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Nouraeinejad A. The effect of amblyopia on saccadic eye movements. Int J Neurosci 2024; 134:310-311. [PMID: 35815630 DOI: 10.1080/00207454.2022.2100775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
The effect of amblyopia on several sensory and perceptual functions has been widely studied. However, relatively fewer studies have evaluated the influence of amblyopia on visuomotor aspects. This concise but comprehensive collection of materials is to show how saccadic eye movements are severely affected by amblyopia and therefore spatiotemporal coordination between the visual and motor systems is distorted. The author hopes that recognition of these saccade deficits in amblyopia can help all eye professionals and neurologists to consider validated clinical tests related to saccadic eye movements in patients with amblyopia as these tests are not presently performed in routine clinical eye examinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Nouraeinejad
- Faculty of Brain Sciences, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London (UCL), London, UK
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2
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de Vries E, van Ede F. Microsaccades Track Location-Based Object Rehearsal in Visual Working Memory. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0276-23.2023. [PMID: 38176905 PMCID: PMC10849020 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0276-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Besides controlling eye movements, the brain's oculomotor system has been implicated in the control of covert spatial attention and the rehearsal of spatial information in working memory. We investigated whether the oculomotor system also contributes to rehearsing visual objects in working memory when object location is never asked about. To address this, we tracked the incidental use of locations for mnemonic rehearsal via directional biases in microsaccades while participants maintained two visual objects (colored oriented gratings) in working memory. By varying the stimulus configuration (horizontal, diagonal, and vertical) at encoding, we could quantify whether microsaccades were more aligned with the configurational axis of the memory contents, as opposed to the orthogonal axis. Experiment 1 revealed that microsaccades continued to be biased along the axis of the memory content several seconds into the working memory delay. In Experiment 2, we confirmed that this directional microsaccade bias was specific to memory demands, ruling out lingering effects from passive and attentive encoding of the same visual objects in the same configurations. Thus, by studying microsaccade directions, we uncover oculomotor-driven rehearsal of visual objects in working memory through their associated locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eelke de Vries
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Freek van Ede
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands
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3
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Portugal AM, Viktorsson C, Taylor MJ, Mason L, Tammimies K, Ronald A, Falck-Ytter T. Infants' looking preferences for social versus non-social objects reflect genetic variation. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:115-124. [PMID: 38012276 PMCID: PMC10810753 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01764-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
To what extent do individual differences in infants' early preference for faces versus non-facial objects reflect genetic and environmental factors? Here in a sample of 536 5-month-old same-sex twins, we assessed attention to faces using eye tracking in two ways: initial orienting to faces at the start of the trial (thought to reflect subcortical processing) and sustained face preference throughout the trial (thought to reflect emerging attention control). Twin model fitting suggested an influence of genetic and unique environmental effects, but there was no evidence for an effect of shared environment. The heritability of face orienting and preference were 0.19 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.33) and 0.46 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.57), respectively. Face preference was associated positively with later parent-reported verbal competence (β = 0.14, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.25, P = 0.014, R2 = 0.018, N = 420). This study suggests that individual differences in young infants' selection of perceptual input-social versus non-social-are heritable, providing a developmental perspective on gene-environment interplay occurring at the level of eye movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Maria Portugal
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab (DIVE), Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women's and Childrn's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Charlotte Viktorsson
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab (DIVE), Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mark J Taylor
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Luke Mason
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Kristiina Tammimies
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women's and Childrn's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden
- Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Angelica Ronald
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Terje Falck-Ytter
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab (DIVE), Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women's and Childrn's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala, Sweden.
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4
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Blain R, Couly G, Shotar E, Blévinal J, Toupin M, Favre A, Abjaghou A, Inoue M, Hernández-Garzón E, Clarençon F, Chalmel F, Mazaud-Guittot S, Giacobini P, Gitton Y, Chédotal A. A tridimensional atlas of the developing human head. Cell 2023; 186:5910-5924.e17. [PMID: 38070509 PMCID: PMC10783631 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
The evolution and development of the head have long captivated researchers due to the crucial role of the head as the gateway for sensory stimuli and the intricate structural complexity of the head. Although significant progress has been made in understanding head development in various vertebrate species, our knowledge of early human head ontogeny remains limited. Here, we used advanced whole-mount immunostaining and 3D imaging techniques to generate a comprehensive 3D cellular atlas of human head embryogenesis. We present detailed developmental series of diverse head tissues and cell types, including muscles, vasculature, cartilage, peripheral nerves, and exocrine glands. These datasets, accessible through a dedicated web interface, provide insights into human embryogenesis. We offer perspectives on the branching morphogenesis of human exocrine glands and unknown features of the development of neurovascular and skeletomuscular structures. These insights into human embryology have important implications for understanding craniofacial defects and neurological disorders and advancing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael Blain
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France
| | - Gérard Couly
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France
| | - Eimad Shotar
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France; Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | | | - Maryne Toupin
- INSERM, EHESP, Univ Rennes, Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail (Irset), UMR_S 1085, Rennes, France
| | - Anais Favre
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France
| | - Ali Abjaghou
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France
| | - Megumi Inoue
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France
| | | | - Frédéric Clarençon
- Department of Interventional Neuroradiology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Chalmel
- INSERM, EHESP, Univ Rennes, Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail (Irset), UMR_S 1085, Rennes, France
| | - Séverine Mazaud-Guittot
- INSERM, EHESP, Univ Rennes, Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail (Irset), UMR_S 1085, Rennes, France
| | - Paolo Giacobini
- University of Lille, INSERM, CHU Lille, U1172 - LilNCog - Lille Neuroscience & Cognition, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Yorick Gitton
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France.
| | - Alain Chédotal
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France; Institut de pathologie, Groupe Hospitalier Est, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France; University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, MeLiS, CNRS UMR 5284, INSERM U1314, 69008 Lyon, France.
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5
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Bussu G, Portugal AM, Wilsson L, Kleberg JL, Falck-Ytter T. Manipulation of phasic arousal by auditory cues is associated with subsequent changes in visual orienting to faces in infancy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22072. [PMID: 38086954 PMCID: PMC10716513 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49373-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
This eye-tracking study investigated the effect of sound-induced arousal on social orienting under different auditory cue conditions in 5-month-old (n = 25; n = 13 males) and 10-month-old infants (n = 21; n = 14 males) participating in a spontaneous visual search task. Results showed: (1) larger pupil dilation discriminating between high and low volume (b = 0.02, p = 0.007), but not between social and non-social sounds (b = 0.004, p = 0.64); (2) faster visual orienting (b = - 0.09, p < 0.001) and better social orienting at older age (b = 0.94, p < 0.001); (3) a fast habituation effect on social orienting after high-volume sounds (χ2(2) = 7.39, p = 0.025); (4) a quadratic association between baseline pupil size and target selection (b = - 1.0, SE = 0.5, χ2(1) = 4.04, p = 0.045); (5) a positive linear association between pupil dilation and social orienting (b = 0.09, p = 0.039). Findings support adaptive gain theories of arousal, extending the link between phasic pupil dilation and task performance to spontaneous social orienting in infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Bussu
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Ana Maria Portugal
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Lowe Wilsson
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundin Kleberg
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Terje Falck-Ytter
- Development and Neurodiversity Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Von Kraemers Alle 1C, 754 32, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
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6
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Radecke JO, Sprenger A, Stöckler H, Espeter L, Reichhardt MJ, Thomann LS, Erdbrügger T, Buschermöhle Y, Borgwardt S, Schneider TR, Gross J, Wolters CH, Lencer R. Normative tDCS over V5 and FEF reveals practice-induced modulation of extraretinal smooth pursuit mechanisms, but no specific stimulation effect. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21380. [PMID: 38049419 PMCID: PMC10695990 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48313-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural networks subserving smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) provide an ideal model for investigating the interaction of sensory processing and motor control during ongoing movements. To better understand core plasticity aspects of sensorimotor processing for SPEM, normative sham, anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was applied over visual area V5 and frontal eye fields (FEF) in sixty healthy participants. The identical within-subject paradigm was used to assess SPEM modulations by practice. While no specific tDCS effects were revealed, within- and between-session practice effects indicate plasticity of top-down extraretinal mechanisms that mainly affect SPEM in the absence of visual input and during SPEM initiation. To explore the potential of tDCS effects, individual electric field simulations were computed based on calibrated finite element head models and individual functional localization of V5 and FEF location (using functional MRI) and orientation (using combined EEG/MEG) was conducted. Simulations revealed only limited electric field target intensities induced by the applied normative tDCS montages but indicate the potential efficacy of personalized tDCS for the modulation of SPEM. In sum, results indicate the potential susceptibility of extraretinal SPEM control to targeted external neuromodulation (e.g., personalized tDCS) and intrinsic learning protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan-Ole Radecke
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Andreas Sprenger
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Hannah Stöckler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Lisa Espeter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Mandy-Josephine Reichhardt
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Lara S Thomann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Tim Erdbrügger
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Yvonne Buschermöhle
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Stefan Borgwardt
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Till R Schneider
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Carsten H Wolters
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Rebekka Lencer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, 48149, Münster, Germany
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Amato A, Giustino V, Patti A, Proia P, Trivic T, Drid P, Obradovic A, Manojlovic M, Mondoni M, Paoli A, Bianco A. Young basketball players have better manual dexterity performance than sportsmen and non-sportsmen of the same age: a cross-sectional study. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20953. [PMID: 38017046 PMCID: PMC10684493 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48335-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Manual dexterity is a key skill in motor development. There are conflicting studies on the influence of sports practice on this skill and on which type of sport trains this ability the most in youth. Manual dexterity is usually assessed with expensive and time-consuming tools not easily available to facilities such as schools or sports clubs. The aim of this study was to assess differences in manual dexterity performance between young basketball players, sportsmen, and non-sportsmen. A further aim was to analyze whether the coin rotation task was a reliable tool for assessing manual dexterity. Based on the characteristics of the sport, we hypothesized that basketball players had better manual dexterity performances. Seventy-eight participants were included in the study and categorized into "basketball", "sports", and "non-sports" groups. Manual dexterity was assessed with the grooved pegboard, the coin rotation task, and the handgrip tests. The basketball group showed better performance in all tests. Significant differences were found between the basketball group and sports group and between the basketball group and non-sport group in the grooved pegboard (p < 0.05) and in the handgrip (p < 0.05) tests. Test-retest reliability of the coin rotation task scores was moderate in the basketball group (ICC2,1 0.63-0.6). Basketball practice could positively influence manual dexterity. The coin rotation task showed an acceptable construct of validity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Amato
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy
| | - Valerio Giustino
- Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, 90144, Palermo, Italy
| | - Antonino Patti
- Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, 90144, Palermo, Italy.
