial layers, spike rate and gamma power spatial tuning curves are narrow and contrast-response functions rise slowly. Within deeper layers, however, spike rate tuning curves broaden and gamma power contrast-response functions sharpen. In this work, we employ a computational model to describe the inputs required to generate these transformations from superficial to deep layers and show that gamma power and spike rate can act as parallel information processing streams.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mainak Patel
- Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
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Gutfreund Y. Stimulus-specific adaptation, habituation and change detection in the gaze control system. BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS 2012; 106:657-668. [PMID: 22711216 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-012-0497-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2012] [Accepted: 05/23/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
This prospect article addresses the neurobiology of detecting and responding to changes or unexpected events. Change detection is an ongoing computational task performed by the brain as part of the broader process of saliency mapping and selection of the next target for attention. In the optic tectum (OT) of the barn owl, the probability of the stimulus has a dramatic influence on the neural response to that stimulus; rare or deviant stimuli induce stronger responses compared to common stimuli. This phenomenon, known as stimulus-specific adaptation, has recently attracted scientific interest because of its possible role in change detection. In the barn owl's OT, it may underlie the ability to orient specifically to unexpected events and is therefore opening new directions for research on the neurobiology of fundamental psychological phenomena such as habituation, attention, and surprise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoram Gutfreund
- The Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
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18
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Zahar Y, Wagner H, Gutfreund Y. Responses of tectal neurons to contrasting stimuli: an electrophysiological study in the barn owl. PLoS One 2012; 7:e39559. [PMID: 22745787 PMCID: PMC3380014 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2011] [Accepted: 05/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The saliency of visual objects is based on the center to background contrast. Particularly objects differing in one feature from the background may be perceived as more salient. It is not clear to what extent this so called “pop-out” effect observed in humans and primates governs saliency perception in non-primates as well. In this study we searched for neural-correlates of pop-out perception in neurons located in the optic tectum of the barn owl. We measured the responses of tectal neurons to stimuli appearing within the visual receptive field, embedded in a large array of additional stimuli (the background). Responses were compared between contrasting and uniform conditions. In a contrasting condition the center was different from the background while in the uniform condition it was identical to the background. Most tectal neurons responded better to stimuli in the contrsating condition compared to the uniform condition when the contrast between center and background was the direction of motion but not when it was the orientation of a bar. Tectal neurons also preferred contrasting over uniform stimuli when the center was looming and the background receding but not when the center was receding and the background looming. Therefore, our results do not support the hypothesis that tectal neurons are sensitive to pop-out per-se. The specific sensitivity to the motion contrasting stimulus is consistent with the idea that object motion and not large field motion (e.g., self-induced motion) is coded in the neural responses of tectal neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Zahar
- The Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Yoram Gutfreund
- The Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel
- * E-mail:
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19
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Mysore SP, Knudsen EI. Reciprocal inhibition of inhibition: a circuit motif for flexible categorization in stimulus selection. Neuron 2012; 73:193-205. [PMID: 22243757 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.10.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/14/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
As a precursor to the selection of a stimulus for gaze and attention, a midbrain network categorizes stimuli into "strongest" and "others." The categorization tracks flexibly, in real time, the absolute strength of the strongest stimulus. In this study, we take a first-principles approach to computations that are essential for such categorization. We demonstrate that classical feedforward lateral inhibition cannot produce flexible categorization. However, circuits in which the strength of lateral inhibition varies with the relative strength of competing stimuli categorize successfully. One particular implementation--reciprocal inhibition of feedforward lateral inhibition--is structurally the simplest, and it outperforms others in flexibly categorizing rapidly and reliably. Strong predictions of this anatomically supported circuit model are validated by neural responses measured in the owl midbrain. The results demonstrate the extraordinary power of a remarkably simple, neurally grounded circuit motif in producing flexible categorization, a computation fundamental to attention, perception, and decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shreesh P Mysore
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, 299 W. Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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Mysore SP, Knudsen EI. The role of a midbrain network in competitive stimulus selection. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2011; 21:653-60. [PMID: 21696945 PMCID: PMC3177965 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.05.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2011] [Revised: 04/29/2011] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
A midbrain network interacts with the well-known frontoparietal forebrain network to select stimuli for gaze and spatial attention. The midbrain network, containing the superior colliculus (SC; optic tectum, OT, in non-mammalian vertebrates) and the isthmic nuclei, helps evaluate the relative priorities of competing stimuli and encodes them in a topographic map of space. Behavioral experiments in monkeys demonstrate an essential contribution of the SC to stimulus selection when the relative priorities of competing stimuli are similar. Neurophysiological results from the owl OT demonstrate a neural correlate of this essential contribution of the SC/OT. The multi-layered, spatiotopic organization of the midbrain network lends itself to the analysis and modeling of the mechanisms underlying stimulus selection for gaze and spatial attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shreesh P Mysore
- 299 W Campus Drive, Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.
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Rules of competitive stimulus selection in a cholinergic isthmic nucleus of the owl midbrain. J Neurosci 2011; 31:6088-97. [PMID: 21508234 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0023-11.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In a natural scene, multiple stimuli compete for the control of gaze direction and attention. The nucleus isthmi pars parvocellularis (Ipc) is a cholinergic, midbrain nucleus that is reciprocally interconnected to the optic tectum, a structure known to be involved in the control of gaze and attention. Previous research has shown that the responses of many Ipc units to a visual stimulus presented inside the classical receptive field (RF) can be powerfully inhibited when the strength of a distant, competing stimulus becomes the stronger stimulus. This study investigated further the nature of competitive interactions in the Ipc of owls by using two complementary protocols: in the first protocol, we measured the effects of a distant stimulus on responses to an RF stimulus located at different positions inside the RF; in the second protocol, we measured the effects of a distant stimulus on responses to RF stimuli of different strengths. The first protocol demonstrated that the effect of a competing stimulus is purely divisive: the competitor caused a proportional reduction in responses to the RF stimulus that did not alter either the location or sharpness of spatial tuning. The second protocol demonstrated that, for most units, the strength of this divisive inhibition is regulated powerfully by the relative strengths of the competing stimuli: inhibition was strong when the competitor was the stronger stimulus and weak when the competitor was the weaker stimulus. The data indicate that competitive interactions in the Ipc depend on feedback and a globally divisive inhibitory network.
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