Spatial and temporal response properties of the vestibulocollic reflex in decerebrate cats

Gravito-inertial ambiguity resolved through head stabilization

It has been frequently observed that humans and animals spontaneously stabilize their heads with respect to the gravitational vertical during body movements even in the absence of vision. The interpretations of this intriguing behaviour have so far not included the need, for survival, to robustly estimate verticality. Here we use a mechanistic model of the head/otolith organ to analyse the possibility for this system to render verticality 'observable', a fundamental prerequisite to the determination of the angular position and acceleration of the head from idiothetic, inertial measurements. The intrinsically nonlinear head-vestibular dynamics is shown to generally lack observability unless the head is stabilized in orientation by feedback. Thus, our study supports the hypothesis that a central function of the physiologically costly head stabilization strategy is to enable an organism to estimate the gravitational vertical and head acceleration during locomotion. Moreover, our result exhibits a rare peculiarity of certain nonlinear systems to fortuitously alter their observability properties when feedback is applied.

Frequency-dependent deficits in head steadiness in patients with nonspecific neck pain

Motor control impairments are reported in patients with nonspecific neck pain but the particular deficits in underlying regulatory systems are not known. Head steadiness is controlled both by voluntary and reflex systems that are predominantly effective within different frequency intervals. The aim of the present study was to investigate within which frequency range(s) potential motor control deficits may reside. The ability to keep the head stationary in space in response to unpredictable perturbations was tested in 71 patients with nonspecific neck pain and 17 healthy controls. Participants were exposed to pseudorandom horizontal rotations across 10 superimposed frequencies (0.185-4.115 Hz) by means of an actuated chair in three conditions; with a visual reference, and without vision with, and without a cognitive task. Below 1 Hz, patients kept the head less stable in space compared to healthy controls. Between 1 and 2 Hz, the head was stabilized on the trunk in both groups. Patients kept the head more stable relative to the trunk than relative to space compared to healthy controls. This was interpreted as higher general neck muscle co-activation in patients, which may be explained by altered voluntary control, or/and upregulated gamma motor neuron activity which increases the contribution of reflex-mediated muscle activation. Alternatively, increased muscle activity is secondary to vestibular deficits.

Head-Eye Vestibular Motion Therapy Affects the Mental and Physical Health of Severe Chronic Postconcussion Patients

Context

Approximately 1.8–3.6 million annual traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States. An evidence-based treatment for concussions that is reliable and effective has not been available.

Objective

The objective of this study is to test whether head–eye vestibular motion (HEVM) therapy is associated with decreased symptoms and increased function in postconcussive syndrome (PCS) patients that have been severely impaired for greater than 6 months after a mild traumatic brain injury.

Design

Retrospective clinical chart review.

Setting and participants

Tertiary Specialist Brain Rehabilitation Center.

Interventions

All subjects underwent comprehensive neurological examinations including measurement of eye and head movement. The seven modules of the C3 Logix Comprehensive Concussion Management System were used for pre- and postmeasurements of outcome of HEVM therapy.

Materials and methods

We utilized an objective validated measurement of physical and mental health characteristics of our patients before and after a 1-week HEVM rehabilitation program. We included only PCS patients that were disabled from work or school for a period of time exceeding 6 months after suffering a sports concussion. These subjects all were enrolled in a 5-day HEVM rehabilitation program at our Institutional Brain Center with pre- and post-C3 Logix testing outcomes.

Results

There were statistical and substantive significant decreases in PCS symptom severity after treatment and statistical and substantive significant increases in standardized assessment of concussion scores. The outcomes were associated with positive changes in mental and physical health issues. This is a retrospective review and no control group has been included in this study. These are major limitations with retrospective reviews and further investigations with prospective designs including a randomized controlled study are necessary to further our understanding.

Conclusion

Head–eye vestibular motion therapy of 5 days duration is associated with statistical and substantive significant decreases of symptom severity associated with chronic PCS.

Physiology of central pathways

The relative simplicity of the neural circuits that mediate vestibular reflexes is well suited for linking systems and cellular levels of analyses. Notably, a distinctive feature of the vestibular system is that neurons at the first central stage of sensory processing in the vestibular nuclei are premotor neurons; the same neurons that receive vestibular-nerve input also send direct projections to motor pathways. For example, the simplicity of the three-neuron pathway that mediates the vestibulo-ocular reflex leads to the generation of compensatory eye movements within ~5ms of a head movement. Similarly, relatively direct pathways between the labyrinth and spinal cord control vestibulospinal reflexes. A second distinctive feature of the vestibular system is that the first stage of central processing is strongly multimodal. This is because the vestibular nuclei receive inputs from a wide range of cortical, cerebellar, and other brainstem structures in addition to direct inputs from the vestibular nerve. Recent studies in alert animals have established how extravestibular signals shape these "simple" reflexes to meet the needs of current behavioral goal. Moreover, multimodal interactions at higher levels, such as the vestibular cerebellum, thalamus, and cortex, play a vital role in ensuring accurate self-motion and spatial orientation perception.

Task, muscle and frequency dependent vestibular control of posture

The vestibular system is crucial for postural control; however there are considerable differences in the task dependence and frequency response of vestibular reflexes in appendicular and axial muscles. For example, vestibular reflexes are only evoked in appendicular muscles when vestibular information is relevant to postural control, while in neck muscles they are maintained regardless of the requirement to maintain head on trunk balance. Recent investigations have also shown that the bandwidth of vestibular input on neck muscles is much broader than appendicular muscles (up to a factor of 3). This result challenges the notion that vestibular reflexes only contribute to postural control across the behavioral and physiological frequency range of the vestibular organ (i.e., 0-20 Hz). In this review, we explore and integrate these task-, muscle- and frequency-related differences in the vestibular system's contribution to posture, and propose that the human nervous system has adapted vestibular signals to match the mechanical properties of the system that each group of muscles controls.

Vestibulocollic reflexes in the absence of head postural control

Percutaneous electrical vestibular stimulation evokes reflexive responses in appendicular muscles that are suppressed during tasks in which the muscles are not contributing to balance control. In neck muscles, which stabilize the head on the torso and in space, it is unclear whether similar postural task dependence shapes vestibular reflexes. We investigated whether vestibulocollic reflexes are modulated during tasks in which vestibular information is not directly relevant to maintaining the head balanced on the torso. We hypothesized that vestibulocollic reflexes would be 1) evoked when neck muscles are not involved in balancing the head on the torso and 2) invariant across synergistic neck muscle contraction tasks. Muscle activity was recorded bilaterally in sternocleidomastoid and splenius capitis muscles during head-free and head-fixed conditions while subjects were exposed to stochastic electrical vestibular stimulation (± 5 mA, 0-75 Hz). Significant vestibular reflex responses (P < 0.05) were observed during head-free and head-fixed trials. Response magnitude and timing were similar between head-free and head-fixed trials for sternocleidomastoid, but splenius capitis magnitudes decreased with the head fixed by ∼ 25% (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, this indicates that vestibulocollic responses are evoked independent of the requirement to maintain postural control of the head on the torso. Response magnitude and timing were similar across focal muscle contractions (i.e., axial rotation/flexion/extension) provided the muscle was active. In contrast, when subjects cocontracted neck muscles, vestibular-evoked responses decreased in sternocleidomastoid by ∼ 30-45% (P < 0.05) compared with focal muscle contractions but remained unchanged in splenius capitis. These results indicate robust vestibulocollic reflex coupling, which we suggest functions through its closed-loop influence on head posture to ensure cervical spine stabilization.