| | - Patrizia Proia
- Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, 90144, Palermo, Italy
| | - Tatjana Trivic
- Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Patrik Drid
- Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Anja Obradovic
- Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Marko Manojlovic
- Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Maurizio Mondoni
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonio Paoli
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Antonino Bianco
- Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, 90144, Palermo, Italy
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Wang Y, Wu Y, Luo L, Li F. Structural and functional alterations in the brains of patients with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia: a systematic review of magnetic resonance imaging studies. Neural Regen Res 2023; 18:2348-2356. [PMID: 37282452 PMCID: PMC10360096 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.371349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss in children and can persist into adulthood in the absence of effective intervention. Previous clinical and neuroimaging studies have suggested that the neural mechanisms underlying strabismic amblyopia and anisometropic amblyopia may be different. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of magnetic resonance imaging studies investigating brain alterations in patients with these two subtypes of amblyopia; this study is registered with PROSPERO (registration ID: CRD42022349191). We searched three online databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science) from inception to April 1, 2022; 39 studies with 633 patients (324 patients with anisometropic amblyopia and 309 patients with strabismic amblyopia) and 580 healthy controls met the inclusion criteria (e.g., case-control designed, peer-reviewed articles) and were included in this review. These studies highlighted that both strabismic amblyopia and anisometropic amblyopia patients showed reduced activation and distorted topological cortical activated maps in the striate and extrastriate cortices during task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging with spatial-frequency stimulus and retinotopic representations, respectively; these may have arisen from abnormal visual experiences. Compensations for amblyopia that are reflected in enhanced spontaneous brain function have been reported in the early visual cortices in the resting state, as well as reduced functional connectivity in the dorsal pathway and structural connections in the ventral pathway in both anisometropic amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia patients. The shared dysfunction of anisometropic amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia patients, relative to controls, is also characterized by reduced spontaneous brain activity in the oculomotor cortex, mainly involving the frontal and parietal eye fields and the cerebellum; this may underlie the neural mechanisms of fixation instability and anomalous saccades in amblyopia. With regards to specific alterations of the two forms of amblyopia, anisometropic amblyopia patients suffer more microstructural impairments in the precortical pathway than strabismic amblyopia patients, as reflected by diffusion tensor imaging, and more significant dysfunction and structural loss in the ventral pathway. Strabismic amblyopia patients experience more attenuation of activation in the extrastriate cortex than in the striate cortex when compared to anisometropic amblyopia patients. Finally, brain structural magnetic resonance imaging alterations tend to be lateralized in the adult anisometropic amblyopia patients, and the patterns of brain alterations are more limited in amblyopic adults than in children. In conclusion, magnetic resonance imaging studies provide important insights into the brain alterations underlying the pathophysiology of amblyopia and demonstrate common and specific alterations in anisometropic amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia patients; these alterations may improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying amblyopia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxia Wang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Ye Wu
- Department of Ophthalmology, Laboratory of Optometry and Vision Sciences, West China Hospital/West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Lekai Luo
- Department of Radiology, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Fei Li
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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9
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Danneels M, Van Hecke R, Leyssens L, van de Berg R, Dhooge I, Cambier D, Delrue S, Van Rompaey V, Maes L. The impact of vestibular function on cognitive-motor interference: a case-control study on dual-tasking in persons with bilateral vestibulopathy and normal hearing. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13772. [PMID: 37612342 PMCID: PMC10447548 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40465-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Bilateral vestibulopathy (BV) is a chronic vestibular disorder, characterized by bilaterally absent or significantly impaired vestibular function. Symptoms typically include, but are not limited to, unsteadiness and movement-induced blurred vision (oscillopsia). This prospective case-control study aimed to elucidate the impact of BV on cognitive and motor performance and on cognitive-motor interference. Cognitive and motor performance, as well as cognitive-motor interference were measured in persons with BV and normal hearing using the 2BALANCE dual-task protocol. The experimental group was matched to a healthy control group based on age, sex, and educational level. The 2BALANCE protocol comprises cognitive tests assessing visuospatial memory, mental rotation, visual and auditory response inhibition, visual and auditory working memory, and processing speed. The cognitive tests were performed in single-task condition (while seated), and in dual-task condition (during a static and a dynamic motor task). The static motor task consisted of balancing on a force platform with foam pad. The dynamic motor task consisted of walking at a self-selected speed. These motor tasks were also performed in single-task condition. A generalized estimating equations model was used to investigate group differences for all cognitive and motor outcome measures. The estimated marginal means, as well as the odds ratios (OR), and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. For the backward digit recall test, a baseline measurement was performed and analyzed using a student-t test. A total of 22 patients with BV and normal hearing and 22 healthy control subjects were assessed [mean age (SD), BV = 53.66 (13.35) and HC = 53.21 (13.35), 68% male]. The BV group had poorer mental rotation skills in single-task condition, compared to the control group [odds ratio (OR) = 2.30, confidence interval (CI) = 1.12-4.73, P = 0.024]. Similarly, auditory and visual working memory were also poorer in the BV group in single-task condition (P = 0.028 and P = 0.003, respectively). The BV group also performed poorer on the mental rotation task and the visual response inhibition task in dual-task condition (OR = 2.96, CI = 1.57-5.59, P < 0.001 and OR = 1.08, CI = 1.01-1.16, P = 0.032, respectively). Additionally, an interaction effect, indicating increased cognitive-motor interference in the BV group, was observed for mental rotation, response inhibition, and auditory working memory (P = 0.003 to 0.028). All static motor outcome parameters indicated more postural sway in the BV group compared to the control group for all test conditions (P < 0.001 to 0.026). No group differences were noted for the dynamic motor task. These findings suggest a link between vestibular function and cognitive performance, as well as a greater interference between cognitive and motor performance in BV, compared to healthy controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Danneels
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Ruth Van Hecke
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Laura Leyssens
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Raymond van de Berg
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Physics, Tomsk State Research University, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Ingeborg Dhooge
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Head and Skin, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dirk Cambier
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Stefan Delrue
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Sint Lucas Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Vincent Van Rompaey
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Leen Maes
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
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10
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Abstract
Autism is a multifaced disorder comprising sensory abnormalities and a general inflexibility in the motor domain. The sensorimotor system is continuously challenged to answer whether motion-contingent errors result from own movements or whether they are due to external motion. Disturbances in this decision could lead to the perception of motion when there is none and to an inflexibility with regard to motor learning. Here, we test the hypothesis that altered processing of gaze-contingent sensations are responsible for both the motor inflexibility and the sensory overload in autism. We measured motor flexibility by testing how strong participants adapted in a classical saccade adaptation task. We asked healthy participants, scored for autistic traits, to make saccades to a target that was displaced either in inward or in outward direction during saccade execution. The amount of saccade adaptation, that requires to shift the internal target representation, varied with the autistic symptom severity. The higher participants scored for autistic traits, the less they adapted. In order to test for visual stability, we asked participants to localize the position of the saccade target after they completed their saccade. We found the often-reported saccade-induced mis-localization in low Autistic Quotient (AQ) participants. However, we also found mislocalization in high AQ participants despite the absence of saccade adaptation. Our data suggest that high autistic traits are associated with an oculomotor inflexibility that might produce altered processing of trans-saccadic vision which might increase the perceptual overstimulation that is experienced in autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Pomè
- Institute for Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Sandra Tyralla
- Institute for Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Eckart Zimmermann
- Institute for Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
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11
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Porras-García E, Mas-Nieto M, Delgado-García JM, Domínguez-Del-Toro E. Noradrenergic projections regulate the acquisition of classically conditioned eyelid responses in wild-type and are impaired in kreisler mice. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11458. [PMID: 37454229 PMCID: PMC10349844 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38278-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
During embryonic development, heterozygous mutant kreisler mice undergo ectopic expression of the Hoxa3 gene in the rostral hindbrain, affecting the opioid and noradrenergic systems. In this model, we have investigated behavioral and cognitive processes in their adulthood. We confirmed that pontine and locus coeruleus neuronal projections are impaired, by using startle and pain tests and by analyzing immunohistochemical localization of tyrosine hydroxylase. Our results showed that, even if kreisler mice are able to generate eyelid reflex responses, there are differences with wild-types in the first component of the response (R1), modulated by the noradrenergic system. The acquisition of conditioned motor responses is impaired in kreisler mice when using the trace but not the delay paradigm, suggesting a functional impairment in the hippocampus, subsequently confirmed by reduced quantification of alpha2a receptor mRNA expression in this area but not in the cerebellum. Moreover, we demonstrate the involvement of adrenergic projection in eyelid classical conditioning, as clonidine prevents the appearance of eyelid conditioned responses in wild-type mice. In addition, hippocampal motor learning ability was restored in kreisler mice by administration of adrenergic antagonist drugs, and a synergistic effect was observed following simultaneous administration of idazoxan and naloxone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Porras-García
- Division of Neurosciences, University Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. de Utrera, Km. 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Magdalena Mas-Nieto
- Division of Neurosciences, University Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. de Utrera, Km. 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
| | - José María Delgado-García
- Division of Neurosciences, University Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. de Utrera, Km. 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
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12
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Benítez-Temiño B, Hernández RG, de la Cruz RR, Pastor AM. BDNF Influence on Adult Terminal Axon Sprouting after Partial Deafferentation. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10660. [PMID: 37445838 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BDNF is a neurotrophin family member implicated in many different neuronal functions, from neuronal survival during development to synaptic plasticity associated with processes of learning and memory. Its presence in the oculomotor system has previously been demonstrated, as it regulates afferent composition of extraocular motoneurons and their firing pattern. Moreover, BDNF expression increases after extraocular motoneuron partial deafferentation, in parallel with terminal axon sprouting from the remaining axons. To elucidate whether BDNF could play an active role in this process, we performed partial deafferentation of the medial rectus motoneurons through transection of one of the two main afferents, that is, the ascending tract of Deiters, and injected BDNF into the motoneuron target muscle, the medial rectus. Furthermore, to check whether BDNF could stimulate axon sprouting without lesions, we performed the same experiment without any lesions. Axon terminal sprouting was assessed by calretinin immunostaining, which specifically labels the remaining afferent system on medial rectus motoneurons, the abducens internuclear neurons. The results presented herein show that exogenous BDNF stimulated terminal axon growth, allowing the total recovery of synaptic coverage around the motoneuron somata. Moreover, calretinin staining in the neuropil exceeded that present in the control situation. Thus, BDNF could also stimulate axonal sprouting in the neuropil of intact animals. These results point to an active role of BDNF in plastic adaptations that take place after partial deafferentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Benítez-Temiño
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain
| | - Rosendo G Hernández
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain
| | - Rosa R de la Cruz
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain
| | - Angel M Pastor
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain
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13
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Yang R, Vishwanathan A, Wu J, Kemnitz N, Ih D, Turner N, Lee K, Tartavull I, Silversmith WM, Jordan CS, David C, Bland D, Sterling A, Goldman MS, Aksay ERF, Seung HS. Cyclic structure with cellular precision in a vertebrate sensorimotor neural circuit. Curr Biol 2023; 33:2340-2349.e3. [PMID: 37236180 PMCID: PMC10419332 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal wiring diagrams reconstructed by electron microscopy1,2,3,4,5 pose new questions about the organization of nervous systems following the time-honored tradition of cross-species comparisons.6,7 The C. elegans connectome has been conceptualized as a sensorimotor circuit that is approximately feedforward,8,9,10,11 starting from sensory neurons proceeding to interneurons and ending with motor neurons. Overrepresentation of a 3-cell motif often known as the "feedforward loop" has provided further evidence for feedforwardness.10,12 Here, we contrast with another sensorimotor wiring diagram that was recently reconstructed from a larval zebrafish brainstem.13 We show that the 3-cycle, another 3-cell motif, is highly overrepresented in the oculomotor module of this wiring diagram. This is a first for any neuronal wiring diagram reconstructed by electron microscopy, whether invertebrate12,14 or mammalian.15,16,17 The 3-cycle of cells is "aligned" with a 3-cycle of neuronal groups in a stochastic block model (SBM)18 of the oculomotor module. However, the cellular cycles exhibit more specificity than can be explained by the group cycles-recurrence to the same neuron is surprisingly common. Cyclic structure could be relevant for theories of oculomotor function that depend on recurrent connectivity. The cyclic structure coexists with the classic vestibulo-ocular reflex arc for horizontal eye movements,19 and could be relevant for recurrent network models of temporal integration by the oculomotor system.20,21.
