Sensory and multisensory representations within the cat rostral suprasylvian cortex

2007 ◽  
Vol 503 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Ruth Clemo ◽  
Brian L. Allman ◽  
M. Andrew Donlan ◽  
M. Alex Meredith
Keyword(s):  
1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Sherk ◽  
Kathleen A. Mulligan

AbstractLateral suprasylvian visual cortex in the cat has been studied extensively, but its retinotopic organization remains controversial. Although some investigators have divided this region into many distinct areas, others have argued for a simpler organization. A clear understanding of the region’s retinotopic organization is important in order to define distinct areas that are likely to subserve unique visual functions. We therefore reexamined the map of the lower visual field in the striate-recipient region of lateral suprasylvian cortex, a region we refer to as the lateral suprasylvian area, LS.A dual mapping approach was used. First, receptive fields were plotted at numerous locations along closely spaced electrode penetrations; second, different anterograde tracers were injected at retinotopically identified sites in area 17, yielding patches of label in LS. To visualize the resulting data, suprasylvian cortex was flattened with the aid of a computer.Global features of the map reported in many earlier studies were confirmed. Central visual field was represented posteriorly, and elevations generally shifted downward as one moved anteriorly. Often (though not always) there was a progression from peripheral locations towards the vertical meridian as the electrode moved down the medial suprasylvian bank.The map had some remarkable characteristics not previously reported in any map in the cat. The vertical meridian’s representation was split into two pieces, separated by a gap, and both pieces were partially internalized within the map. Horizontal meridian occupied the gap. The area centralis usually had a dual representation along the posterior boundary of the lower field representation, and other fragments of visual field were duplicated as well. Finally, magnification appeared to change abruptly and unexpectedly, so that compressed regions of representation adjoined expanded regions. Despite its complexity, we found the map to be more orderly than previously thought. There was no clearcut retinotopic basis on which to subdivide LS’s lower field representation into distinct areas.


1993 ◽  
Vol 265 (3) ◽  
pp. R494-R503 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. W. Dong ◽  
D. Gozal ◽  
D. M. Rector ◽  
R. M. Harper

We examined neuronal activation of the ventral medullary surface (VMS) during hypercapnic challenges using optical recording procedures. With a coherent imaging probe, we assessed reflected 700-nm light from 18 VMS sites in 11 spontaneously breathing adult cats and from the suprasylvian cortex in two cats. Video frames were acquired during a baseline period, hypercapnic (3, 5, and 10% CO2 in O2) exposure, and recovery. Hypercapnic exposure elicited overall reflectance changes in all VMS sites, but no changes in the suprasylvian cortex. Light reflectance changes, suggesting altered neuronal activity, were reproducible, occurred as early as 30 s after CO2 exposure, and were dose dependent. The changes persisted approximately 20-25 min beyond the stimulus, but respiratory responses consistently recovered within 2-3 min. Although more rostral VMS sites tended to be associated with decreased activity and caudal regions with increased excitation, no uniform topographical organization was apparent across animals. The variability in VMS optical reflectance patterns across animals during CO2 stimulation may reflect the heterogeneous topographical distribution of responsive neurons in the structure.


1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 544-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Berson

Retinal Y-cells activate most cells in the deep layers of the cat's superior colliculus via an indirect pathway involving the occipital cortex. The lateral suprasylvian area seems to be an important source of visual input to the deep collicular strata but it is unclear whether Y-cell influences reach this extrastriate area and, hence, whether this area participates in the indirect Y-cell pathway. In this study, retinal influences on the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian area (PMLS) were studied in anesthetized cats. Responses to electrical stimulation of the optic disk (OD) and optic chiasm (OX) were recorded in single units in PMLS and in neurons of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) that were antidromically driven from PMLS. Virtually all PMLS cells (99%; 99/100) exhibited small differences (less than or equal to 0.8 ms) between OD- and OX-activation latency, indicating that they were driven by a pathway originating in rapidly conducting Y-cell axons. A small number of PMLS cells (17%; 20/118) had very short activation latencies (less than or equal to 3.2 ms from OX), comparable to those of cells in areas 17 and 18 receiving monosynaptic inputs from geniculate Y-cells. Further, LGNd cells with latency behaviors typical of Y-cells could be antidromically driven from PMLS, confirming that geniculate Y-cells project directly to PMLS. Most PMLS cells (83%; 98/118), though exhibiting small OD-OX latency differences, had absolute latencies too long to be attributed to direct inputs from geniculate Y-cells (3.3-8.5 ms from OX). Thus Y-cells in the LGNd influence most PMLS cells by way of a multisynaptic pathway. PMLS cells antidromically activated from the superior colliculus were driven only by this multisynaptic Y-cell input. Total conduction time from the retina through PMLS to the colliculus corresponds closely to the latency of the indirect Y-cell activation observed in the deep collicular layers. These results support the view that the lateral suprasylvian cortex constitutes an important source of visual input to the cat's deep collicular layers and, more generally, that the extrastriate visual cortex may figure prominently in the cortical control of gaze.