Cross-validated models of the relationships between neck muscle electromyography and three-dimensional head kinematics during gaze behavior

The object of this study was to model the relationship between neck electromyography (EMG) and three-dimensional (3-D) head kinematics during gaze behavior. In two monkeys, we recorded 3-D gaze, head orientation, and bilateral EMG activity in the sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitis, complexus, biventer cervicis, rectus capitis posterior major, and occipital capitis inferior muscles. Head-unrestrained animals fixated and made gaze saccades between targets within a 60° × 60° grid. We performed a stepwise regression in which polynomial model terms were retained/rejected based on their tendency to increase/decrease a cross-validation-based measure of model generalizability. This revealed several results that could not have been predicted from knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy. During head holding, EMG activity in most muscles was related to horizontal head orientation, whereas fewer muscles correlated to vertical head orientation and none to small random variations in head torsion. A fourth-order polynomial model, with horizontal head orientation as the only independent variable, generalized nearly as well as higher order models. For head movements, we added time-varying linear and nonlinear perturbations in velocity and acceleration to the previously derived static (head holding) models. The static models still explained most of the EMG variance, but the additional motion terms, which included horizontal, vertical, and torsional contributions, significantly improved the results. Several coordinate systems were used for both static and dynamic analyses, with Fick coordinates showing a marginal (nonsignificant) advantage. Thus, during gaze fixations, recruitment within the neck muscles from which we recorded contributed primarily to position-dependent horizontal orientation terms in our data set, with more complex multidimensional contributions emerging during the head movements that accompany gaze shifts. These are crucial components of the late neuromuscular transformations in a complete model of 3-D head-neck system and should help constrain the study of premotor signals for head control during gaze behaviors.

Head tilt in rats during exposure to a high magnetic field

During exposure to high strength static magnetic fields, humans report vestibular symptoms such as vertigo, apparent motion, and nausea. Rodents also show signs of vestibular perturbation after magnetic field exposure at 7 tesla (T) and above, such as locomotor circling, activation of vestibular nuclei, and acquisition of conditioned taste aversions. We hypothesized that the acute effects of the magnetic field might be seen as changes in head position during exposure within the magnet. Using a yoked restraint tube that allowed movement of the head and neck, we found that rats showed an immediate and persistent deviation of the head during exposure to a static 14.1 T magnetic field. The direction of the head tilt was dependent on the orientation of the rat in the magnetic field (B), such that rats oriented head-up (snout towards B+) showed a rightward tilt of the head, while rats oriented head-down (snout towards B-) showed a leftward tilt of the head. The tilt of the head during magnet exposure was opposite to the direction of locomotor circling immediately after exposure observed previously. Rats exposed in the yoked restraint tube showed significantly more locomotor circling compared to rats exposed with the head restrained. There was little difference in CTA magnitude or extinction rate, however. The deviation of the head was seen when the rats were motionless within the homogenous static field; movement through the field or exposure to the steep gradients of the field was not necessary to elicit the apparent vestibulo-collic reflex.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of vestibular convergence

In all species studied, afferents from semicircular canals and otolith organs converge on central neurons in the brainstem. However, the spatial and temporal relationships between converging inputs and how these contribute to vestibular behaviors is not well understood. In the current study, we used discrete rotational and translational motion stimuli to characterize canal- and otolith-driven response components of convergent non-eye movement (NEM) neurons in the vestibular nuclear complex of alert pigeons. When compared to afferent responses, convergent canal signals had similar gain and phase ranges but exhibited greater spatial variability in their axes of preferred rotation. Convergent otolith signals also had similar mean gain and phase values to the afferent population but were spatially well-matched with the corresponding canal signals, cell-by-cell. However, neither response component alone nor a simple linear combination of these components was sufficient to predict actual net responses during combined canal-otolith stimulation. We discuss these findings in the context of previous studies of pigeon vestibular behaviors, and we compare our findings to similar studies in other species.

Effect of localized innervation of the dendritic trees of feline motoneurons on the amplification of synaptic input: a computational study

Previous studies show that the activation of voltage-dependent channels is dependent on the local density of synapses in the dendritic region containing voltage-dependent channels. We hypothesized that the selective innervation of excitatory vestibulospinal (VST) neurons on the medial dendrites of contralateral splenius motoneurons is designed to enhance the activation of persistent inward currents (PICs) mediated by dendritic L-type Ca(2+) channels. Using compartmental models of splenius motoneurons we compared the synaptic current reaching the soma in response to excitatory input generated by synapses with two different distribution patterns. The medial distribution was based on the arrangement of VST synapses on the dendrites of contralateral splenius motoneurons and the uniform distribution was based on an arrangement of synapses with no particular bias to any region of the dendritic tree. The number of synapses in each distribution was designed to match estimates of the number of VST synapses activated by head movements. In the absence of PICs, the current delivered by the synapses in the uniform distribution was slightly greater. However, the maximal currents were small, < or = 4.1 nA, regardless of the distribution of synapses. In models equipped with L-type Ca(2+) channels, PIC activation was largely determined by the local density of synapses in proximity to the L-type Ca(2+) channels. In 3 of 5 cells, this led to a 2- to 4-fold increase in the current generated by synapses in the medial distribution compared to the uniform distribution. In the other two cells, the amplification bias was in favour of the medial distribution but was either small or restricted to a narrow range of frequencies. These simulations suggest that the innervation pattern of VST axons on contralateral splenius motoneurons is arranged to strengthen an otherwise weak synaptic input by increasing the likelihood of activating PICs. Additional simulations suggest that this prediction can be tested using common experimental protocols.

Semicircular canal geometry, afferent sensitivity, and animal behavior

The geometry of the semicircular canals has been used in evolutionary studies to predict the behaviors of extinct animals. These predictions have relied on an assumption that the responses of the canals can be determined from their dimensions, and that an organism's behavior can be determined from these responses. However, the relationship between a canal's sensitivity and its size is not well known. An intraspecies comparison among canal responses in each of three species (cat, squirrel monkey, and pigeon) was undertaken to evaluate various models of canal function and determine how their dimensions may be related to afferent physiology. All models predicted the responses of the cat afferents, but the models performed less well for squirrel monkey and pigeon. Possible causes for this discrepancy include incorrectly assuming that afferent responses accurately represent canal function or errors in current biophysical models of the canals. These findings leave open the question as to how reliably canal anatomy can be used to estimate afferent responses and how closely afferent responses are related to behavior. Other labyrinthine features, such as orientation of the horizontal canal, which is reliably held near earth-horizontal across many species, may be better to use when extrapolating the posture and related behavior of extinct animals from labyrinthine morphology.

Dynamics and directionality of the vestibulo-collic reflex (VCR) in mice

The vestibulo-collic reflex (VCR) stabilizes the head in space by excitation of neck muscles that oppose head rotation. Recently, the mouse vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) has been characterized so that genetic manipulations of the vestibular system can be examined. We have characterized the dynamics and directionality of the VCR in mice restrained at the neck so that studies of vestibular system genetics may include comparisons to normal VCR in addition to VOR. Head rotations were measured in darkness with a three-dimensional search coil system during whole body rotations. The VCR in four C57BL/6 mice was present in pitch, roll, and yaw directions with an overall average gain of 0.28. Phase was accurately compensatory to oppose head rotation across a wide range of frequencies from 0.02 Hz to 2.0 Hz. Compensatory head rotations were greatest in the direction opposing the applied stimulus and weak or absent in other directions. Constant velocity rotations about horizontal axes elicited head velocity modulation and bias similar to that observed in the VOR. We conclude that the VCR of mice is similar to that in other mammals.

