Monkey hippocampal neurons related to spatial and nonspatial functions

1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1516-1529 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Ono ◽  
K. Nakamura ◽  
H. Nishijo ◽  
S. Eifuku
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
Directional Stimulus ◽  
Task Parameters ◽  
And Task

1. Neural activity in the monkey hippocampal formation (HF) was analyzed during a spatial moving task in which the monkey was guided by auditory and visual cues and when stimuli were presented from various directions. The monkey could control a motorized, movable device (cab) and its route to a target location by pressing the proper one of five available bars in an appropriate sequence (spatial moving task). In any of several locations in the field, neural responses were evident in relation to the presentation of various objects or human movement in some relative direction (left, anterior, right) as a directional stimulus test. 2. Of 238 hippocampal neurons analyzed, 172 (72.3%, 238-66) responded in either the spatial moving task, or to the direction from which stimulation was presented, or to the location of the monkey in the field, or to some combination of these. 3. The activity of 79 (33.2%) neurons was higher when the monkey was in some specific location in the field during the spatial moving task, regardless of the approach route or other task parameters (place related neurons). 4. Responses to the task cues in the spatial moving task were evident in 110 (46.3%) neurons (task related neurons). Of these, 77 (32.4%) neurons were not place related. The remaining 33 (13.9%) neurons were both task related and place related. These neurons responded to task cues in only that part of the field in which place related responses occurred. The neural response to the task cues disappeared when the monkey moved out of the place response region. The place related and task related neural responses disappeared when the room light was switched off. Thus information from the environment outside of the cab contributed to the place related and task related responses. 5. Stimuli presented from certain specific directions induced responses, selectively, in 41 (17.2%) of the neurons (direction related neurons). The dependence of the preferred direction was described in one of three ways--egocentric, allocentric, or place-direction specific. Nineteen egocentric neurons responded to a stimulus only when it was presented from a certain direction relative to the orientation of the monkey, regardless of the location of the monkey. Eleven allocentric neurons responded to a stimulus only when it was presented at a particular position in the room, regardless of the location or orientation of the monkey.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Hippocampal representations of distance, space, and direction and their plasticity predict navigational performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason J Moore ◽  
Jesse D Cushman ◽  
Lavanya Acharya ◽  
Mayank R Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Hebbian Learning ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Head Direction ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Spatial Selectivity ◽  
Path Distance ◽  
Relevant Variables

ABSTRACTThe hippocampus is implicated in episodic memory and allocentric spatial navigation. However, spatial selectivity is insufficient to navigate; one needs information about the distance and direction to the reward on a specific journey. The nature of these representations, whether they are expressed in an episodic-like sequence, and their relationship with navigational performance are unknown. We recorded single units from dorsal CA1 of the hippocampus while rats navigated to an unmarked reward zone defined solely by distal visual cues, similar to the classic water maze. The allocentric spatial selectivity was substantially weaker than in typical real world tasks, despite excellent navigational performance. Instead, the majority of cells encoded path distance from the start of trials. Cells also encoded the rat’s allocentric position and head angle. Often the same cells multiplexed and encoded path distance, head direction and allocentric position in a sequence, thus encoding a journey-specific episode. The strength of neural activity and tuning strongly correlated with performance, with a temporal relationship indicating neural responses influencing behavior and vice versa. Consistent with computational models of associative Hebbian learning, neural responses showed increasing clustering and became better predictors of behaviorally relevant variables, with neurometric curves exceeding and converging to psychometric curves. These findings demonstrate that hippocampal neurons multiplex and exhibit highly plastic, task- and experience-dependent tuning to path-centric and allocentric variables to form an episode, which could mediate navigation.

scholarly journals Visual cues determine hippocampal directional selectivity

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavanya Acharya ◽  
Zahra M. Aghajan ◽  
Cliff Vuong ◽  
Jason Moore ◽  
Mayank Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Directional Selectivity ◽  
Head Direction ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Directional Information ◽  
Vestibular Cues ◽  
Hippocampal Activity ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Directional Modulation