1994 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 2999-3003 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Lomber ◽  
P. Cornwell ◽  
J. S. Sun ◽  
M. A. MacNeil ◽  
B. R. Payne

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 969-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Morrone ◽  
M. Di Stefano ◽  
D. C. Burr

Neurons in the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex (PMLS) of cats were recorded extracellularly to investigate their response to stimulation by bars and by sinusoidal gratings. Two general types of cells were identified: those that modulated in synchrony with the passage of drifting bars and gratings and those that responded with an unmodulated increase in discharge. Both types responded to contrast reversed gratings with a modulation of activity: the cells that modulated to drifting gratings modulated to the first harmonic of contrast reversed gratings (at appropriate spatial phase and frequency), whereas those that did not modulate to drifting gratings always modulated to the second harmonic of contrast reversed gratings. No cell had a clear null point. Nearly all cells were selective for spatial frequency. The preferred frequency ranged from 0.1 to 1 cycles per degree (cpd), and selectivity bandwidths (full width at half height) were around two octaves. Preferred spatial frequency was not correlated with receptive field size, but bandwidth and receptive field size were positively correlated. Preferred spatial frequency decreased with eccentricity, at about 0.05 octaves/deg. The response of all cells increased as a function of grating contrast up to a saturation level. The contrast threshold for response to a grating of optimal parameters was approximately 1% for most cells and the saturation contrast approximately 10%. The contrast gain was approximately 25 spikes/s per log unit of contrast. All cells were tuned for temporal frequency, preferring frequencies from approximately 3 to 10 Hz, with a selectivity bandwidth approximately 2 octaves. For some cells, the spatial selectivity did not depend on the temporal frequency and vice versa. Others were spatiotemporally coupled, with the preferred temporal frequency being lower at high than at low spatial frequencies, and the preferred spatial frequency lower at high than at low temporal frequencies. Previous results showing broad velocity tuning to a bar were replicated and found to be predictable from the combined spatial and temporal tuning of PMLS cells and the Fourier spectrum of a bar. Preferred temporal frequency steadily decreased with eccentricity, at 0.025 octaves/deg. The results for PMLS cells are compared with those of other visual areas. Acuity and spatial preference and selectivity bandwidth is comparable to all areas except area 17, where they are a factor of about two higher. Temporal selectivity in PMLS is as fine as observed in other areas. The possibility that PMLS cells may be involved with motion detection and detection of motion in depth is discussed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMIE D. BOYD ◽  
JOANNE A. MATSUBARA

The patchy pattern of retrograde labeling produced by injections of anatomical tracers into the lateral suprasylvian (LS) visual area was compared to the cytochrome oxidase (CO) blobs in cat visual cortex. Following large injections of anatomical tracers in LS, retrograde labeling formed an irregular lattice of patches with a spacing of slightly less than 1 mm in area 17, and slightly greater than 1 mm in area 18. By comparing labeling in alternate serial sections, patches of LS-projecting cells in both areas were found to align with CO blobs. The conclusion of alignment between CO blob columns and patches of LS-projecting cells was confirmed by a quantitative analysis which showed a significant correlation between the local density of LS-projecting cells in reconstructions of charted cells and the intensity of CO staining in the CO-reacted sections. As for areas 17 and 18, labeling in other afferent areas of LS was also patchy with a spacing on the order of 1 mm except for area 19 where we found patches of LS-projecting cells with a larger spacing, roughly 2 mm. No matching fluctuations in CO density could be discerned in area 19, however. In conjunction with recent evidence that CO blob columns in cats receive strong input from Y-cells of the lateral geniculate nucleus (Boyd & Matsubara, 1996; Shoham, et al., 1996), these data support the hypothesis (Shipp & Grant, 1991) that the patches of LS-projecting cells correspond to Y-cell input columns. As a relationship between the CO architecture and certain classes of efferent cells has previously been shown in primates, these findings show new similarities between CO blobs in different mammalian species.


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