Three dimensional spatial-temporal convergence of otolith related signals in vestibular only neurons in squirrel monkeys

Spatio-temporal convergence (STC) properties of 19 vestibular only neurons' responses to translational head movements were examined in an alert, behaving squirrel monkey. In addition to standard tests that included 1.2 Hz yaw/pitch/roll rotations and inter-aural/naso-occipital/dorso-ventral translations, we also observed responses to translations along multiple directions in several orthogonal planes. Neural responses were fitted first by a model that permitted STC in all planes, characterized by a non-zero minimum and a gradual shift of phase. We then evaluated statistically whether models with fewer independent dynamic parameters yielded equally satisfactory results. The responses of 13 neurons were adequately fit by simple cosine models (1-D) as well as models that allowed complex STC behavior. Of the six neurons exhibiting STC, five could be modeled with two independent phase parameters (2-D) while the remaining neuron required a model with three independent phase parameters (3-D). The maximum translation sensitivity and phase, Smax and varphimax, and minimum translation sensitivity and phase, Smin and varphimin, were estimated from the reconstructed sensitivity and phase surfaces. The tuning ratio, Smin/Smax, in STC neurons was>0.40 while in 1-D neurons it was <0.25. Furthermore, the maximum response vectors of most 1-D neurons lay within 20 degrees of either the horizontal or sagittal plane while those of STC neurons lay >20 degrees from both planes. No difference in other response properties, such as varphimax or rotational responses, was found between neurons exhibiting STC and the simple cosine tuning. Our results suggest that the STC behavior observed in otolith-related vestibular neurons probably arises from summing inputs from afferents, with diverse response dynamics, innervating different otolith macula.

Effects of betahistine on the spatiotemporal response properties of vestibulospinal neurons to labyrinthine volleys

Betahistine, a drug used in the treatment of vestibular disorders, speeds-up the recovery from hemilabyrinthectomy in experimental animals, likely through the activation of histamine receptors. In order to better understand the mechanism of action of this drug we investigated, in adult, urethane anesthetized rats, whether betahistine modifies the spatial (directional) and temporal response properties of vestibular nuclear neurons to the labyrinthine input, as well as the convergence of different labyrinthine signals on single units. Extracellular single-unit activity was recorded from the caudal, spinal-projecting region of the vestibular nuclei during tilt of the animal, before and after i.p. injection of betahistine. The two orthogonal directions of maximal and minimal response to tilt, as well as the corresponding gains were determined for each neuron. Betahistine reduced the maximal response gain of units showing larger basal values of this parameter and increased it in neurons with smaller basal values, while the minimal response gain was on the average raised. These changes led to a significant decrease in the spatial specificity of the neurons, suggesting that betahistine affects the process of spatiotemporal convergence on vestibular units, likely through a rearrangement of the various inputs. This could be related to the effect of the drug on vestibular compensation.

Electromyographic activity of dorsal neck muscles in squirrel monkeys during rotations in an upright or upside down posture

Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from occipitoscapularis, semispinalis, and splenius neck muscles in five alert squirrel monkeys during 0.25-Hz rotations about horizontal axes oriented at 22.5 degrees intervals, including pitch, roll, and intermediate axes. The animals were oriented in either upright or upside down posture. In the upright posture, all monkeys exhibited compensatory EMG activity with maximal activation during rotations about axes between pitch in the pitch forward direction and contralaterally directed roll. Response timing varied across animals with EMG peaks ranging from near pitch forward head velocity to near pitch forward head position. When the head was upside down, response dynamics and directionality were altered to varying degrees in different monkeys. The greatest change in response to head inversion was seen in the monkey that had response phases closest to head position, the least in the animal with phases closest to head velocity. The monkey with EMG response peaks closest to position phase showed nearly 180 degrees inversion of responses when the head was upside down, suggesting that in this monkey a righting reflex mediated by utricular signals was activated in the upside down posture. The monkey with EMG response peaks closest to velocity phase may have lacked a righting response and exhibited only a canal-mediated compensatory vestibulocervical reflex in both upright and upside down postures. The results suggest that reflex contraction of neck muscles in response to passive head rotation includes an interplay of compensatory and righting responses that varies from animal to animal.

Signal Processing in the Vestibular System During Active Versus Passive Head Movements

In everyday life, vestibular receptors are activated by both self-generated and externally applied head movements. Traditionally, it has been assumed that the vestibular system reliably encodes head-in-space motion throughout our daily activities and that subsequent processing by upstream cerebellar and cortical pathways is required to transform this information into the reference frames required for voluntary behaviors. However, recent studies have radically changed the way we view the vestibular system. In particular, the results of recent single-unit studies in head-unrestrained monkeys have shown that the vestibular system provides the CNS with more than an estimate of head motion. This review first considers how head-in-space velocity is processed at the level of the vestibular afferents and vestibular nuclei during active versus passive head movements. While vestibular information appears to be similarly processed by vestibular afferents during passive and active motion, it is differentially processed at the level of the vestibular nuclei. For example, one class of neurons in vestibular nuclei, which receives direct inputs from semicircular canal afferents, is substantially less responsive to active head movements than to passively applied head rotations. The projection patterns of these neurons strongly suggest that they are involved in generating head-stabilization responses as well as shaping vestibular information for the computation of spatial orientation. In contrast, a second class of neurons in the vestibular nuclei that mediate the vestibuloocular reflex process vestibular information in a manner that depends principally on the subject's current gaze strategy rather than whether the head movement was self-generated or externally applied. The implications of these results are then discussed in relation to the status of vestibular reflexes (i.e., the vestibuloocular, vestibulocollic, and cervicoocular reflexes) and implications for higher-level processing of vestibular information during active head movements.

Head-trunk coordination during linear anterior-posterior translations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative contributions of inputs from the vestibular system and the trunk to head-trunk coordination. Twelve healthy adults and 6 adults with diminished bilateral labyrinthine input (LD) were seated with their trunk either fixed to the seat or free to move. Subjects received 10-cm, 445-cm/s(2) anterior-posterior ramps and 0.35- to 4.05-Hz sum-of-sines translations while performing a mental distraction task in the dark. Kinematics of the head and trunk were derived from an Optotrak motion analysis system and a linear accelerometer placed on the head. EMG signals were collected from neck and paraspinal muscles. Data were tested for significance with multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc analyses. Initial linear and angular head acceleration directions differed in healthy subjects when the trunk was fixed or free, but did not differ in LD subjects. Peak head angular accelerations were significantly greater with the trunk fixed than when free, and were greater in LD than in control subjects. EMG response latencies did not differ when the trunk was fixed or free. Low-frequency phase responses in the healthy subjects were close to 90 degrees and had a delayed descent as frequency increased, suggesting some neural compensation that was absent in the LD subjects. Results of this study revealed a strong initial reliance on system mechanics and on signals from segmental receptors. The vestibular system may act to damp later response components and to monitor the position of the head in space secondary to feedback from segmental proprioceptors rather than to generate the postural reactions.