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Affiliation(s)
- Runzhe Yang
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Computer Science Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Ashwin Vishwanathan
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Jingpeng Wu
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Nico Kemnitz
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Dodam Ih
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Nicholas Turner
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Computer Science Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Kisuk Lee
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Ignacio Tartavull
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | | | - Chris S Jordan
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Celia David
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Doug Bland
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Amy Sterling
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Mark S Goldman
- Center for Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, and Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Emre R F Aksay
- Institute for Computational Biomedicine and Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - H Sebastian Seung
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Computer Science Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.
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14
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Testa S, Sabatini SP, Canessa A. Active fixation as an efficient coding strategy for neuromorphic vision. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7445. [PMID: 37156822 PMCID: PMC10167324 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34508-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Contrary to a photographer, who puts a great effort in keeping the lens still, eyes insistently move even during fixation. This benefits signal decorrelation, which underlies an efficient encoding of visual information. Yet, camera motion is not sufficient alone; it must be coupled with a sensor specifically selective to temporal changes. Indeed, motion induced on standard imagers only results in burring effects. Neuromorphic sensors represent a valuable solution. Here we characterize the response of an event-based camera equipped with fixational eye movements (FEMs) on both synthetic and natural images. Our analyses prove that the system starts an early stage of redundancy suppression, as a precursor of subsequent whitening processes on the amplitude spectrum. This does not come at the price of corrupting structural information contained in local spatial phase across oriented axes. Isotropy of FEMs ensures proper representations of image features without introducing biases towards specific contrast orientations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Testa
- Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, 16145, Genoa, Italy
| | - Silvio P Sabatini
- Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, 16145, Genoa, Italy
| | - Andrea Canessa
- Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, 16145, Genoa, Italy.
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15
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Wang SB, Nagasaka Y, Argyle D, Nagasaka A, Yerramothu P, Gelfand BD, Ambati J. Targeting the m6A mRNA demethylase FTO suppresses vascular endothelial growth factor release and choroidal neovascularization. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2023; 8:72. [PMID: 36801892 PMCID: PMC9939410 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-01277-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Bin Wang
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
| | - Yosuke Nagasaka
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Dionne Argyle
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Ayami Nagasaka
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Praveen Yerramothu
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Bradley D Gelfand
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Jayakrishna Ambati
- Center for Advanced Vision Science, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
- Department of Pathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
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16
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Abstract
Visual perception is limited by spatial resolution, the ability to discriminate fine details. Spatial resolution not only declines with eccentricity but also differs for polar angle locations around the visual field, also known as 'performance fields'. To compensate for poor peripheral resolution, we make rapid eye movements-saccades-to bring peripheral objects into high-acuity foveal vision. Already before saccade onset, visual attention shifts to the saccade target location and prioritizes visual processing. This presaccadic shift of attention improves performance in many visual tasks, but whether it changes resolution is unknown. Here, we investigated whether presaccadic attention sharpens peripheral spatial resolution; and if so, whether such effect interacts with performance fields asymmetries. We measured acuity thresholds in an orientation discrimination task during fixation and saccade preparation around the visual field. The results revealed that presaccadic attention sharpens acuity, which can facilitate a smooth transition from peripheral to foveal representation. This acuity enhancement is similar across the four cardinal locations; thus, the typically robust effect of presaccadic attention does not change polar angle differences in resolution.
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17
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Charlery-Adèle A, Guigou C, Ryard J, Chartier M, Toupet M, Guillet C, Mérienne F, Bozorg Grayeli A. Effects of saccade delay, side of deficit, and training on detection of catch-up saccades during head-impulse test in virtual-reality-enhanced mannequin. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2718. [PMID: 36792772 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29801-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, a training simulator for the examination of dizzy patients based on a virtual-reality-enhanced mannequin (VREM) was developed to evaluate the detection of catch-up saccades during head impulse test (HIT) and the effect of training in VREM. For novices (n = 35), 2 trials were conducted before and after a training session. Experts (n = 7) were submitted to an evaluation session. In each trial, a left or a right horizontal canal deficit with an overt catch-up saccade (delay between 110 and 320 ms) was randomly presented. Participants scored the difficulty in performing the maneuver, in recognizing the saccades, and the self-confidence in the diagnosis using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Saccade delay significantly influenced the performance. Training significantly improved the sensitivity in the residents (69.1% before to 97.9% after the training, p < 0.001, Fisher's exact test, n = 560 tests), surpassing experts' performances (p < 0.001, versus 87% in experts, Fisher's exact test). The specificity also increased to the expert level (78% before to 95% after the training, and 95% in experts, p < 0.001, Fisher's exact test). The VAS showed a decrease difficulty to execute the HIT, with an increase in the confidence after training. VREM improved the HIT execution performance and the confidence in novice practitioners.
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18
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Lee J. The effect of temporal expectation on the correlations of frontal neural activity with alpha oscillation and sensory-motor latency. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2012. [PMID: 36737634 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29310-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In a dynamic environment, we seek to enhance behavioral responses by anticipating future events. Previous studies have shown that the probability distribution of the timing of future events could shape our expectation of event timing; furthermore, the modulation of alpha oscillation is known to be a critical neural factor. However, a link between the modulation of alpha oscillation by temporal expectation and single neural activity is missing. In this study, we investigated how temporal expectation modulated frontal neural activities and behavioral reaction time by recording neural activity from the frontal eye field smooth pursuit eye movement region of monkeys while they performed a smooth pursuit eye movement task. We found that the temporal expectation reduced the coherence between the neural spiking and alpha frequency of the local field potential, along with the trial-by-trial correlation between the neural spiking activity and pursuit latency. This result suggests that the desynchronization of alpha oscillation by temporal expectation would be related to the decorrelation of population neural activity, which could be the neural source of reaction time enhancement by temporal expectation.
