Contextual Interaction of GABAergic Circuitry With Dynamic Synapses

Encoding Model for Continuous Motion-sensitive Neurons in the Intermediate and Deep Layers of the Pigeon Optic Tectum

The intermediate and deep layers of the optic tectum (OT) contain neurons that are sensitive to small continuously moving targets. The sensitivity of these neurons to continuously moving targets suggests directed energy accumulation in the dendrite field of these neurons. Considering that the activation of a single dendrite can induce somatic spikes in vitro, we suggest the mechanism underlying the sequential probability activation of soma. The simulation model of these neurons constructed in combination with the above assumptions qualitatively reproduces the response characteristics of neurons to multi-sized stimuli and continuous sensitivity stimuli observed in physiological experiments. We used the characteristics of continuous motion-sensitive neurons that prefer long-lasting motion and single dendrite activation to induce somatic spikes as the entry point to construct the neuron encoding model. This model will enhance our understanding of the information-processing mechanism of the OT area of bird neurons in perceiving weak targets, and has important theoretical and practical significance for the construction of new brain-like algorithms.

Self-motion trajectories can facilitate orientation-based figure-ground segregation

Segregation of objects from the background is a basic and essential property of the visual system. We studied the neural detection of objects defined by orientation difference from background in barn owls (Tyto alba). We presented wide-field displays of densely packed stripes with a dominant orientation. Visual objects were created by orienting a circular patch differently from the background. In head-fixed conditions, neurons in both tecto- and thalamofugal visual pathways (optic tectum and visual Wulst) were weakly responsive to these objects in their receptive fields. However, notably, in freely viewing conditions, barn owls occasionally perform peculiar side-to-side head motions (peering) when scanning the environment. In the second part of the study we thus recorded the neural response from head-fixed owls while the visual displays replicated the peering conditions; i.e., the displays (objects and backgrounds) were shifted along trajectories that induced a retinal motion identical to sampled peering motions during viewing of a static object. These conditions induced dramatic neural responses to the objects, in the very same neurons that where unresponsive to the objects in static displays. By reverting to circular motions of the display, we show that the pattern of the neural response is mostly shaped by the orientation of the background relative to motion and not the orientation of the object. Thus our findings provide evidence that peering and/or other self-motions can facilitate orientation-based figure-ground segregation through interaction with inhibition from the surround.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Animals frequently move their sensory organs and thereby create motion cues that can enhance object segregation from background. We address a special example of such active sensing, in barn owls. When scanning the environment, barn owls occasionally perform small-amplitude side-to-side head movements called peering. We show that the visual outcome of such peering movements elicit neural detection of objects that are rotated from the dominant orientation of the background scene and which are otherwise mostly undetected. These results suggest a novel role for self-motions in sensing objects that break the regular orientation of elements in the scene.

Morphological study of the midbrain tectum in ostrich (Struthio camelus) embryo

In this study the morphological features of the optic tectum in ostrich embryo were studied macroscopically and microscopically. After gross anatomical study, fixed specimens of the optic lobes in 30th, 36th and 40th embryonic days were processed for paraffin sections. Sections were stained by Harris haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Luxol Fast Blue/Cresyl Echt Violet and Malory PTAH dyes. The optic lobes had large volumes even on the 30th embryonic day and increased proportionally to age. The optic lobe consisted of two parts: gray matter (outer) and white matter (inner). The first external layer of the optic lobe e.g. molecular layer consisted of neural fibres, neuroglia and scarce small neurons. The most common appearance of the optic lobes was characterised by small to medium-sized neurons (rounded to pyramid-shaped with large and pale nucleus consistong of obvious nucleoli arranged in three layers whose thickness increased in the deeper one) supported by neuroglia. Larger size neurons and occasionally multipolar neurons were presented in the interior compared with these layers. The lateral mesencephalic nucleus was detectable in the optic lobe base even on 30th embryonic day and was composed of few multipolar neurons supported by neuroglia. The tectal ventricles were lined with simple cuboidal ciliated ependymal cells in the embryonic period. As embryonic age increased, the ratio of tectal ventricle volume to its thickness decreased. Special stainings showed that Nissl bodies and myelin fibres, also glial fibres were available from the 30th embryonic day and that their density, especially myelin fibres density, increased with age.

Local cholinergic interneurons modulate GABAergic inhibition in the chicken optic tectum

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.

Stimulus-specific adaptation: can it be a neural correlate of behavioral habituation?

Habituation is the most basic form of learning, yet many gaps remain in our understanding of its underlying neural mechanisms. We demonstrate that in the owl's optic tectum (OT), a single, low-level, relatively short auditory stimulus is sufficient to induce a significant reduction in the neural response to a stimulus presented up to 60 s later. This type of neural adaptation was absent in neurons from the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus and from the auditory thalamus; however, it was apparent in the OT and the forebrain entopallium. By presenting sequences that alternate between two different auditory stimuli, we show that this long-lasting adaptation is stimulus specific. The response to an odd stimulus in the sequence was not smaller than the response to the same stimulus when it was first in the sequence. Finally, we measured the habituation of reflexive eye movements and show that the behavioral habituation is correlated with the neural adaptation. The finding of a long-lasting specific adaptation in areas related to the gaze control system and not elsewhere suggests its involvement in habituation processes and opens new directions for research on mechanisms of habituation.