Modulating active stiffness affects head stabilizing strategies in young and elderly adults during trunk rotations in the vertical plane

Healthy young and elderly adults were asked to actively modulate neck muscle stiffness during random rotations of the trunk in the vertical plane. Angular velocity of head with respect to trunk and myoelectric activity of semispinalis capitis and sternocleidomastoid muscles were recorded. A MANOVA was performed on group, condition, and frequency variables. A gain and phase drop at 2.15 Hz in young adults indicated neural (i.e. reflex) damping of system mechanics. In the elderly, a steady rise in gain and drop in phase (P<0.0002) was indicative of a second order underdamped system. Even when instructed to not intervene elderly subjects exhibited cocontraction. Ineffective reflex mechanisms may underlie the emergence of this strategy.

Linear spatio-temporal convergence in vestibular neurons of the primate nucleus fastigii

Vestibular responses in the primate fastigial nucleus (FN) do often not follow the simple cosine tuning observed in primary vestibular afferents. The present report demonstrates that these more complex patterns can mostly be attributed to simple linear summation of spatially and temporally diverse cosine-tuned input signals (linear spatio-temporal convergence, STC). Analyses following from this elementary finding, however, reveal frequency-dependent properties in many FN neurons, which are difficult to reconcile with existing concepts of possible functions of STC in central vestibular areas. The demonstration that STC linearity holds for FN responses is thus of both theoretical and practical relevance, allowing shortening of future experimental protocols and facilitating comparison of the observed spatio-temporal response dynamics with those at other stages of vestibular signal processing.

Neuronal response sensitivity to bidirectional off-vertical axis rotations: a dimension of imbalance in the bilateral vestibular nuclei of cats after unilateral labyrinthectomy

In decerebrate cats after acute hemilabyrinthectomy, the response sensitivity of extracellularly recorded vestibular nuclear neurons on the lesioned and labyrinth-intact sides were examined quantitatively during constant velocity off-vertical axis rotations with an aim to elucidate the functional contribution of otolithic inputs to the ipsilateral and contralateral vestibular nuclei. The bidirectional response sensitivity, delta, was determined as the ratio of the gain during clockwise to that during counterclockwise rotations. A continuum of response sensitivity was identified: one-dimensional neurons showed symmetrically bidirectional response patterns, while two-dimensional neurons showed asymmetrically bidirectional patterns that in some cases approached unidirectional patterns with change in velocity. The proportion of two-dimensional neurons was significantly increased after acute hemilabyrinthectomy. Two-dimensional neurons that responded only to one direction of rotation in at least one of the velocities tested were described as unidirectional neurons. This unidirectional response pattern was observed in one-third of the entire neuronal population studied, but not in cats with both labyrinths intact, thus suggesting that such prominent broadly tuned responses are normally masked by converging otolithic inputs from the contralateral side. These neurons were found in higher proportion on the lesioned side than on the labyrinth-intact side. Among the 70% of unidirectional neurons that exhibited bidirectional response at some velocities and unidirectional response at others, prominent shifts in delta values (i.e. between 0/infinity and finite values) with velocity can be computed for each neuron. The shifts in delta values correlated with large shifts in the response dynamics and spatial orientation as the response pattern changed with velocity. The response orientations of the unidirectional neurons pointed in all directions on the horizontal plane. When all the two-dimensional neurons (i.e. both the unidirectionally and bidirectionally responsive ones) were pooled, imbalances in the distribution of the response orientations and in response gain were found between the ipsilateral-side-down/head-down half-circle and the contralateral-side-down/head-up half-circle on the labyrinth-intact side, but not on the lesioned side. These results, derived from spatiotemporal processing of gravitational signals, reveal a novel dimension of imbalance between neuronal populations in the two vestibular nuclear complexes after acute lesion of one labyrinth. This feature would provide, on the one hand, deranged cues of spatial orientation and direction during slow head excursions and, on the other, a framework for the dynamic behavioral deficits associated with hemilabyrinthectomy.

Neck input modifies the reference frame for coding labyrinthine signals in the cerebellar vermis: a cellular analysis

The activity of 68 neurons, mainly Purkinje cells, was recorded from the cerebellar anterior vermis of decerebrate cats during wobble of the whole animal (at 0.156 Hz, 5 degrees), a mixture of tilt and rotation, leading to stimulation of labyrinth receptors. Most of the neurons (65/68) were affected by both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. Twenty-four units showing responses of comparable amplitude to these stimuli (narrowly tuned cells) were represented by a single vector (Smax), whose preferred direction corresponded to the direction of stimulation giving rise to the maximal response. The remaining 41 units, however, showed different amplitude responses to these rotations (broadly tuned cells) and were characterized by two spatially and temporally orthogonal vectors (Smax and Smin), suggesting that labyrinthine signals with different spatial and temporal properties converged on these cells. All these units were tested while the body was aligned with the head (control position), as well as after static displacement of the body under a fixed head by 15 degrees and/or 30 degrees around a vertical axis passing through C1-C2, thus leading to stimulation of neck receptors. The orientation component of the response vector of the Purkinje cells to vestibular stimulation changed following body-to-head displacement. Moreover, the amplitude of vector rotation corresponded, on the average, to that of body rotation. Changes in temporal phase, gain and tuning ratio of the responses were also observed. We propose that information from neck receptors regulates the convergence of labyrinthine signals with different spatial and temporal properties on corticocerebellar units. Due to their strict relationship with the motor system, these units may give rise to appropriate responses in the limb musculature, by modifying the spatial organization of the vestibulospinal reflexes according to the requirements of body stability. The cerebellar vermis may thus represent an important structure, where frames of reference can be altered to account for changes in position of trunk, head and neck.

Spatial alignment of rotational and static tilt responses of vestibulospinal neurons in the cat

The responses of vestibulospinal neurons to 0.5-Hz, whole-body rotations in three-dimensional space and static tilts of whole-body position were studied in decerebrate and alert cats. The neurons' spatial properties for earth-vertical rotations were characterized by maximum and minimum sensitivity vectors (R(max) and R(min)) in the cat's horizontal plane. The orientation of a neuron's R(max) was not consistently related to the orientation of its maximum sensitivity vector for static tilts (T(max)). The angular difference between R(max) and T(max) was widely distributed between 0 degrees and 150 degrees, and R(max) and T(max) were aligned (i.e., within 45 degrees of each other) for only 44% (14/32) of the neurons. The alignment of R(max) and T(max) was not correlated with the neuron's sensitivity to earth-horizontal rotations, or to the orientation of R(max) in the horizontal plane. In addition, the extent to which a neuron exhibited spatiotemporal convergent (STC) behavior in response to vertical rotations was independent of the angular difference between R(max) and T(max). This suggests that the high incidence of STC responses in our sample (56%) reflects not only canal-otolith convergence, but also the presence of static and dynamic otolith inputs with misaligned directionality. The responses of vestibulospinal neurons reflect a complex combination of static and dynamic vestibular inputs that may be required by postural reflexes that vary depending on head, trunk, and limb orientation, or on the frequency of stimulation.