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19
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Lan J, Li Y, Pang S, Zhang G, Wu D, Yang C, Li J, Lin J, Yang X, Li Z, Chu H, Yan L, Zeng J. Targeting displacement as an indicator of binocular fixation in normal Chinese adults. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1124034. [PMID: 36816106 PMCID: PMC9928855 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1124034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose The stability of fixation is crucial for the development of visual function. In this study, we quantify the deviation of visual target during fixational and saccadic tasks using eye-tracking technology, reflecting the control ability and characteristics of fixational displacement among healthy adults in a convenient method. Methods One hundred healthy participants aged between 18 and 55 years were recruited in the study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmic assessment. The eye positions in the fixational and saccadic tasks were documented and analyzed by the Tobii eye-tracking system. Participants were grouped by age and gender. Targeting displacement (TD), defined as the average displacement between visual target and the mean of fixation points corresponding to that stimuli, was used to quantitatively observe fixational displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions. Result There was a strong reproducibility of TD as an indicator of fixation (ICC 0.812 to 0.891, p < 0.001). The TD in fixational task was significantly smaller than that of the saccadic task (3.884 ± 0.525 vs. 4.484 ± 0.509, p < 0.001) among normal people. Moreover, the difference of TD in the horizontal and vertical meridians was related to the nature of the task: In the fixational task, the TD in horizontal was smaller than that in the vertical (p < 0.001), whereas the TD in horizontal was larger than that in vertical in the saccadic task (p = 0.003). In the different age and gender groups: There was no significant difference between different gender and age groups in fixational task. However, during the saccadic task, males had smaller TD in the vertical direction than females (4.061 ± 0.495 vs. 4.404 ± 0.484, p = 0.002), and the average TD increased with age, mainly in the vertical direction (all p < 0.05). The fixation stability decreased significantly in the group over 50-years-old. Conclusion By reporting the fixational displacement of different genders and ages in fixational and saccadic tasks, as well as different longitude lines among normal people, our study might provide an objective, quantitative and convenient reference index for the evaluation of fixation stability in visual impairment diseases and aging phenomenon of visual function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianqing Lan
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yingan Li
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shasha Pang
- National Engineering Research Center for Healthcare Devices, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guanrong Zhang
- Statistics Section, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dianpeng Wu
- National Engineering Research Center for Healthcare Devices, Guangzhou, China
| | - Cheng Yang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Juan Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Junyu Lin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiyang Yang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zheng Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hang Chu
- Statistics Section, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Li Yan
- Statistics Section, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jin Zeng
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China,*Correspondence: Jin Zeng,
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20
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Smalianchuk I, Gandhi NJ. Ventral premotor cortex encodes task relevant features during eye and head movements. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22093. [PMID: 36543870 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26479-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual exploration of the environment is achieved through gaze shifts or coordinated movements of the eyes and the head. The kinematics and contributions of each component can be decoupled to fit the context of the required behavior, such as redirecting the visual axis without moving the head or rotating the head without changing the line of sight. A neural controller of these effectors, therefore, must show code relating to multiple muscle groups, and it must also differentiate its code based on context. In this study we tested whether the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) in monkey exhibits a population code relating to various features of eye and head movements. We constructed three different behavioral tasks or contexts, each with four variables to explore whether PMv modulates its activity in accordance with these factors. We found that task related population code in PMv differentiates between all task related features and conclude that PMv carries information about task relevant features during eye and head movements. Furthermore, this code represents both lower-level (effector and movement direction) and higher-level (context) information.
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21
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Ritok A, Kiss P, Zaher A, Wolf E, Ducza L, Bacskai T, Matesz C, Gaal B. Distribution and postnatal development of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in the perineuronal nets of cholinergic motoneurons innervating extraocular muscles. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21606. [PMID: 36517521 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25692-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Fine control of extraocular muscle fibers derives from two subpopulations of cholinergic motoneurons in the oculomotor-, trochlear- and abducens nuclei. Singly- (SIF) and multiply innervated muscle fibers (MIF) are supplied by the SIF- and MIF motoneurons, respectively, representing different physiological properties and afferentation. SIF motoneurons, as seen in earlier studies, are coated with chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan rich perineuronal nets (PNN), whereas MIF motoneurons lack those. Fine distribution of individual lecticans in the composition of PNNs and adjacent neuropil, as well as the pace of their postnatal accumulation is, however, still unknown. Therefore, the present study aims, by using double immunofluorescent identification and subsequent morphometry, to describe local deposition of lecticans in the perineuronal nets and neuropil of the three eye movement nuclei. In each nucleus PNNs were consequently positive only with WFA and aggrecan reactions, suggesting the dominating role of aggrecan is PNN establishment. Brevican, neurocan and versican however, did not accumulate at all in PNNs but were evenly and moderately present throughout the neuropils. The proportion of PNN bearing motoneurons appeared 76% in oculomotor-, 72.2% in trochlear- and 78.3% in the abducens nucleus. We also identified two morphological subsets of PNNs, the focal and diffuse nets of SIF motoneurons. The process of CSPG accumulation begins just after birth, although considerable PNNs occur at week 1 age around less than half of the motoneurons, which ratio doubles until 2-month age. These findings may be related to the postnatal establishment of the oculokinetic network, performing different repertoires of voluntary eye movements in functionally afoveolate and foveolate animals.
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22
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Kadosh O, Bonneh Y. Face familiarity revealed by fixational eye movements and fixation-related potentials in free viewing. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20178. [PMID: 36418497 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24603-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Event-related potentials (ERPs) and the oculomotor inhibition (OMI) in response to visual transients are known to be sensitive to stimulus properties, attention, and expectation. We have recently found that the OMI is also sensitive to face familiarity. In natural vision, stimulation of the visual cortex is generated primarily by saccades, and it has been recently suggested that fixation-related potentials (FRPs) share similar components with the ERPs. Here, we investigated whether FRPs and microsaccade inhibition (OMI) in free viewing are sensitive to face familiarity. Observers freely watched a slideshow of seven unfamiliar and one familiar facial images presented randomly for 4-s periods, with multiple images per identity. We measured the occipital fixation-related N1 relative to the P1 magnitude as well as the associated fixation-triggered OMI. We found that the average N1-P1 was significantly smaller and the OMI was shorter for the familiar face, compared with any of the seven unfamiliar faces. Moreover, the P1 was suppressed across saccades for the familiar but not for the unfamiliar faces. Our results highlight the sensitivity of the occipital FRPs to stimulus properties such as face familiarity and advance our understanding of the integration process across successive saccades in natural vision.
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23
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Dhungel D, Stevenson SB. Spatial-temporal contrast sensitivity of the eye alignment reflex. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19480. [PMID: 36376410 PMCID: PMC9663687 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23753-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The binocular alignment of the eyes involves both voluntary and reflexive mechanisms, but little is known about the visual input and neurological pathway of the reflex component. Our studies examined the role of spatiotemporal frequency and contrast in the control of reflex eye alignment, and compared the contrast sensitivity of the alignment reflex with psychophysical contrast sensitivity. We measured the contrast sensitivity of vertical disparity-driven vergence eye movements in response to bandwidth filtered static or 6 Hz counterphase flickering noise and measured psychophysical detection sensitivity for the same stimuli. Contrast thresholds for producing a detectable vertical alignment change (measured with nonius lines) were determined using a staircase method for 7 spatial frequencies [0.25-16 cycles per degree] and 3 vertical disparities [5, 10, and 30 arcmin] in 7 adults with normal or corrected to normal vision. The main findings of this study are, (1) the vertical alignment reflex had overall relatively high contrast sensitivity, comparable to but somewhat less than visual detection thresholds, (2) the most effective stimulus spatial frequency scaled in inverse proportion to the disparity being stimulated, and (3) unlike psychophysical contrast sensitivity, the eye alignment reflex contrast sensitivity was not improved by flickering low spatial frequencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepa Dhungel
- University of Houston College of Optometry, 4401 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA.
| | - Scott B Stevenson
- University of Houston College of Optometry, 4401 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA
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24
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Degos B, Pouget P, Missal M. From anticipation to impulsivity in Parkinson's disease. NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2022; 8:125. [PMID: 36184657 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-022-00393-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Anticipatory actions require to keep track of elapsed time and inhibitory control. These cognitive functions could be impacted in Parkinson's disease (iPD). To test this hypothesis, a saccadic reaction time task was used where a visual warning stimulus (WS) predicted the occurrence of an imperative one (IS) appearing after a short delay. In the implicit condition, subjects were not informed about the duration of the delay, disfavoring anticipatory behavior but leaving inhibitory control unaltered. In the explicit condition, delay duration was cued. This should favor anticipatory behavior and perhaps alter inhibitory control. This hypothesis was tested in controls (N = 18) and age-matched iPD patients (N = 20; ON and OFF L-DOPA). We found that the latency distribution of saccades before the IS was bimodal. The 1st mode weakly depended on temporal information and was more prominent in iPD. Saccades in this mode were premature and could result of a lack of inhibition. The 2nd mode covaried with cued duration suggesting that these movements were genuine anticipatory saccades. The explicit condition increased the probability of anticipatory saccades before the IS in controls and iPDON but not iPDOFF patients. Furthermore, in iPD patients the probability of sequences of 1st mode premature responses increased. In conclusion, the triggering of a premature saccade or the initiation of a controlled anticipatory one could be conceptualized as the output of two independent stochastic processes. Altered time perception and increased motor impulsivity could alter the balance between these two processes in favor of the latter in iPD, particularly OFF L-Dopa.