Both spatial and directional information are necessary for navigation. Rodent hippocampal neurons show spatial selectivity in all environments, but directional tuning only on linear paths. The sensory mechanisms underlying directionality are unknown, though vestibular and visual cues are thought to be crucial. However, hippocampal neurons are thought to show no angular modulation during two-dimensional random foraging despite the presence of vestibular and visual cues. Additionally, specific aspects of visual cues have not been directly linked to hippocampal responses in rodents. To resolve these issues we manipulated vestibular and visual cues in a series of experiments. We first measured hippocampal activity during random foraging in real world (RW) where we found that neurons’ firing exhibited significant modulation by head-direction. In fact, the fraction of modulated neurons was comparable to that in the head-direction system. These findings are contrary to commonly held beliefs about hippocampal directionality. To isolate the contribution of visual cues we measured neural responses in a visually similar virtual reality (VR) where the range of vestibular inputs is minimized. Significant directional modulation was not only found in VR, but it was comparable to that in RW. Several additional experiments revealed that changes in the angular information contained in the visual cues induced corresponding changes in hippocampal head-directional modulation. Remarkably, for head-directionally modulated neurons, the ensemble activity was biased towards the sole visual cue. These results demonstrate that robust vestibular cues are not required for hippocampal directional selectivity, while visual cues are not only sufficient but also play a causal role in driving hippocampal responses.

scholarly journals Striatal and Pallidal Activation during Reward Modulated Movement Using a Translational Paradigm

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 399-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Bischoff-Grethe ◽  
Richard B. Buxton ◽  
Martin P. Paulus ◽  
Adam S. Fleisher ◽  
Tony T. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Internal Globus Pallidus ◽  
Target Capture

AbstractHuman neuroimaging studies of reward processing typically involve tasks that engage decision-making processes in the dorsal striatum or focus upon the ventral striatum’s response to feedback expectancy. These studies are often compared to the animal literature; however, some animal studies include both feedback and nonfeedback events that activate the dorsal striatum during feedback expectancy. Differences in task parameters, movement complexity, and motoric effort to attain rewards may partly explain ventral and dorsal striatal response differences across species. We, therefore, used a target capture task during functional neuroimaging that was inspired by a study of single cell modulation in the internal globus pallidus during reward-cued, rotational arm movements in nonhuman primates. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, participants used a fiberoptic joystick to make a rotational response to an instruction stimulus that indicated both a target location for a capture movement and whether or not the trial would end with feedback indicating either a small financial gain or a neutral outcome. Portions of the dorsal striatum and pallidum demonstrated greater neural activation to visual cues predicting potential gains relative to cues with no associated outcome. Furthermore, both striatal and pallidal regions displayed a greater response to financial gains relative to neutral outcomes. This reward-dependent modulation of dorsal striatal and pallidal activation in a target-capture task is consistent with findings from reward studies in animals, supporting the use of motorically complex tasks as translational paradigms to investigate the neural substrates of reward expectancy and outcome in humans. (JINS, 2015, 21, 399–411)

Task-Dependent Representations in Rat Hippocampal Place Neurons

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 597-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsuneyuki Kobayashi ◽  
Hisao Nishijo ◽  
Masaji Fukuda ◽  
Jan Bures ◽  
Taketoshi Ono
Keyword(s):  
Open Field ◽  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Movement Speed ◽  
Neuron Activity ◽  
Place Field ◽  
Complex Spike ◽  
Place Fields ◽  
Sequential Trials ◽  
Self Stimulation