Integration of vestibular and head movement signals in the vestibular nuclei during whole-body rotation

Single-unit recordings were obtained from 107 horizontal semicircular canal-related central vestibular neurons in three alert squirrel monkeys during passive sinusoidal whole-body rotation (WBR) while the head was free to move in the yaw plane (2.3 Hz, 20 degrees /s). Most of the units were identified as secondary vestibular neurons by electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral vestibular nerve (61/80 tested). Both non-eye-movement (n = 52) and eye-movement-related (n = 55) units were studied. Unit responses recorded when the head was free to move were compared with responses recorded when the head was restrained from moving. WBR in the absence of a visual target evoked a compensatory vestibulocollic reflex (VCR) that effectively reduced the head velocity in space by an average of 33 +/- 14%. In 73 units, the compensatory head movements were sufficiently large to permit the effect of the VCR on vestibular signal processing to be assessed quantitatively. The VCR affected the rotational responses of different vestibular neurons in different ways. Approximately one-half of the units (34/73, 47%) had responses that decreased as head velocity decreased. However, the responses of many other units (24/73) showed little change. These cells had signals that were better correlated with trunk velocity than with head velocity. The remaining units had responses that were significantly larger (15/73, 21%) when the VCR produced a decrease in head velocity. Eye-movement-related units tended to have rotational responses that were correlated with head velocity. On the other hand, non-eye-movement units tended to have rotational responses that were better correlated with trunk velocity. We conclude that sensory vestibular signals are transformed from head-in-space coordinates to trunk-in-space coordinates on many secondary vestibular neurons in the vestibular nuclei by the addition of inputs related to head rotation on the trunk. This coordinate transformation is presumably important for controlling postural reflexes and constructing a central percept of body orientation and movement in space.

Interdependence of spatial properties and projection patterns of medial vestibulospinal tract neurons in the cat

Activity of vestibular nucleus neurons with axons in the ipsi- or contralateral medial vestibulospinal tract was studied in decerebrate cats during sinusoidal, whole-body rotations in many planes in three-dimensional space. Antidromic activation of axon collaterals distinguished between neurons projecting only to neck segments from those with collaterals to C6 and/or oculomotor nucleus. Secondary neurons were identified by monosynaptic activation after labyrinth stimulation. A three-dimensional maximum activation direction vector (MAD) summarized the spatial properties of 151 of 169 neurons. The majority of secondary neurons (71%) terminated above the C6 segment. Of these, 43% had ascending collaterals to the oculomotor nucleus (VOC neurons), and 57% did not (VC neurons). The majority of VOC and VC neurons projected contralaterally and ipsilaterally, respectively. Most C6-projecting neurons could not be activated from oculomotor nucleus (V-C6 neurons) and projected primarily ipsilaterally. All VO-C6 neurons projected contralaterally. The distributions of MADs for secondary neurons with different projection patterns were different. Most VOC (84%) and contralaterally projecting VC (91%) neurons had MADs close to the activation vector of a semicircular canal pair, compared with 54% of ipsilaterally projecting VC (i-VC) and 39% of V-C6 neurons. Many i-VC (44%) and V-C6 (48%) neurons had responses suggesting convergent input from horizontal and vertical canal pairs. Horizontal and vertical gains were comparable for some, making it difficult to assign a primary canal input. MADs consistent with vertical-vertical canal pair convergence were less common. Type II yaw or type II roll responses were seen for 22% of the i-VC neurons, 68% of the V-C6 neurons, and no VOC cells. VO-C6 neurons had spatial properties between those of VOC and V-C6 neurons. These results suggest that secondary VOC neurons convey semicircular canal pair signals to both ocular and neck motor centers, perhaps linking eye and head movements. Secondary VC and V-C6 neurons carry more processed signals, possibly to drive neck and forelimb reflexes more selectively. Two groups of secondary i-VC neurons exhibited vertical-horizontal canal convergence similar to that present on neck muscles. The vertical-vertical canal convergence present on many neck muscles, however, was not present on medial vestibulospinal neurons. Spatial transformations achieved by the vestibulocollic reflex may occur in part on secondary neurons but further combination of canal signals must take place to generate compensatory muscle activity.

Sacculocollic reflex arcs in cats

Neuronal connections and pathways underlying sacculocollic reflexes were studied by intracellular recordings from neck extensor and flexor motoneurons in decerebrate cat. Bipolar electrodes were placed within the left saccular nerve, whereas other branches of the vestibular nerve were removed in the inner ear. To prevent spread of stimulus current to other branches of the vestibular nerve, the saccular nerve and the electrodes were covered with warm semisolid paraffin-Vaseline mixture. Saccular nerve stimulation evoked disynaptic (1.8-3.0 ms) excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) in ipsilateral neck extensor motoneurons and di- or trisynaptic (1.8-4.0 ms) EPSPs in contralateral neck extensor motoneurons, and di- and trisynaptic (1.7-3.6 ms) inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) in ipsilateral neck flexor motoneurons and trisynaptic (2.7-4.0 ms) IPSPs in contralateral neck flexor motoneurons. Ipsilateral inputs were about twice as strong as contralateral ones to both extensor and flexor motoneurons. To determine the pathways mediating this connectivity, the lateral part of the spinal cord containing the ipsilateral lateral vestibulospinal tract (i-LVST) or the central part of the spinal cord containing the medial vestibulospinal tracts (MVSTs) and possibly reticulospinal fibers (RSTs) were transected at the caudal end of the C1 segment. Subsequent renewed intracellular recordings following sacculus nerve stimulation indicated that the pathway from the saccular nerve to the ipsilateral neck extensor motoneurons projects though the i-LVST, whereas the pathways to the contralateral neck extensors and to the bilateral neck flexor motoneurons descend in the MVSTs/RSTs. Our data show that sacculo-neck reflex connections display a qualitatively bilaterally symmetrical innervation pattern with excitatory connections to both neck extensor motoneuron pools, and inhibitory connections to both neck flexor motoneuron pools. This bilateral organization contrasts with the unilateral innervation scheme of the utriculus system. These results suggest a different symmetry plane along which sacculus postural reflexes are organized, thus supplementing the reference planes of the utriculus system and allowing the gravistatic system to represent all three translational spatial degrees of freedom. We furthermore suggest that the sacculocollic reflex plays an important role in maintaining the relative position of the head and the body against the vertical linear acceleration of gravity.

Input patterns and pathways from the six semicircular canals to motoneurons of neck muscles. II. The longissimus and semispinalis muscle groups

To reveal patterns of input from the six semicircular canals to motoneurons of various neck muscles and their relationship to the mechanical actions of individual neck muscles, patterns of input to neck motoneurons of the longissimus and the semispinalis muscle groups were investigated in the upper cervical spinal cord of anesthetized cats. Intracellular potentials were recorded from motoneurons of the longissimus muscle group (obliquus capitis superior muscle, OCS; splenius muscle, SPL; longissimus muscle, LONG) and the semispinalis muscle group (biventer cervicis muscle, BIV; complexus muscle, COMP), and effects of separate electrical stimulation of the six ampullary nerves on them were analyzed in each preparation. Neck motoneurons usually received convergent inputs from all of the six ampullary nerves, and motoneurons that supplied a particular muscle had a homogeneous pattern of input from the six ampullary nerves. Two different patterns of input were identified for motoneurons of these two muscle groups; one pattern for motoneurons of the longissimus muscle group and the other pattern for motoneurons of the semispinalis muscle group. Motoneurons of the OCS, the SPL, and the LONG muscles received excitation from the three contralateral ampullary nerves and inhibition from the three ipsilateral ampullary nerves. BIV and COMP motoneurons received excitation from the bilateral anterior canal nerves (ACNs) and the contralateral canal nerve (LCN) and inhibition from the bilateral posterior canal nerves (PCNs) and the ipsilateral LCN. Latencies of postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) evoked by stimulation of each of the six ampullary nerves indicated that the earliest component of excitatory PSPs (EPSPs) and inhibitory PSPs (IPSPs) was disynaptic in these motoneurons. However, trisynaptic IPSPs were evoked by stimulation of the contralateral PCN in a considerable number of BIV and COMP motoneurons. In OCS, SPL, and LONG motoneurons, all of the excitation from the contralateral and all of the inhibition from the ipsilateral ampullary nerves were mediated through the ipsilateral medial longitudinal fascicle (MLF). In BIV and COMP motoneurons, disynaptic excitation from the contralateral ACN and LCN and disynaptic inhibition from the ipsilateral LCN and bilateral PCNs were mediated through the ipsilateral MLF, whereas disynaptic excitation from the ipsilateral ACN was mediated through the ipsilateral lateral vestibulospinal tract. The patterns of semicircular canal input to neck motoneurons of these two muscle groups are related closely to the mechanical actions of the individual neck muscles and the optimal stimulus to the semicircular canals such that the connections will tend to stabilize head positions in response to head perturbations.