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25
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Ryan JD, Wynn JS, Shen K, Liu ZX. Aging changes the interactions between the oculomotor and memory systems. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn 2022; 29:418-442. [PMID: 34856890 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2021.2007841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The use of multi-modal approaches, particularly in conjunction with multivariate analytic techniques, can enrich models of cognition, brain function, and how they change with age. Recently, multivariate approaches have been applied to the study of eye movements in a manner akin to that of neural activity (i.e., pattern similarity). Here, we review the literature regarding multi-modal and/or multivariate approaches, with specific reference to the use of eyetracking to characterize age-related changes in memory. By applying multi-modal and multivariate approaches to the study of aging, research has shown that aging is characterized by moment-to-moment alterations in the amount and pattern of visual exploration, and by extension, alterations in the activity and function of the hippocampus and broader medial temporal lobe (MTL). These methodological advances suggest that age-related declines in the integrity of the memory system has consequences for oculomotor behavior in the moment, in a reciprocal fashion. Age-related changes in hippocampal and MTL structure and function may lead to an increase in, and change in the patterns of, visual exploration in an effort to upregulate the encoding of information. However, such visual exploration patterns may be non-optimal and actually reduce the amount and/or type of incoming information that is bound into a lasting memory representation. This research indicates that age-related cognitive impairments are considerably broader in scope than previously realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer D Ryan
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jordana S Wynn
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA
| | - Kelly Shen
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Zhong-Xu Liu
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn MI, USA
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26
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Abstract
Eye movements are neither necessary nor sufficient to account for the neural effects associated with covert attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Benedetto
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, New York, United States
| | - Martina Poletti
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the Center for Visual Science and the Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, United States
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27
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Carrero-Rojas G, Hernández RG, Blumer R, de la Cruz RR, Pastor AM. MIF versus SIF Motoneurons, What Are Their Respective Contribution in the Oculomotor Medial Rectus Pool? J Neurosci 2021; 41:9782-9793. [PMID: 34675089 PMCID: PMC8612643 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1480-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiply-innervated muscle fibers (MIFs) are peculiar to the extraocular muscles as they are non-twitch but produce a slow build up in tension on repetitive stimulation. The motoneurons innervating MIFs establish en grappe terminals along the entire length of the fiber, instead of the typical en plaque terminals that singly-innervated muscle fibers (SIFs) motoneurons establish around the muscle belly. MIF motoneurons have been proposed to participate only in gaze holding and slow eye movements. We aimed to discern the function of MIF motoneurons by recording medial rectus motoneurons of the oculomotor nucleus. Single-unit recordings in awake cats demonstrated that electrophysiologically-identified medial rectus MIF motoneurons participated in different types of eye movements, including fixations, rapid eye movements or saccades, convergences, and the slow and fast phases of the vestibulo-ocular nystagmus, the same as SIF motoneurons did. However, MIF medial rectus motoneurons presented lower firing frequencies, were recruited earlier and showed lower eye position (EP) and eye velocity (EV) sensitivities than SIF motoneurons. MIF medial rectus motoneurons were also smaller, had longer antidromic latencies and a lower synaptic coverage than SIF motoneurons. Peristimulus time histograms (PSTHs) revealed that electrical stimulation to the myotendinous junction, where palisade endings are located, did not recurrently affect the firing probability of medial rectus motoneurons. Therefore, we conclude there is no division of labor between MIF and SIF motoneurons based on the type of eye movement they subserve.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In addition to the common singly-innervated muscle fiber (SIF), extraocular muscles also contain multiply-innervated muscle fibers (MIFs), which are non-twitch and slow in contraction. MIF motoneurons have been proposed to participate only in gaze holding and slow eye movements. In the present work, by single-unit extracellular recordings in awake cats, we demonstrate, however, that both SIF and MIF motoneurons, electrophysiologically-identified, participate in the different types of eye movements. However, MIF motoneurons showed lower firing rates (FRs), recruitment thresholds, and eye-related sensitivities, and could thus contribute to the fine adjustment of eye movements. Electrical stimulation of the myotendinous junction activates antidromically MIF motoneurons but neither MIF nor SIF motoneurons receive a synaptic reafferentation that modifies their discharge probability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Génova Carrero-Rojas
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
- Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Imaging Cluster, Medical University Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Rosendo G Hernández
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
| | - Roland Blumer
- Center of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical Imaging Cluster, Medical University Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Rosa R de la Cruz
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
| | - Angel M Pastor
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41012, Spain
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28
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Karsolia A, Stevenson SB, Das VE. Unreferenced spatial localization under monocular and dichoptic viewing conditions. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21341. [PMID: 34725377 PMCID: PMC8560936 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00597-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of eye position in the brain is critical for localization of objects in space. To investigate the accuracy and precision of eye position feedback in an unreferenced environment, subjects with normal ocular alignment attempted to localize briefly presented targets during monocular and dichoptic viewing. In the task, subjects' used a computer mouse to position a response disk at the remembered location of the target. Under dichoptic viewing (with red (right eye)-green (left eye) glasses), target and response disks were presented to the same or alternate eyes, leading to four conditions [green target-green response cue (LL), green-red (LR), red-green (RL), and red-red (RR)]. Time interval between target and response disks was varied and localization errors were the difference between the estimated and real positions of the target disk. Overall, the precision of spatial localization (variance across trials) became progressively worse with time. Under dichoptic viewing, localization errors were significantly greater for alternate-eye trials as compared to same-eye trials and were correlated to the average phoria of each subject. Our data suggests that during binocular dissociation, spatial localization may be achieved by combining a reliable versional efference copy signal with a proprioceptive signal that is unreliable perhaps because it is from the wrong eye or is too noisy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apoorva Karsolia
- College of Optometry, University of Houston, 4901 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA.
| | - Scott B Stevenson
- College of Optometry, University of Houston, 4901 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA
| | - Vallabh E Das
- College of Optometry, University of Houston, 4901 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX, 77204, USA
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29
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Arthur T, Harris D, Buckingham G, Brosnan M, Wilson M, Williams G, Vine S. An examination of active inference in autistic adults using immersive virtual reality. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20377. [PMID: 34645899 PMCID: PMC8514518 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99864-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The integration of prior expectations, sensory information, and environmental volatility is proposed to be atypical in Autism Spectrum Disorder, yet few studies have tested these predictive processes in active movement tasks. To address this gap in the research, we used an immersive virtual-reality racquetball paradigm to explore how visual sampling behaviours and movement kinematics are adjusted in relation to unexpected, uncertain, and volatile changes in environmental statistics. We found that prior expectations concerning ball 'bounciness' affected sensorimotor control in both autistic and neurotypical participants, with all individuals using prediction-driven gaze strategies to track the virtual ball. However, autistic participants showed substantial differences in visuomotor behaviour when environmental conditions were more volatile. Specifically, uncertainty-related performance difficulties in these conditions were accompanied by atypical movement kinematics and visual sampling responses. Results support proposals that autistic people overestimate the volatility of sensory environments, and suggest that context-sensitive differences in active inference could explain a range of movement-related difficulties in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Arthur
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK.
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
| | - David Harris
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK
| | - Gavin Buckingham
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK
| | - Mark Brosnan
- Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Mark Wilson
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK
| | - Genevieve Williams
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK
| | - Sam Vine
- Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, Devon, UK.
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30
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Ward LM, Kapoula Z. Dyslexics' Fragile Oculomotor Control Is Further Destabilized by Increased Text Difficulty. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11080990. [PMID: 34439612 PMCID: PMC8394394 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11080990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Dyslexic adolescents demonstrate deficits in word decoding, recognition, and oculomotor coordination as compared to healthy controls. Our lab recently showed intrinsic deficits in large saccades and vergence movements with a Remobi device independent from reading. This shed new light on the field of dyslexia, as it has been debated in the literature whether the deficits in eye movements are a cause or consequence of reading difficulty. The present study investigates how these oculomotor problems are compensated for or aggravated by text difficulty. A total of 46 dyslexic and 41 non-dyslexic adolescents' eye movements were analyzed while reading L'Alouette, a dyslexia screening test, and 35 Kilos D'Espoir, a children's book with a reading age of 10 years. While reading the more difficult text, dyslexics made more mistakes, read slower, and made more regressive saccades; moreover, they made smaller amplitude saccades with abnormal velocity profiles (e.g., higher peak velocity but lower average velocity) and significantly higher saccade disconjugacy. While reading the simpler text, these differences persisted; however, the difference in saccade disconjugacy, although present, was no longer significant, nor was there a significant difference in the percentage of regressive saccades. We propose that intrinsic eye movement abnormalities in dyslexics such as saccade disconjugacy, abnormal velocity profiles, and cognitively associated regressive saccades can be particularly exacerbated if the reading text relies heavily on word decoding to extract meaning; increased number of regressive saccades are a manifestation of reading difficulty and not a problem of eye movement per se. These interpretations are in line with the motor theory of visual attention and our previous research describing the relationship between binocular motor control, attention, and cognition that exists outside of the field of dyslexia.
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31
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Abstract
Legislation frequently restricts the use of cellphones while driving. Despite this, many people continue to interact with cellphones covertly while driving, typically by concealing their device in their lap. This strategy leads to frequent diversion of the drivers' gaze from the road ahead, potentially reducing their driving performance. To evaluate the influence of cellphone use on driving, 30 participants took part in three randomly ordered 7-min virtual reality driving simulations. In each condition, drivers were presented with either (a) no cellphone, (b) a cellphone fixed to the windscreen, or (c) a cellphone positioned at lap level. Their task was to maintain road position and observe speed limits while answering maths problems (delivered intermittently via 'text message') and searching for external target objects. Outcome measures included speed, lane position standard deviation (LPSD), and fixation behaviour, which were compared between trials. In trials where a cellphone was present, participants shifted fixation more frequently, drove approximately 6 km/h faster, exhibited a lower LPSD and spent more time in the correct lane on the road (compared to the no-cellphone condition; all p < 0.001). Cellphone position influenced eye gaze behaviour, with drivers looking at the cellphone less frequently, and the speedometer more frequently. when the cellphone was in their lap compared to when the cellphone was positioned on the windscreen. Our results are consistent with participants driving more cautiously-checking speed and lane position more frequently-when they have a cellphone in the lap. Real-world driving data would be useful to determine whether this change in driving behaviour we observed is sufficient to offset the increased risk introduced by spending less time looking at the road ahead.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Safal Khanal
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1716 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA
| | - Steven C Dakin
- University of Auckland, 85 Park Rd., Grafton, Auckland, 1023, New Zealand
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, 11-43 Bath Street, London, EC1V 9EL, UK