Kobayashi, Tsuneyuki, Hisao Nishijo, Masaji Fukuda, Jan Bures, and Taketoshi Ono. Task-dependent representations in rat hippocampal place neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 597–613, 1997. It is suggested that the hippocampal formation is essential to spatial representations by flexible encoding of diverse information during navigation, which includes not only externally generated sensory information such as visual and auditory sensation but also ideothetic information concerning locomotion (i.e., internally generated information such as proprioceptive and vestibular sensation) as well as information concerning reward. In the present study, we investigated how various types of information are represented in the hippocampal formation, by recording hippocampal complex-spike cells from rats that performed three types of place learning tasks in a circular open field with the use of intracranial self-stimulation as reward. The intracranial self-stimulation reward was delivered in the following three contexts: if the rat 1) entered an experimenter-determined reward place within the open field, and this place was randomly varied in sequential trials; 2) entered two specific places, one within and one outside the place field (an area identified by change in activity of a place neuron); or 3) entered an experimenter-specified place outside the place field. Because the behavioral trails during navigation were more constant in the second task than in the first task, ideothetic information concerning locomotion was more relevant to acquiring reward in the second task than in the first task. Of 43 complex-spike cells recorded, 37 displayed place fields under the first task. Of these 37 place neurons, 34 also had significant reward correlates only inside the place field. Although reward and place correlates of the place neuron activity did not change between the first and second tasks, neuronal correlates to behavioral variables for locomotion such as movement speed, direction, and turning angle significantly increased in the second task. Furthermore, 6 of 31 place neurons tested with the third task, in which the reward place was located outside the original place field, shifted place fields. The results indicated that neuronal correlates of most place neurons flexibly increased their sensitivity to relevant information in a given context and environment, and some place neurons changed the place field per se with place reward association. These results suggest two strategies for how hippocampal neurons incorporate an incredible variety of perceptions into a unified representation of the environment: through flexible use of information and the creation of new representations.

scholarly journals Active Locomotion Increases Peak Firing Rates of Anterodorsal Thalamic Head Direction Cells

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 692-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaël B. Zugaro ◽  
Eiichi Tabuchi ◽  
Céline Fouquier ◽  
Alain Berthoz ◽  
Sidney I. Wiener
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Head Direction ◽  
Small Reservoir ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Command Signals ◽  
Rats And Mice ◽  
Foraging Task ◽  
Self Motion

Head direction (HD) cells discharge selectively in macaques, rats, and mice when they orient their head in a specific (“preferred”) direction. Preferred directions are influenced by visual cues as well as idiothetic self-motion cues derived from vestibular, proprioceptive, motor efferent copy, and command signals. To distinguish the relative importance of active locomotor signals, we compared HD cell response properties in 49 anterodorsal thalamic HD cells of six male Long-Evans rats during active displacements in a foraging task as well as during passive rotations. Since thalamic HD cells typically stop firing if the animals are tightly restrained, the rats were trained to remain immobile while drinking water distributed at intervals from a small reservoir at the center of a rotatable platform. The platform was rotated in a clockwise/counterclockwise oscillation to record directional responses in the stationary animals while the surrounding environmental cues remained stable. The peak rate of directional firing decreased by 27% on average during passive rotations ( r 2 = 0.73, P< 0.001). Individual cells recorded in sequential sessions ( n = 8) reliably showed comparable reductions in peak firing, but simultaneously recorded cells did not necessarily produce identical responses. All of the HD cells maintained the same preferred directions during passive rotations. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the level of locomotor activity provides a state-dependent modulation of the response magnitude of AD HD cells. This could result from diffusely projecting neuromodulatory systems associated with motor state.

Motion Adaptation in Area MT

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 3469-3476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. A. Van Wezel ◽  
Kenneth H. Britten
Keyword(s):  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Motion Adaptation ◽  
Area Mt ◽  
Temporal Area ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
Perceptual Shift ◽  
Static Pattern

In many sensory systems, exposure to a prolonged stimulus causes adaptation, which tends to reduce neural responses to subsequent stimuli. Such effects are usually stimulus-specific, making adaptation a powerful probe into information processing. We used dynamic random dot kinematograms to test the magnitude and selectivity of adaptation effects in the middle temporal area (MT) and to compare them to effects on human motion discrimination. After 3 s of adaptation to a random dot pattern moving in the preferred direction, MT neuronal responses to subsequent test patterns were reduced by 26% on average compared with adaptation to a static pattern. This reduction in response magnitude was largely independent of what test stimulus was presented. However, adaptation in the opposite direction changed responses less often and very inconsistently. Therefore motion adaptation systematically and profoundly affects the neurons in MT representing the adapted direction, but much less those representing the opposite direction. In human psychophysical experiments, such adapting stimuli affected direction discrimination, biasing choices away from the adaptation direction. The magnitude of this perceptual shift was consistent with the magnitude of the changes seen in area MT, if one assumes that a motion comparison step occurs after MT.