Rostral fastigial nucleus activity in the alert monkey during three-dimensional passive head movements

The fastigial nucleus (FN) receives vestibular information predominantly from Purkinje cells of the vermis. FN in the monkey can be divided in a rostral part, related to spinal mechanisms, and a caudal part with oculomotor functions. To understand the role of FN during movements in space, single-unit activity in alert monkeys was recorded during passive three-dimensional head movements from rostral FN. Seated monkeys were rotated sinusoidally around a horizontal earth-fixed axis (vertical stimulation) at different orientations 15 degrees apart (including roll, pitch, vertical canal plane and intermediate planes). In addition, sinusoidal rotations around an earth-vertical axis (yaw stimulus) included different roll and pitch positions (+/-10 degrees, +/-20 degrees). The latter positions were also used for static stimulation. One hundred fifty-eight neurons in two monkeys were modulated during the sinusoidal vertical search stimulation. The vast majority showed a uniform response pattern: a maximum at a specific head orientation (response vector orientation) and a null response 90 degrees apart. Detailed analysis was obtained from 111 neurons. On the basis of their phase relation during dynamic stimulation and their response to static tilt, these neurons were classified as vertical semicircular canal related (n = 79, 71.2%) or otolith related (n = 25; 22.5%). Only seven neurons did not follow the usual response pattern and were classified as complex neurons. For the vertical canal-related neurons (n = 79) all eight major response vector orientations (ipsilateral or contralateral anterior canal, posterior canal, roll, and nose-down and nose-up pitch) were found in Fn on one side. Neurons with ipsilateral orientations were more numerous and on average more sensitive than those with contralateral orientations. Twenty-eight percent of the vertical canal-related neurons also responded to horizontal canal stimulation. None of the vertical canal-related neurons responded to static tilt. Otolith-related neurons (n = 25) had a phase relation close to head position and were considerably less numerous than canal-related neurons. Except for pitch, all other response vector orientations were found. Seventy percent of these neurons responding during dynamic stimulation also responded during static tilt. The sensitivity during dynamic stimulation was always higher than during static stimulation. Sixty-one percent of the otolith-related neurons responded also to horizontal canal stimulation. These results show that in FN, robust vestibular signals are abundant. Canal-related responses are much more common than otolith-related responses. Although for many canal neurons the responses can be related to single canal planes, convergence between vertical canals but also with horizontal canals is common.

Mechanisms Controlling Head Stabilization in the Elderly During Random Rotations in the Vertical Plane

Frequency-related response characteristics of the mechanisms controlling stabilization of the head in 10 elderly subjects were compared with response characteristics in 8 young adults. Angular velocity of the head with respect to the trunk and EMG responses of 2 neck muscles were recorded in 10 seated subjects during pseudorandom rotations of the trunk in the sagittal plane at frequencies of 0.35 to 3.05 Hz. Subjects were required to actively stabilize their heads with (VS) and without (NY) visual feedback so that voluntary mechanisms and the influence of vision could be tested. Reflex mechanisms were examined when subjects were distracted by a mental calculation task during rotations in the dark (MA). Age emerged as an influential factor in the performance of head stabilization mechanisms, and decrements in performance were even more pronounced in the older as compared with younger elderly subjects. Age effects could be seen in the (a) diminished ability to voluntarily stabilize the head, particularly with the absence of vision, (b) impaired ability to stabilize the head when cognitively distracted, and (c) appearance of a resonant response of the head. Control of head stabilization shifted from reflex mechanisms to system mechanics, probably as a result of age-related changes in the integrity of the sensory systems. The elderly's system mechanics could not effectively compensate for the disturbances, however, and instability was the result.

Four convergent patterns of input from the six semicircular canals to motoneurons of different neck muscles in the upper cervical cord

This study was performed to investigate the pattern of input and the pathways from the six semicircular canals to motoneurons of various neck muscles in anesthetized cats. Intracellular postsynaptic potentials from neck motoneurons were recorded in response to electrical stimulation of the six ampullary nerves. The results showed that motoneurons of a particular neck muscle have a homogeneous convergent pattern of input from the six semicircular canals; there are four patterns of input from the six semicircular canals to motoneurons of various neck muscles; and the trisynaptic connection between the semicircular canal nerves and neck motoneurons was identified in addition to the disynaptic connection.

Gravity load related asymmetries in the sagittal vestibulo-collic reflex

EMG recordings of the neck muscles (biventer cervicis, complexus, splenius, longus capitis) of decerebrate cats were obtained during pitch and roll stimulations (sinusoidal stimulation: 30 degrees p-p amplitude, 0.2 Hz frequency). Most of the EMG responses to pitch showed activation peaks leading the position stimuli by 56 degrees and inhibition peaks leading by 11 degrees. Conversely, in response to roll the activation peak led by 16 degrees and the inhibition peak by 10 degrees. The activation peaks of the pitch responses were, thus, more asymmetric and more leading than those of the roll responses. Consequently, the harmonic distortion coefficient was significantly higher in pitch than in roll. Moreover, when the vertical semicircular canals were activated in absence of otolithic modulation, the pitch and roll responses maintained the same difference in timing observed in the presence of otolithic coactivation. It appeared that the simultaneous stimulation of both anterior semicircular canals (pitch) induces a greater lead than that of combined anterior and posterior canals (roll). Thus the timing of neck muscle responses to vestibular stimulation depends on the pair of activated vertical semicircular canals.

Responses of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the cat to natural vestibular stimulation

To investigate the neural substrate of vestibulo-sympathetic reflexes, we studied the responses of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) of decerebrate cats to natural stimulation of the labyrinth in vertical and horizontal planes. The RVLM is a major source of excitatory inputs to sympathetic preganglionic neurons. The animals used in these studies were baroreceptor-denervated and vagotomized and had a cervical spinal transection so that inputs from tilt-sensitive receptors outside of the labyrinth did not influence the units we recorded. Of the 38 neurons whose type of vertical vestibular inputs could be classified, the majority (27) received signals mainly from otolith organs. Only 4 of the neurons received inputs predominantly from vertical semicircular canals, and 7 were classified as having convergent inputs from otoliths and canals that were spatially aligned (2 cells) or misaligned (5 cells). In addition, only 2 of 68 neurons tested responded to sinusoidal horizontal rotations in a manner typical of brainstem neurons that receive inputs from the horizontal semicircular canals. Thus, the vestibular inputs to the RVLM appear to come mainly from otolith receptors. In labyrinthectomized cats, we were unable to locate neurons with responses to tilt similar to those of cells recorded in labyrinth-intact cats, confirming that the responses attributed to vertical vestibular inputs were produced by signals from the labyrinth. In animals whose semicircular canals had been rendered dysfunctional by plugging, we only recorded responses similar to those of neurons classified as having mainly otolith inputs in canal-intact animals, indicating that the dynamic behavior of these cells does not depend upon canal inputs. The presence of otolith inputs to the RVLM is consistent with the hypothesis that this region mediates vestibulo-sympathetic reflexes involved in correcting posturally-related changes in blood pressure.