Spatiotemporal analysis of electrically evoked activity in the chicken optic tectum: a VSDI study

The midbrain is an important processing area for sensory information in vertebrates. The optic tectum and its mammalian counterpart, the superior colliculus, receive multimodal, topographic information and contain a sensory map that plays a role in spatial attention and orientation movements. Many studies have investigated the tectal circuitry by cytochemistry and by characterization of particular cell types. However, only a few studies have investigated network activation throughout the depth of the tectum. Our study provides the first data on spatiotemporal activity profiles in the depth and width of the avian optic tectum. We used an optical imaging approach with voltage-sensitive dyes to investigate population responses at a high temporal and spatial resolution. With the necessary caution due to cell extension across several layers, we can thus link our findings tentatively with the general layout of the avian optic tectum. Single electrical stimuli in the retinorecipient layers 1-4 evoked a complex optical response pattern with two components: a short, strong transient response and a weaker persistent response that lasted several hundred milliseconds. The response started in layer 5 and spread within this layer before it propagated into deeper layers. This is in line with neuroanatomical and earlier physiological data. Analysis of temporal sequence and pharmacological manipulations revealed that these responses were mainly driven by postsynaptic activation. Thus tectal network responses to patterned input can be studied by voltage-sensitive dye imaging.

Kinetics of fast short-term depression are matched to spike train statistics to reduce noise

Short-term depression (STD) is observed at many synapses of the CNS and is important for diverse computations. We have discovered a form of fast STD (FSTD) in the synaptic responses of pyramidal cells evoked by stimulation of their electrosensory afferent fibers (P-units). The dynamics of the FSTD are matched to the mean and variance of natural P-unit discharge. FSTD exhibits switch-like behavior in that it is immediately activated with stimulus intervals near the mean interspike interval (ISI) of P-units (approximately 5 ms) and recovers immediately after stimulation with the slightly longer intervals (>7.5 ms) that also occur during P-unit natural and evoked discharge patterns. Remarkably, the magnitude of evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials appear to depend only on the duration of the previous ISI. Our theoretical analysis suggests that FSTD can serve as a mechanism for noise reduction. Because the kinetics of depression are as fast as the natural spike statistics, this role is distinct from previously ascribed functional roles of STD in gain modulation, synchrony detection or as a temporal filter.

Motion processing with wide-field neurons in the retino-tecto-rotundal pathway

The retino-tecto-rotundal pathway is the main visual pathway in non-mammalian vertebrates and has been found to be highly involved in visual processing. Despite the extensive receptive fields of tectal and rotundal wide-field neurons, pattern discrimination tasks suggest a system with high spatial resolution. In this paper, we address the problem of how global processing performed by motion-sensitive wide-field neurons can be brought into agreement with the concept of a local analysis of visual stimuli. As a solution to this problem, we propose a firing-rate model of the retino-tecto-rotundal pathway which describes how spatiotemporal information can be organized and retained by tectal and rotundal wide-field neurons while processing Fourier-based motion in absence of periodic receptive-field structures. The model incorporates anatomical and electrophysiological experimental data on tectal and rotundal neurons, and the basic response characteristics of tectal and rotundal neurons to moving stimuli are captured by the model cells. We show that local velocity estimates may be derived from rotundal-cell responses via superposition in a subsequent processing step. Experimentally testable predictions which are both specific and characteristic to the model are provided. Thus, a conclusive explanation can be given of how the retino-tecto-rotundal pathway enables the animal to detect and localize moving objects or to estimate its self-motion parameters.

Generating oscillatory bursts from a network of regular spiking neurons without inhibition

Avian nucleus isthmi pars parvocellularis (Ipc) neurons are reciprocally connected with the layer 10 (L10) neurons in the optic tectum and respond with oscillatory bursts to visual stimulation. Our in vitro experiments show that both neuron types respond with regular spiking to somatic current injection and that the feedforward and feedback synaptic connections are excitatory, but of different strength and time course. To elucidate mechanisms of oscillatory bursting in this network of regularly spiking neurons, we investigated an experimentally constrained model of coupled leaky integrate-and-fire neurons with spike-rate adaptation. The model reproduces the observed Ipc oscillatory bursting in response to simulated visual stimulation. A scan through the model parameter volume reveals that Ipc oscillatory burst generation can be caused by strong and brief feedforward synaptic conductance changes. The mechanism is sensitive to the parameter values of spike-rate adaptation. In conclusion, we show that a network of regular-spiking neurons with feedforward excitation and spike-rate adaptation can generate oscillatory bursting in response to a constant input.

Distributed delays stabilize neural feedback systems

We consider the effect of distributed delays in neural feedback systems. The avian optic tectum is reciprocally connected with the isthmic nuclei. Extracellular stimulation combined with intracellular recordings reveal a range of signal delays from 3 to 9 ms between isthmotectal elements. This observation together with prior mathematical analysis concerning the influence of a delay distribution on system dynamics raises the question whether a broad delay distribution can impact the dynamics of neural feedback loops. For a system of reciprocally connected model neurons, we found that distributed delays enhance system stability in the following sense. With increased distribution of delays, the system converges faster to a fixed point and converges slower toward a limit cycle. Further, the introduction of distributed delays leads to an increased range of the average delay value for which the system's equilibrium point is stable. The system dynamics are determined almost exclusively by the mean and the variance of the delay distribution and show only little dependence on the particular shape of the distribution.