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Ferris LM, Kontos AP, Eagle SR, Elbin RJ, Collins MW, Mucha A, Clugston JR, Port NL. Predictive Accuracy of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 and Vestibular/Ocular-Motor Screening, Individually and In Combination: A National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research and Education Consortium Analysis. Am J Sports Med 2021; 49:1040-1048. [PMID: 33600216 DOI: 10.1177/0363546520988098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Vestibular and ocular symptoms in sport-related concussions are common. The Vestibular/Ocular-Motor Screening (VOMS) tool is a rapid, free, pen-and-paper tool that directly assesses these symptoms and shows consistent utility in concussion identification, prognosis, and management. However, a VOMS validation study in the acute concussion period of a large sample is lacking. PURPOSE To examine VOMS validity among collegiate student-athletes, concussed and nonconcussed, from the multisite National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium. A secondary aim was to utilize multidimensional machine learning pattern classifiers to deduce the additive power of the VOMS in relation to components of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 (SCAT3). STUDY DESIGN Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. METHODS Preseason and acute concussion assessments were analyzed for 419 student-athletes. Variables in the analysis included the VOMS, Balance Error Scoring System, Standardized Assessment of Concussion, and SCAT3 symptom evaluation score. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all tools, including Kolmogorov-Smirnov significance and Cohen d effect size. Correlations between tools were analyzed with Spearman r, and predictive accuracy was evaluated through an Ada Boosted Tree machine learning model's generated receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS Total VOMS scores and SCAT3 symptom scores demonstrated significant increases in the acute concussion time frame (Cohen d = 1.23 and 1.06; P < .0001), whereas the Balance Error Scoring System lacked clinical significance (Cohen d = 0.17). Incorporation of VOMS into the full SCAT3 significantly boosted overall diagnostic ability by 4.4% to an area under the curve of 0.848 (P < .0001) and produced a 9% improvement in test sensitivity over the existing SCAT3 battery. CONCLUSION The results from this study highlight the relevance of the vestibular and oculomotor systems to concussion and the utility of the VOMS tool. Given the 3.8 million sports-related and 45,121 military-related concussions per year, the addition of VOMS to the SCAT3 is poised to identify up to an additional 304,000 athletes and 3610 servicemembers annually who are concussed, thereby improving concussion assessment and diagnostic rates. Health care providers should consider the addition of VOMS to their concussion assessment toolkits, as its use can positively affect assessment and management of concussions, which may ultimately improve outcomes for this complex and common injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lyndsey M Ferris
- Indiana University School of Optometry, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | | | - Shawn R Eagle
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - R J Elbin
- University of Arkansas, Fayatteville, Arkansas, USA
| | | | - Anne Mucha
- UPMC Centers for Rehab Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Nicholas L Port
- Indiana University School of Optometry, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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33
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Okada KI, Miura K, Fujimoto M, Morita K, Yoshida M, Yamamori H, Yasuda Y, Iwase M, Inagaki M, Shinozaki T, Fujita I, Hashimoto R. Impaired inhibition of return during free-viewing behaviour in patients with schizophrenia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3237. [PMID: 33547381 PMCID: PMC7865073 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82253-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia affects various aspects of cognitive and behavioural functioning. Eye movement abnormalities are commonly observed in patients with schizophrenia (SZs). Here we examined whether such abnormalities reflect an anomaly in inhibition of return (IOR), the mechanism that inhibits orienting to previously fixated or attended locations. We analyzed spatiotemporal patterns of eye movement during free-viewing of visual images including natural scenes, geometrical patterns, and pseudorandom noise in SZs and healthy control participants (HCs). SZs made saccades to previously fixated locations more frequently than HCs. The time lapse from the preceding saccade was longer for return saccades than for forward saccades in both SZs and HCs, but the difference was smaller in SZs. SZs explored a smaller area than HCs. Generalized linear mixed-effect model analysis indicated that the frequent return saccades served to confine SZs' visual exploration to localized regions. The higher probability of return saccades in SZs was related to cognitive decline after disease onset but not to the dose of prescribed antipsychotics. We conclude that SZs exhibited attenuated IOR under free-viewing conditions, which led to restricted scene scanning. IOR attenuation will be a useful clue for detecting impairment in attention/orienting control and accompanying cognitive decline in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken-ichi Okada
- grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.39158.360000 0001 2173 7691Present Address: Department of Physiology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Hokkaido, 060-8638 Japan
| | - Kenichiro Miura
- grid.419280.60000 0004 1763 8916Department of Pathology of Mental Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawa-Higashi 4-1-1, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553 Japan
| | - Michiko Fujimoto
- grid.419280.60000 0004 1763 8916Department of Pathology of Mental Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawa-Higashi 4-1-1, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Kentaro Morita
- grid.412708.80000 0004 1764 7572Department of Rehabilitation, University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, 113-8655 Japan
| | - Masatoshi Yoshida
- grid.467811.d0000 0001 2272 1771Department of Developmental Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Aichi, 444-8585 Japan ,grid.275033.00000 0004 1763 208XSchool of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Kanagawa, 240-0193 Japan ,grid.39158.360000 0001 2173 7691Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, 060-0812 Japan
| | - Hidenaga Yamamori
- grid.419280.60000 0004 1763 8916Department of Pathology of Mental Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawa-Higashi 4-1-1, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.460257.2Japan Community Health Care Organization Osaka Hospital, Osaka, 553-0003 Japan
| | - Yuka Yasuda
- grid.419280.60000 0004 1763 8916Department of Pathology of Mental Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawa-Higashi 4-1-1, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553 Japan ,Life Grow Brilliant Mental Clinic, Medical Corporation Foster, Osaka, 530-0012 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Molecular Research Center for Children’s Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Masao Iwase
- grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Mikio Inagaki
- grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Takashi Shinozaki
- grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Ichiro Fujita
- grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
| | - Ryota Hashimoto
- grid.419280.60000 0004 1763 8916Department of Pathology of Mental Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Ogawa-Higashi 4-1-1, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan ,grid.136593.b0000 0004 0373 3971Molecular Research Center for Children’s Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871 Japan
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Silva-Hucha S, Pastor AM, Morcuende S. Neuroprotective Effect of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor on Motoneurons of the Oculomotor System. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:E814. [PMID: 33467517 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22020814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was initially characterized as a potent angiogenic factor based on its activity on the vascular system. However, it is now well established that VEGF also plays a crucial role as a neuroprotective factor in the nervous system. A deficit of VEGF has been related to motoneuronal degeneration, such as that occurring in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Strikingly, motoneurons of the oculomotor system show lesser vulnerability to neurodegeneration in ALS compared to other motoneurons. These motoneurons presented higher amounts of VEGF and its receptor Flk-1 than other brainstem pools. That higher VEGF level could be due to an enhanced retrograde input from their target muscles, but it can also be produced by the motoneurons themselves and act in an autocrine way. By contrast, VEGF’s paracrine supply from the vicinity cells, such as glial cells, seems to represent a minor source of VEGF for brainstem motoneurons. In addition, ocular motoneurons experiment an increase in VEGF and Flk-1 level in response to axotomy, not observed in facial or hypoglossal motoneurons. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the differences in VEGF availability that could contribute to the higher resistance of extraocular motoneurons to injury and neurodegenerative diseases.
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Abstract
Small ballistic eye movements, so called microsaccades, occur even while foveating an object. Previous studies using covert attention tasks have shown that shortly after a symbolic spatial cue, specifying a behaviorally relevant location, microsaccades tend to be directed toward the cued location. This suggests that microsaccades can serve as an index for the covert orientation of spatial attention. However, this hypothesis faces two major challenges: First, effects associated with visual spatial attention are hard to distinguish from those that associated with the contemplation of foveating a peripheral stimulus. Second, it is less clear whether endogenously sustained attention alone can bias microsaccade directions without a spatial cue on each trial. To address the first issue, we investigated the direction of microsaccades in human subjects while they attended to a behaviorally relevant location and prepared a response eye movement either toward or away from this location. We find that directions of microsaccades are biased toward the attended location rather than towards the saccade target. To tackle the second issue, we verbally indicated the location to attend before the start of each block of trials, to exclude potential visual cue-specific effects on microsaccades. Our results indicate that sustained spatial attention alone reliably produces the microsaccade direction effect. Overall, our findings demonstrate that sustained spatial attention alone, even in the absence of saccade planning or a spatial cue, is sufficient to explain the direction bias observed in microsaccades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Xue
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany.
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
| | - Antonino Calapai
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany
- Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Julius Krumbiegel
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany
- Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Goettingen University, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Stefan Treue
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany
- Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany
- Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Goettingen University, Goettingen, Germany
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36
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Abstract
Adaptive behavior relies on the selection of relevant sensory information from both the external environment and internal memory representations. In understanding external selection, a classic distinction is made between voluntary (goal-directed) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) guidance of attention. We have developed a task-the anti-retrocue task-to separate and examine voluntary and involuntary guidance of attention to internal representations in visual working memory. We show that both voluntary and involuntary factors influence memory performance but do so in distinct ways. Moreover, by tracking gaze biases linked to attentional focusing in memory, we provide direct evidence for an involuntary "retro-capture" effect whereby external stimuli involuntarily trigger the selection of feature-matching internal representations. We show that stimulus-driven and goal-directed influences compete for selection in memory, and that the balance of this competition-as reflected in oculomotor signatures of internal attention-predicts the quality of ensuing memory-guided behavior. Thus, goal-directed and stimulus-driven factors together determine the fate not only of perception, but also of internal representations in working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Freek van Ede
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom;
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander G Board
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom
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Badde S, Myers CF, Yuval-Greenberg S, Carrasco M. Oculomotor freezing reflects tactile temporal expectation and aids tactile perception. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3341. [PMID: 32620746 PMCID: PMC7335189 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17160-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The oculomotor system keeps the eyes steady in expectation of visual events. Here, recording microsaccades while people performed a tactile, frequency discrimination task enabled us to test whether the oculomotor system shows an analogous preparatory response for unrelated tactile events. We manipulated the temporal predictability of tactile targets using tactile cues, which preceded the target by either constant (high predictability) or variable (low predictability) time intervals. We find that microsaccades are inhibited prior to tactile targets and more so for constant than variable intervals, revealing a tight crossmodal link between tactile temporal expectation and oculomotor action. These findings portray oculomotor freezing as a marker of crossmodal temporal expectation. Moreover, microsaccades occurring around the tactile target presentation are associated with reduced task performance, suggesting that oculomotor freezing mitigates potential detrimental, concomitant effects of microsaccades and revealing a crossmodal coupling between tactile perception and oculomotor action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Badde
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Caroline F Myers
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 6997801, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA
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38
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Abstract
Animals actively interact with their environment to gather sensory information. There is conflicting evidence about how mice use vision to sample their environment. During head restraint, mice make rapid eye movements coupled between the eyes, similar to conjugate saccadic eye movements in humans. However, when mice are free to move their heads, eye movements are more complex and often non-conjugate, with the eyes moving in opposite directions. We combined head and eye tracking in freely moving mice and found both observations are explained by two eye-head coupling types, associated with vestibular mechanisms. The first type comprised non-conjugate eye movements, which compensate for head tilt changes to maintain a similar visual field relative to the horizontal ground plane. The second type of eye movements was conjugate and coupled to head yaw rotation to produce a "saccade and fixate" gaze pattern. During head-initiated saccades, the eyes moved together in the head direction but during subsequent fixation moved in the opposite direction to the head to compensate for head rotation. This saccade and fixate pattern is similar to humans who use eye movements (with or without head movement) to rapidly shift gaze but in mice relies on combined head and eye movements. Both couplings were maintained during social interactions and visually guided object tracking. Even in head-restrained mice, eye movements were invariably associated with attempted head motion. Our results reveal that mice combine head and eye movements to sample their environment and highlight similarities and differences between eye movements in mice and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne F Meyer
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525, the Netherlands; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), London W1T 4JG, UK.
| | - John O'Keefe
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), London W1T 4JG, UK; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jasper Poort
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), London W1T 4JG, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK.