Vestibulospinal reflexes and the reticular formation

While both vestibulospinal and reticulospinal tracts contribute to vestibulospinal reflexes, their respective roles are not fully understood. Previous evidence suggests that reticulospinal fibers make an important contribution to the horizontal vestibulocollic reflex (VCR) of the decerebrate cat. Recent work addresses their contribution to the vertical VCR. On the basis of study of reflex and vestibulocollic neuron dynamics, it appears that processing which is necessary to produce some of the spatial properties of the vertical VCR takes place outside the vestibular nuclei. Recording from pontomedullary reticulospinal neurons receiving vestibular input and projecting to different levels of the spinal cord reveals that almost no cells receive only vertical canal input, while approximately half receive otolith input. As is the case for vestibulocollic neurons, these reticulospinal neurons also lack the properties required to produce all of the VCR's spatial properties. Two conclusions are that in response to stimuli in vertical planes pontomedullary reticulospinal fibers are best suited to contribute to otolith reflexes, and that spatial properties of the VCR depend in part on convergence of inputs within the neck itself.

Synaptic organization of the vestibulo-collic pathways from six semicircular canals to motoneurons of different neck muscles

The pattern of inputs from six semicircular canals to neck motoneurons was investigated by stimulating six ampullary nerves electrically and recording intracellular potentials from motoneurons of the rectus capitis dorsalis (RD), the complexus (COMP) and the obliquus capitis caudalis (OCA) muscles at the upper cervical cord of the cat. RD and COMP motoneurons received disynaptic excitation from bilateral anterior and contralateral horizontal ampullary nerves and disynaptic inhibition from bilateral posterior and ipsilateral horizontal ampullary nerves. OCA motoneurons received excitation from ipsilateral vertical and contralateral horizontal ampullary nerves and inhibition from contralateral vertical and ipsilateral horizontal ampullary nerves. Ipsilateral disynaptic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials and contralateral disynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials to these motoneurons were mediated by the medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF) and the other postsynaptic potentials by the extra-MLF pathways. The results indicated that motoneurons of a neck muscle have its own characteristic pattern of inputs from six semicircular canals.

Connections from the lateral vestibular nucleus to the upper cervical spinal cord of the cat: a study with the anterograde tracer PHA-L

The projections of neurons in the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) to the upper cervical spinal cord of the cat were investigated by means of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L). At the junction of C1 and C2, axons were distributed bilaterally in the ventromedial funiculi, and ipsilaterally in the ventrolateral and lateral funiculi. The majority of boutons were found ipsilateral to the injection sites and most of these boutons were found at the base of the ventral horn and throughout the medial two-thirds of lamina VIII. A more modest termination zone was found along the ventral border of lamina VII and a small number of boutons were scattered in the dorsal horn. Contralateral termination zones were similar to the ipsilateral projections. There were significant changes in the distribution of vestibulospinal axons and density of boutons at the junction of C3 and C4. At this level, most vestibulospinal axons travelled ipsilaterally and were found along the medial border of the ventromedial funiculus and the ventral margin of the ventrolateral funiculus. The overall distribution of boutons near the border of C3 and C4 was similar to the pattern seen at the junction of C1 and C2. However, bouton density fell by a factor of three. Large zones of the grey matter were devoid of boutons in individual experiments. These results demonstrate that the projections of neurons in the LVN to the upper cervical spinal cord are densest in the regions containing motoneurons supplying suboccipital muscles. This result suggests that monosynaptic connections to those motoneurons may be an important part of the neural circuitry responsible for vestibulocollic reflexes. However, the large number of boutons found in regions dorsal to motoneuron nuclei in all upper cervical segments indicates that the primary path from vestibulospinal axons to neck motoneurons may be indirect and involve relays via spinal interneurons.

Patterns of neck muscle activation in cats during reflex and voluntary head movements

When the head rotates, vestibulocollic reflexes counteract the rotation by causing contraction of the neck muscles that pull against the imposed motion. With voluntary head rotations, these same muscles contract and assist the movement of the head. The purpose of this study was to determine if an infinite variety of muscle activation patterns are available to generate a particular head movement, of if the CNS selects a consistent and unique muscle pattern for the same head movement whether performed in a voluntary or reflex mode. The relationship of neck muscle activity to reflex and voluntary head movements was examined by recording intramuscular EMG activity from six neck muscles in three alert cats during sinusoidal head rotations about 24 vertical and horizontal axes. The cats were trained to voluntarily follow a water spout with their heads. Vestibulocollic reflex (VCR) responses were recorded in the same cats by rotating them in an equivalent set of planes with the head stabilized to the trunk so that only the vestibular labyrinths were stimulated. Gain and phase of the EMG responses were calculated, and data analyzed to determine the directions of rotation for which specific muscles produced their greatest EMG output. Each muscle exhibited preferential activation for a unique direction of rotation, and weak responses during rotations orthogonal to that preferred direction. The direction of maximal activation could differ for reflex and voluntary responses. Also, the best excitation of the muscle was not always in the direction that would produce a maximum mechanical advantage for the muscle based on its line of pull. The results of this study suggest that a unique pattern of activity is selected for VCR and tracking responses in any one animal. Patterns for the two behaviors differ, indicating that the CNS can generate movements in the same direction using different muscle patterns.

Electromyographic studies of neck muscles in the intact cat. I. Patterns of recruitment underlying posture and movement during natural behaviors

Natural head movements in alert, unrestrained cats were studied using video-filming, videofluoroscopy and electromyographic (EMG) recording methods. In each cat, up to sixteen neck muscles or neck-muscle compartments were implanted with recording electrodes. Patterns of muscle recruitment were examined during systematically-selected behavioral epochs in which the cat held a range of stationary postures, and when it performed volitional and exploratory behaviors such as flexion-extension or turning, grooming, eating, or headshaking. Patterns of muscular activity were interpreted with reference to simultaneous video images of head and neck movements. In separate, videofluoroscopic analysis, flexion-extension movements were examined to gain insight into the underlying movements of the skull and cervical vertebrae. These and other movements were found commonly to depend upon changes in joint angles between lower as well as upper cervical joints. Stationary postures in which the neck was held vertically were consistently associated with tonic EMG activity in only two long dorsal muscles, biventer cervicis and occipitoscapularis. Less consistent activity was also present in dorsal intervertebral muscles crossing lower cervical joints. When the neck was held horizontally, the long dorsal muscles increased their EMG activity and moderate activity was also recorded in deeper intervertebral and suboccipital muscles. When flexion-extension occurred around upper cervical joints, greatest activity was recorded in rectus capitis posterior and complexus, but when it involved the lower cervical joints, large changes in EMG activity could also be detected in biventer cervicis, occipitoscapularis, and the intervertebral muscles crossing lower cervical joints. During specialized, sagittal-plane movements such as grooming, well-defined patterns of synergy could be recognized that varied according to the degree of involvement of upper and lower cervical joint-sets. Movements in the horizontal plane were associated with EMG activity in a largely different subset of neck muscles including splenius, longissimus capitis and obliquus capitis inferior. The levels of EMG activity during flexion-extension or turning movements were much lower than those observed during other more vigorous behaviors, such as head shaking. Some neck muscles, such as clavotrapezius and sternomastoideus, could only be recruited during forceful or ballistic head movements. Results showed that the patterns of muscular activation were linked not only to the speed and trajectory of the movements of the skull, but also to the kinematics of the motion occurring across different parts of the cervical column.