Investigating the Effect of Task Parameters on Force Exertion Rating of One-Handed Pulling Tasks

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 833-837
Author(s):  
Monica L. H. Jones ◽  
Sheila M. Ebert ◽  
Matthew P. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Subjective Rating ◽  
Force Magnitude ◽  
Numerical Rating ◽  
Task Parameters ◽  
And Task

Ergonomic and capability assessments are typically performed using guidelines derived using biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical approaches. In practice, these approaches yield different and often conflicting assessments. As part of an effort to reconcile these methods, a laboratory study was conducted to investigate the effects of varying force and task location requirements on the perception of force exertion. Sixteen women and men with widely varying body size provided a numerical rating of effort for one-hand pulling tasks in a range of handle locations. Vertical task handle location and force magnitude requirement were related to subjective rating of the force exertion. As a demonstration of the methodology, statistical models were developed from the data to predict the effect of changes in task parameters on the percentage of participants rating the exertion at a specified level.

Differential Involvement of Neurons in the Dorsal and Ventral Premotor Cortex During Processing of Visual Signals for Action Planning

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 3596-3616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiji Hoshi ◽  
Jun Tanji
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Visual Cue ◽  
Ventral Premotor Cortex ◽  
Neuron Response

We examined neuronal activity in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex (PMd and PMv, respectively) to explore the role of each motor area in processing visual signals for action planning. We recorded neuronal activity while monkeys performed a behavioral task during which two visual instruction cues were given successively with an intervening delay. One cue instructed the location of the target to be reached, and the other indicated which arm was to be used. We found that the properties of neuronal activity in the PMd and PMv differed in many respects. After the first cue was given, PMv neuron response mostly reflected the spatial position of the visual cue. In contrast, PMd neuron response also reflected what the visual cue instructed, such as which arm to be used or which target to be reached. After the second cue was given, PMv neurons initially responded to the cue's visuospatial features and later reflected what the two visual cues instructed, progressively increasing information about the target location. In contrast, the activity of the majority of PMd neurons responded to the second cue with activity reflecting a combination of information supplied by the first and second cues. Such activity, already reflecting a forthcoming action, appeared with short latencies (<400 ms) and persisted throughout the delay period. In addition, both the PMv and PMd showed bilateral representation on visuospatial information and motor-target or effector information. These results further elucidate the functional specialization of the PMd and PMv during the processing of visual information for action planning.

scholarly journals Accuracy of performance-test linking based on a many-facet Rasch model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Uto
Keyword(s):  
Performance Test ◽  
Performance Assessments ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Irt Models ◽  
Test Linking ◽  
Rater Severity ◽  
Task Parameters ◽  
And Task

Abstract Performance assessments, in which human raters assess examinee performance in practical tasks, have attracted much attention in various assessment contexts involving measurement of higher-order abilities. However, difficulty persists in that ability measurement accuracy strongly depends on rater and task characteristics such as rater severity and task difficulty. To resolve this problem, various item response theory (IRT) models incorporating rater and task parameters, including many-facet Rasch models (MFRMs), have been proposed. When applying such IRT models to datasets comprising results of multiple performance tests administered to different examinees, test linking is needed to unify the scale for model parameters estimated from individual test results. In test linking, test administrators generally need to design multiple tests such that raters and tasks partially overlap. The accuracy of linking under this design is highly reliant on the numbers of common raters and tasks. However, the numbers of common raters and tasks required to ensure high accuracy in test linking remain unclear, making it difficult to determine appropriate test designs. We therefore empirically evaluate the accuracy of IRT-based performance-test linking under common rater and task designs. Concretely, we conduct evaluations through simulation experiments that examine linking accuracy based on a MFRM while changing numbers of common raters and tasks with various factors that possibly affect linking accuracy.

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