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Calvo PM, de la Cruz RR, Pastor AM. A Single Intraventricular Injection of VEGF Leads to Long-Term Neurotrophic Effects in Axotomized Motoneurons. eNeuro 2020; 7:ENEURO.0467-19.2020. [PMID: 32371476 PMCID: PMC7266142 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0467-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2019] [Revised: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been recently demonstrated to induce neuroprotective and synaptotrophic effects on lesioned neurons. Hitherto, the administration of VEGF in different animal models of lesion or disease has been conducted following a chronic protocol of administration. We questioned whether a single dose of VEGF, administered intraventricularly, could induce long-term neurotrophic effects on injured motoneurons. For this purpose, we performed in cats the axotomy of abducens motoneurons and the injection of VEGF into the fourth ventricle in the same surgical session and investigated the discharge characteristics of axotomized and treated motoneurons by single-unit extracellular recordings in the chronic alert preparation. We found that injured motoneurons treated with a single VEGF application discharged with normal characteristics, showing neuronal eye position (EP) and velocity sensitivities similar to control, thereby preventing the axotomy-induced alterations. These effects were present for a prolonged period of time (50 d) after VEGF administration. By confocal immunofluorescence we also showed that the synaptic stripping that ensues lesion was not present, rather motoneurons showed a normal synaptic coverage. Moreover, we demonstrated that VEGF did not lead to any angiogenic response pointing to a direct action of the factor on neurons. In summary, a single dose of VEFG administered just after motoneuron axotomy is able to prevent for a long time the axotomy-induced firing and synaptic alterations without any associated vascular sprouting. We consider that these data are of great relevance due to the potentiality of VEGF as a therapeutic agent in neuronal lesions and diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula M Calvo
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla 41012, Spain
| | - Rosa R de la Cruz
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla 41012, Spain
| | - Angel M Pastor
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla 41012, Spain
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40
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Dash S, Peel TR, Lomber SG, Corneil BD. Impairment but not abolishment of express saccades after unilateral or bilateral inactivation of the frontal eye fields. J Neurophysiol 2020; 123:1907-1919. [PMID: 32267202 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00191.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Express saccades are a manifestation of a visual grasp reflex triggered when visual information arrives in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SCi), which in turn orchestrates the lower level brainstem saccade generator to evoke a saccade with a very short latency (~100 ms or less). A prominent theory regarding express saccades generation is that they are facilitated by preparatory signals, presumably from cortical areas, which prime the SCi before the arrival of visual information. Here, we test this theory by reversibly inactivating a key cortical input to the SCi, the frontal eye fields (FEF), while monkeys perform an oculomotor task that promotes express saccades. Across three tasks with a different combination of potential target locations and unilateral or bilateral FEF inactivation, we found a spared ability for monkeys to generate express saccades, despite decreases in express saccade frequency during FEF inactivation. This result is consistent with the FEF having a facilitatory but not critical role in express saccade generation, likely because other cortical areas compensate for the loss of preparatory input to the SCi. However, we also found decreases in the accuracy and peak velocity of express saccades generated during FEF inactivation, which argues for an influence of the FEF on the saccadic burst generator even during express saccades. Overall, our results shed further light on the role of the FEF in the shortest-latency visually-guided eye movements.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Express saccades are the shortest-latency saccade. The frontal eye fields (FEF) are thought to promote express saccades by presetting the superior colliculus. Here, by reversibly inactivating the FEF either unilaterally or bilaterally via cortical cooling, we support this by showing that the FEF plays a facilitative but not critical role in express saccade generation. We also found that FEF inactivation lowered express saccade peak velocity, emphasizing a contribution of the FEF to express saccade kinematics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suryadeep Dash
- Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tyler R Peel
- Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Stephen G Lomber
- Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brian D Corneil
- Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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41
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Kothari R, Yang Z, Kanan C, Bailey R, Pelz JB, Diaz GJ. Gaze-in-wild: A dataset for studying eye and head coordination in everyday activities. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2539. [PMID: 32054884 PMCID: PMC7018838 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59251-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of gaze behavior has primarily been constrained to controlled environments in which the head is fixed. Consequently, little effort has been invested in the development of algorithms for the categorization of gaze events (e.g. fixations, pursuits, saccade, gaze shifts) while the head is free, and thus contributes to the velocity signals upon which classification algorithms typically operate. Our approach was to collect a novel, naturalistic, and multimodal dataset of eye + head movements when subjects performed everyday tasks while wearing a mobile eye tracker equipped with an inertial measurement unit and a 3D stereo camera. This Gaze-in-the-Wild dataset (GW) includes eye + head rotational velocities (deg/s), infrared eye images and scene imagery (RGB + D). A portion was labelled by coders into gaze motion events with a mutual agreement of 0.74 sample based Cohen's κ. This labelled data was used to train and evaluate two machine learning algorithms, Random Forest and a Recurrent Neural Network model, for gaze event classification. Assessment involved the application of established and novel event based performance metrics. Classifiers achieve ~87% human performance in detecting fixations and saccades but fall short (50%) on detecting pursuit movements. Moreover, pursuit classification is far worse in the absence of head movement information. A subsequent analysis of feature significance in our best performing model revealed that classification can be done using only the magnitudes of eye and head movements, potentially removing the need for calibration between the head and eye tracking systems. The GW dataset, trained classifiers and evaluation metrics will be made publicly available with the intention of facilitating growth in the emerging area of head-free gaze event classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakshit Kothari
- Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA.
| | - Zhizhuo Yang
- Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Christopher Kanan
- Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Reynold Bailey
- Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Jeff B Pelz
- Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Gabriel J Diaz
- Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, RIT, Rochester, NY, USA
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42
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Cognolato M, Gijsberts A, Gregori V, Saetta G, Giacomino K, Hager AGM, Gigli A, Faccio D, Tiengo C, Bassetto F, Caputo B, Brugger P, Atzori M, Müller H. Gaze, visual, myoelectric, and inertial data of grasps for intelligent prosthetics. Sci Data 2020; 7:43. [PMID: 32041965 PMCID: PMC7010656 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0380-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A hand amputation is a highly disabling event, having severe physical and psychological repercussions on a person's life. Despite extensive efforts devoted to restoring the missing functionality via dexterous myoelectric hand prostheses, natural and robust control usable in everyday life is still challenging. Novel techniques have been proposed to overcome the current limitations, among them the fusion of surface electromyography with other sources of contextual information. We present a dataset to investigate the inclusion of eye tracking and first person video to provide more stable intent recognition for prosthetic control. This multimodal dataset contains surface electromyography and accelerometry of the forearm, and gaze, first person video, and inertial measurements of the head recorded from 15 transradial amputees and 30 able-bodied subjects performing grasping tasks. Besides the intended application for upper-limb prosthetics, we also foresee uses for this dataset to study eye-hand coordination in the context of psychophysics, neuroscience, and assistive robotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Cognolato
- Information Systems Institute, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), Sierre, Switzerland.
- Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | | | - Valentina Gregori
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
| | - Gianluca Saetta
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katia Giacomino
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), Leukerbad, Switzerland
| | - Anne-Gabrielle Mittaz Hager
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), Leukerbad, Switzerland
| | | | - Diego Faccio
- Clinic of Plastic Surgery, Padova University Hospital, Padova, Italy
| | - Cesare Tiengo
- Clinic of Plastic Surgery, Padova University Hospital, Padova, Italy
| | - Franco Bassetto
- Clinic of Plastic Surgery, Padova University Hospital, Padova, Italy
| | - Barbara Caputo
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
- Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Peter Brugger
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Rehabilitation Center Valens, Valens, Switzerland
| | - Manfredo Atzori
- Information Systems Institute, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), Sierre, Switzerland.
| | - Henning Müller
- Information Systems Institute, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), Sierre, Switzerland.
- University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Abstract
Eye-tracking is a valuable tool in cognitive science for measuring how visual processing resources are allocated during scene exploration. However, eye-tracking technology is largely confined to laboratory-based settings, making it difficult to apply to large-scale studies. Here, we introduce a biologically-inspired solution that involves presenting, on a touch-sensitive interface, a Gaussian-blurred image that is locally unblurred by sliding a finger over the display. Thus, the user's finger movements provide a proxy for their eye movements and attention. We validated the method by showing strong correlations between attention maps obtained using finger-tracking vs. conventional optical eye-tracking. Using neural networks trained to predict empirically-derived attention maps, we established that identical high-level features hierarchically drive explorations with either method. Finally, the diagnostic value of digit-tracking was tested in autistic and brain-damaged patients. Rapid yet robust measures afforded by this method open the way to large scale applications in research and clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Lio
- Institute of Cognitive Science Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France
- University of Lyon, Lyon, France
- Reference Center for Rare Diseases with Psychiatric Phenotype Génopsy, le Vinatier Hospital, Bron, France
| | - Roberta Fadda
- Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu, Cagliari, Italy
- Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Doneddu
- Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Jean-René Duhamel
- Institute of Cognitive Science Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France
- University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Angela Sirigu
- Institute of Cognitive Science Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France.
- University of Lyon, Lyon, France.