Dynamic polarization vector of spatially tuned neurons

The study of the dynamic properties of otolith neurons has been difficult previously because of the differing response sensitivities of individual cells to specific stimulus directions and the lack of a general mathematical scheme that could explain and account for all their response features. The present paper describes a method for estimating both the spatial and temporal properties of neurons like the otolith neurons that are spatially tuned to different stimulus directions. At each stimulus frequency, a response elipse can be constructed from the neural responses elicited by stimulation along three linear independent axes. The semimajor axis of the ellipse will specify the neuron's direction of maximum sensitivity (polarization vector), whereas the semiminor axis will provide its sensitivity in the perpendicular direction. The predictions of the method for nonzero length of the semiminor axis are qualitatively the same as the experimentally observed dependance of response phase on stimulus orientation.

Excitation of the extraocular muscles in decerebrate cats during the vestibulo-ocular reflex in three-dimensional space

(1) Vestibulo-ocular reflex excitation of the six extraocular muscles was studied by recording their electromyographic activity in decerebrate cats during oscillations about horizontal and vertical axes, at frequencies from 0.07 to 4 Hz. Animals were oriented in many different positions and rotated about axes that lay in the horizontal, frontal, or sagittal planes defined by our coordinate system. (2) The strengths of modulation (gains) of the responses of all extraocular muscles were a sinusoidal function of the orientation of the rotation axis within a coordinate plane, and this function was nearly independent of rotation frequency. (3) The responses were used to determine an axis of maximal excitation for each of the extraocular muscles by the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Antagonistic muscle pairs were found to have best axes in nearly opposite directions, confirming their operation as pairs. (4) Excitation of the medial and lateral rectus could be explained by input from the paired horizontal semicircular canals, with essentially no convergent input from vertical canals. (5) Excitation of the vertical rectus and oblique muscles could be explained by convergent inputs from the vertical canals with little or no horizontal canal input.

Spatial properties of second-order vestibulo-ocular relay neurons in the alert cat

Second-order vestibular nucleus neurons which were antidromically activated from the region of the oculomotor nucleus (second-order vestibuloocular relay neurons) were studied in alert cats during whole-body rotations in many horizontal and vertical planes. Sinusoidal rotation elicited sinusoidal modulation of firing rates except during rotation in a clearly defined null plane. Response gain (spike/s/deg/s) varied as a cosine function of the orientation of the cat with respect to a horizontal rotation axis, and phases were near that of head velocity, suggesting linear summation of canal inputs. A maximum activation direction (MAD) was calculated for each cell to represent the axis of rotation in three-dimensional space for which the cell responded maximally. Second-order vestibuloocular neurons divided into 3 non-overlapping populations of MADs, indicating primary canal input from either anterior, posterior or horizontal semicircular canal (AC, PC, HC cells). 80/84 neurons received primary canal input from ipsilateral vertical canals. Of these, at least 6 received input from more than one vertical canal, suggested by MAD azimuths which were sufficiently misaligned with their primary canal. In addition, 21/80 received convergent input from a horizontal canal, with about equal number of type I and type II yaw responses. 4/84 neurons were HC cells; all of them received convergent input from at least one vertical canal. Activity of many vertical second-order vestibuloocular neurons was also related to vertical and/or horizontal eye position. All AC and PC cells that had vertical eye position sensitivity had upward and downward on-directions, respectively. A number of PC cells had MADs centered around the MAD of the superior oblique muscle, and 2/3 AC cells recorded in the superior vestibular nucleus had MADs near that of the inferior oblique. Thus, signals with spatial properties appropriate to activate oblique eye muscles are present at the second-order vestibular neuron level. In contrast, none of the second-order vestibuloocular neurons had MADs near those of the superior or inferior rectus muscles. Signals appropriate to activate these eye muscles might be produced by combining signals from ipsilateral and contralateral AC neurons (for superior rectus) or PC neurons (for inferior rectus). Alternatively, less direct pathways such as those involving third or higher order vestibular or interstitial nucleus of Cajal neurons might play a crucial role in the spatial transformations between semicircular canals and vertical rectus eye muscles.

EMG activities of neck muscles underlying lateral flexion of the neck during head-turning induced by electrical stimulation of the caudate nucleus in cats

Patterns of EMG activities of neck muscles underlying the initiation of head-turning, induced by stimulation of the caudate nucleus, were analyzed with special reference to temporal relations between the onset of head-turning and that of changes in EMG activities. These patterns were compared with those associated with the initiation of lateral flexion of the neck which occurred without electrical stimulation of the caudate nucleus in order to examine whether the caudate-induced head-turning was initiated via the same muscular system as that used in non-caudate-induced head movements. Experiments were carried out using 5 awake, unrestrained cats which were trained to stand still with one limb on each of 4 footplates. Trains of stimulating current pulses were applied to several stimulation points in the caudate nucleus while the animal maintained a stable standing posture with its neck extended. Head movements in the horizontal plane and EMGs of 6 neck muscles (splenius, longissimus cervicis, obliquus capitis caudalis, biventer cervicis, complexus and cervical multifidus) were recorded. Patterns of EMG activities of neck muscles around the onset of the caudate-induced head-turning were characterized by an increase in activity of the splenius, the longissimus cervicis and the obliquus capitis caudalis muscles, and by a decrease in activity of the complexus, the biventer cervicis and the cervical multifidus on the side of flexion. It is suggested that an increase in activity of the splenius, the longissimus cervicis and the obliques capitis caudalis muscles was responsible for the initiation of this evoked response. In non-caudate-induced lateral flexion of the neck, patterns of activities of neck muscles were similar to those in caudate-induced head-turning. It is therefore concluded that the caudate-induced head-turning as an evoked behavioral response was initiated through a muscular system similar to that utilized for similar head movements occurring without electrical stimulation of the caudate nucleus, although the pathways involved are thought to be different.

Comparison of neck muscle activation patterns during head stabilization and voluntary movements

The motor system that controls the neck musculature serves two major functions: stabilization of the head in the face of external perturbations or body movements, and generation of voluntary or orientating head movements. Typically the latter are thought to be mediated by complex pathways involving cerebral cortex and superior colliculus while stabilization is thought to be mediated by simple short-loop pathways that generate vestibulocollic and cervicocollic reflexes (VCR and CCR). Our work has been directed towards evaluating the extent to which the VCR and CCR are in fact responsible for head stabilization, and to determining how the motor patterns produced by these reflexes compare with those produced by the voluntary head movement system. To address these questions we have analysed the dynamic and spatial (kinematic) properties of the head movement system in cats and humans.