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Abstract
We use sequences of saccadic eye movements to continually explore our visual environments. Previous behavioral studies have established that saccades in a sequence may be programmed in parallel by the oculomotor system. In this study, we tested the neural correlates of parallel programming of saccade sequences in the frontal eye field (FEF), using single-unit electrophysiological recordings from macaques performing a sequential saccade task. It is known that FEF visual neurons instantiate target selection whereas FEF movement neurons undertake saccade preparation, where the activity corresponding to a saccade vector gradually ramps up. The question of whether FEF movement neurons are involved in concurrent processing of saccade plans is as yet unresolved. In the present study, we show that, when a peripheral target is foveated after a sequence of two saccades, presaccadic activity of FEF movement neurons for the second saccade can be activated while the first is still underway. Moreover, the onset of movement activity varied parametrically with the behaviorally measured time available for parallel programming. Although at central fixation coactivated FEF movement activity may vectorially encode the retinotopic location of the second target with respect to the fixation point or the remapped location of the second target, with respect to the first our evidence suggests the possibility of early encoding of the remapped second saccade vector. Taken together, the results indicate that movement neurons, although located terminally in the FEF visual-motor spectrum, can accomplish concurrent processing of multiple saccade plans, leading to rapid execution of saccade sequences.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The execution of purposeful sequences underlies much of goal-directed behavior. How different brain areas accomplish sequencing is poorly understood. Using a modified double-step task to generate a rapid sequence of two saccades, we demonstrate that downstream movement neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF), a prefrontal oculomotor area, allow for coactivation of the first and second movement plans that constitute the sequence. These results provide fundamental insights into the neural control of action sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debaleena Basu
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Aditya Murthy
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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45
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Satel J, Wilson NR, Klein RM. What Neuroscientific Studies Tell Us about Inhibition of Return. Vision (Basel) 2019; 3:E58. [PMID: 31735859 DOI: 10.3390/vision3040058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Revised: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
An inhibitory aftermath of orienting, inhibition of return (IOR), has intrigued scholars since its discovery about 40 years ago. Since then, the phenomenon has been subjected to a wide range of neuroscientific methods and the results of these are reviewed in this paper. These include direct manipulations of brain structures (which occur naturally in brain damage and disease or experimentally as in TMS and lesion studies) and measurements of brain activity (in humans using EEG and fMRI and in animals using single unit recording). A variety of less direct methods (e.g., computational modeling, developmental studies, etc.) have also been used. The findings from this wide range of methods support the critical role of subcortical and cortical oculomotor pathways in the generation and nature of IOR.
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46
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Acosta L, Morcuende S, Silva-Hucha S, Pastor AM, de la Cruz RR. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Prevents the Downregulation of the Cholinergic Phenotype in Axotomized Motoneurons of the Adult Rat. Front Mol Neurosci 2018; 11:241. [PMID: 30050409 PMCID: PMC6052088 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2018.00241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was initially characterized by its activity on the vascular system. However, there is growing evidence indicating that VEGF also acts as a neuroprotective factor, and that its administration to neurons suffering from trauma or disease is able to rescue them from cell death. We questioned whether VEGF could also maintain damaged neurons in a neurotransmissive mode by evaluating the synthesis of their neurotransmitter, and whether its action would be direct or through its well-known angiogenic activity. Adult rat extraocular motoneurons were chosen as the experimental model. Lesion was performed by monocular enucleation and immediately a gelatine sponge soaked in VEGF was implanted intraorbitally. After 7 days, abducens, trochlear, and oculomotor nuclei were examined by immunohistochemistry against choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the biosynthetic enzyme of the motoneuronal neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Lesioned motoneurons exhibited a noticeable ChAT downregulation which was prevented by VEGF administration. To explore whether this action was mediated via an increase in blood vessels or in their permeability, we performed immunohistochemistry against laminin, glucose transporter-1 and the plasmatic protein albumin. The quantification of the immunolabeling intensity against these three proteins showed no significant differences between VEGF-treated, axotomized and control animals. Therefore, the present data indicate that VEGF is able to sustain the cholinergic phenotype in damaged motoneurons, which is a first step for adequate neuromuscular neurotransmission, and that this action seems to be mediated directly on neurons since no sign of angiogenic activity was evident. These data reinforces the therapeutical potential of VEGF in motoneuronal diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lourdes Acosta
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Sara Morcuende
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Silvia Silva-Hucha
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Angel M Pastor
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Rosa R de la Cruz
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
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Lowet E, Gomes B, Srinivasan K, Zhou H, Schafer RJ, Desimone R. Enhanced Neural Processing by Covert Attention only during Microsaccades Directed toward the Attended Stimulus. Neuron 2018; 99:207-214.e3. [PMID: 29937279 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.05.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2017] [Revised: 04/12/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Attention can be "covertly" directed without eye movements; yet, even during fixation, there are continuous microsaccades (MSs). In areas V4 and IT of macaques, we found that firing rates and stimulus representations were enhanced by attention but only following a MS toward the attended stimulus. The onset of neural attentional modulations was tightly coupled to the MS onset. The results reveal a major link between the effects of covert attention on cortical visual processing and the overt movement of the eyes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Lowet
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Bruno Gomes
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém-Pa, Brazil; Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém-Pa, Brazil
| | - Karthik Srinivasan
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Huihui Zhou
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China
| | - Robert John Schafer
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Robert Desimone
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
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Abstract
In contrast to the well established macaque monkey, little is known about functional connectivity patterns of common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) that is poised to become the leading transgenic primate model. Here, we used resting-state ultra-high-field fMRI data collected from anesthetized marmosets and macaques along with awake human subjects, to examine and compare the brain's functional organization, with emphasis on the saccade system. Exploratory independent component analysis revealed eight resting-state networks in marmosets that greatly overlapped with corresponding macaque and human networks including a distributed frontoparietal network. Seed-region analyses of the superior colliculus (SC) showed homolog areas in macaques and marmosets. The marmoset SC displayed the strongest frontal functional connectivity with area 8aD at the border to area 6DR. Functional connectivity of this frontal region revealed a similar functional connectivity pattern as the frontal eye fields in macaques and humans. Furthermore, areas 8aD, 8aV, PG,TPO, TE2, and TE3 were identified as major hubs based on region-wise evaluation of betweeness centrality, suggesting that these cortical regions make up the functional core of the marmoset brain. The results support an evolutionarily preserved frontoparietal system and provide a starting point for invasive neurophysiological studies in the marmoset saccade and visual systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Ghahremani
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Ravi S Menon
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Stefan Everling
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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Sanchez K, Rowe FJ. Role of neural integrators in oculomotor systems: a systematic narrative literature review. Acta Ophthalmol 2018; 96:e111-e118. [PMID: 27874249 DOI: 10.1111/aos.13307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate the role of neural integrators (NI) in the oculomotor system. METHODS A literature search was carried out using several electronic databases during the months of June 2014 to March 2015. The following keywords were used to generate focused results: 'neural integrators', 'gaze-holding', 'oculomotor integration', 'impaired gaze-holding', 'gaze evoked nystagmus' and 'gaze dysfunction'. Further materials were found through searching relevant articles within reference lists. Seventy-one articles were sourced for this review which analysed animal and human subjects and network models; 45 were studies of humans, 16 studies of primates, three studies of felines and one study from rats and network models. The remaining articles were literature reviews. RESULTS The horizontal and vertical, including torsional, NI are located logically in the brainstem, nearby their appropriate target extraocular motoneuron nuclei for stable eye position in eccentric position. The nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH) and medial vestibular nuclei (MVN) are closely linked at the caudal pons and dorsal rostral medulla, integrating horizontal conjugate eye movement. The interstitial nucleus of Cajal (INC) integrates vertical and torsional eye movement at the upper midbrain. The integrator time constant is averaged to 25 seconds in human horizontal and animal vertical NI to perform its function. Case reports revealed that dysfunction of horizontal NI also resulted in vertical ocular deviations, indicating some overlap of horizontal and vertical gaze control. Furthermore, pharmacological inactivation of NI exposed a population of inhibitory neurotransmitters that permits its mechanism of action; allowing for smooth conjugate movement. CONCLUSIONS Neural integrators operate to integrate eye velocity and eye position information to provide signals to extraocular motoneurons to attain and maintain a new position. Therefore, NI allow image stabilization during horizontal and vertical eye movements at eccentric positions for comfortable single vision.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fiona J. Rowe
- Department of Health Services Research; University of Liverpool; Liverpool UK
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Hernández RG, Benítez-Temiño B, Morado-Díaz CJ, Davis-López de Carrizosa MA, de la Cruz RR, Pastor AM. Effects of Selective Deafferentation on the Discharge Characteristics of Medial Rectus Motoneurons. J Neurosci 2017; 37:9172-88. [PMID: 28842421 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1391-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Medial rectus motoneurons receive two main pontine inputs: abducens internuclear neurons, whose axons course through the medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF), and neurons in the lateral vestibular nucleus, whose axons project through the ascending tract of Deiters (ATD). Abducens internuclear neurons are responsible for conjugate gaze in the horizontal plane, whereas ATD neurons provide medial rectus motoneurons with a vestibular input comprising mainly head velocity. To reveal the relative contribution of each input to the oculomotor physiology, single-unit recordings from medial rectus motoneurons were obtained in the control situation and after selective deafferentation from cats with unilateral transection of either the MLF or the ATD. Both MLF and ATD transection produced similar short-term alterations in medial rectus motoneuron firing pattern, which were more drastic in MLF of animals. However, long-term recordings revealed important differences between the two types of lesion. Thus, while the effects of the MLF section were permanent, 2 months after ATD lesioning all motoneuronal firing parameters were similar to the control. These findings indicated a more relevant role of the MLF pathway in driving motoneuronal firing and evidenced compensatory mechanisms following the ATD lesion. Confocal immunocytochemistry revealed that MLF transection produced also a higher loss of synaptic boutons, mainly at the dendritic level. Moreover, 2 months after ATD transection, we observed an increase in synaptic coverage around motoneuron cell bodies compared with short-term data, which is indicative of a synaptogenic compensatory mechanism of the abducens internuclear pathway that could lead to the observed firing and morphological recovery.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Eye movements rely on multiple neuronal circuits for appropriate performance. The abducens internuclear pathway through the medial longitudinal fascicle (MLF) and the vestibular neurons through the ascending tract of Deiters (ATD) are a dual system that supports the firing of medial rectus motoneurons. We report the effect of sectioning the MLF or the ATD pathway on the firing of medial rectus motoneurons, as well as the plastic mechanisms by which one input compensates for the lack of the other. This work shows that while the effects of MLF transection are permanent, the ATD section produces transitory effects. A mechanism based on axonal sprouting and occupancy of the vacant synaptic space due to deafferentation is the base for the mechanism of compensation on the medial rectus motoneuron.
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