Suppression of Ventilatory Reafference in the Elasmobranch Electrosensory System: Medullary Neuron Receptive Fields Support a Common Mode Ejection Mechanism

1992 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID BODZNICK ◽  
JOHN C. MONTGOMERY
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Common Mode ◽  
Electrosensory System ◽  
Ejection Mechanism ◽  
Inhibitory Components ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Elasmobranch Fishes ◽  
Receptive Field Organization

Elasmobranch fishes have an electroreceptive system which they use for prey detection and orientation. Sensory inputs in this system are corrupted by a form of reafference generated by the animal's own ventilation. However, we show here that in the carpet shark, Cephaloscylium isabella, as in two previously studied batoid species, this ventilatory ‘noise’ is reduced by sensory processing within the medullary nucleus of the electrosensory system. It has been proposed that the noise cancellation is achieved by a common mode rejection mechanism. One prediction of this hypothesis is that secondary neurons within the medullary nucleus should have both excitatory and inhibitory components to their receptive fields. This prediction is experimentally verified here. Projection neurons of the medullary nucleus in the carpet shark typically have a focal excitatory, and a diffuse inhibitory, receptive field organization including a component of contralateral inhibition. This result provides strong support for the hypothesis that ventilatory suppression in the elasmobranch electrosensory system is achieved by a common mode mechanism. Note: Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06457, USA. Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Two-dimensional receptive-field organization in striate cortical neurons of the cat

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Sun ◽  
A. B. Bonds
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Cortical Layers ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
Cortical Receptive Fields

AbstractThe two-dimensional organization of receptive fields (RFs) of 44 cells in the cat visual cortex and four cells from the cat LGN was measured by stimulation with either dots or bars of light. The light bars were presented in different positions and orientations centered on the RFs. The RFs found were arbitrarily divided into four general types: Punctate, resembling DOG filters (11%); those resembling Gabor filters (9%); elongate (36%); and multipeaked-type (44%). Elongate RFs, usually found in simple cells, could show more than one excitatory band or bifurcation of excitatory regions. Although regions inhibitory to a given stimulus transition (e.g. ON) often coincided with regions excitatory to the opposite transition (e.g. OFF), this was by no means the rule. Measurements were highly repeatable and stable over periods of at least 1 h. A comparison between measurements made with dots and with bars showed reasonable matches in about 40% of the cases. In general, bar-based measurements revealed larger RFs with more structure, especially with respect to inhibitory regions. Inactivation of lower cortical layers (V-VI) by local GABA injection was found to reduce sharpness of detail and to increase both receptive-field size and noise in upper layer cells, suggesting vertically organized RF mechanisms. Across the population, some cells bore close resemblance to theoretically proposed filters, while others had a complexity that was clearly not generalizable, to the extent that they seemed more suited to detection of specific structures. We would speculate that the broadly varying forms of cat cortical receptive fields result from developmental processes akin to those that form ocular-dominance columns, but on a smaller scale.

Sensory Activation and Receptive Field Organization of the Lateral Giant Escape Neurons in Crayfish

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 675-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Chyi Liu ◽  
Jens Herberholz
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Procambarus Clarkii ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Tail Flip ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
Sensory Activation ◽  
Stimulation Of

Crayfish ( Procambarus clarkii ) have bilateral pairs of giant interneurons that control rapid escape movements in response to predatory threats. The medial giant neurons (MGs) can be made to fire an action potential by visual or tactile stimuli directed to the front of the animal and this leads to an escape tail-flip that thrusts the animal directly backward. The lateral giant neurons (LGs) can be made to fire an action potential by strong tactile stimuli directed to the rear of the animal, and this produces flexions of the abdomen that propel the crayfish upward and forward. These observations have led to the notion that the receptive fields of the giant neurons are locally restricted and do not overlap with each other. Using extra- and intracellular electrophysiology in whole animal preparations of juvenile crayfish, we found that the receptive fields of the LGs are far more extensive than previously assumed. The LGs receive excitatory inputs from descending interneurons originating in the brain; these interneurons can be activated by stimulation of the antenna II nerve or the protocerebral tract. In our experiments, descending inputs alone could not cause action potentials in the LGs, but when paired with excitatory postsynaptic potentials elicited by stimulation of tail afferents, the inputs summed to yield firing. Thus the LG escape neurons integrate sensory information received through both rostral and caudal receptive fields, and excitatory inputs that are activated rostrally can bring the LGs' membrane potential closer to threshold. This enhances the animal's sensitivity to an approaching predator, a finding that may generalize to other species with similarly organized escape systems.

scholarly journals The physiological basis for the computation of direction selectivity in the Drosophila OFF pathway

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giordano Ramos-Traslosheros ◽  
Marion Silies
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Motion Computation ◽  
Biological Substrate ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
Neuronal Computation

In Drosophila, direction-selective neurons implement a mechanism of motion computation similar to cortical neurons, using contrast-opponent receptive fields with ON and OFF subunits. It is not clear how the presynaptic circuitry of direction-selective neurons in the OFF pathway supports this computation, because all major inputs are OFF-rectified neurons. Here, we reveal the biological substrate for motion computation in the OFF pathway. Three interneurons, Tm2, Tm9 and CT1, also provide information about ON stimuli to the OFF direction-selective neuron T5 across its receptive field, supporting a contrast-opponent receptive field organization. Consistent with its prominent role in motion detection, variability in Tm9 receptive field properties is passed on to T5, and calcium decrements in Tm9 in response to ON stimuli are maintained across behavioral states, while spatial tuning is sharpened by active behavior. Together, our work shows how a key neuronal computation is implemented by its constituent neuronal circuit elements to ensure direction selectivity.

Responses and receptive-field organization of cones in perch retinas

1977 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Burkhardt
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Outer Diameter ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Small Spot ◽  
Peak Sensitivity ◽  
Hyperpolarizing Response ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization

1. Cones in the retinas of two closely related species of perch, the walleye and sauger (S, vitreum vitreum and S. canadense), are remarkably large. This paper reports a first series of intracellular recordings obtained from 77 of these cones. 2. A small spot of light evokes a sustained hyperpolarizing response from perch cones which may exceed 10 mV in amplitude, is graded with stimulus intensity, and is markedly reduced when the spot is decentered. Most cones seem to be orange sensitive with peak sensitivity at about 600 nm. 3. Enlarging the stimulus diameter from 0.04 to 0.25 mm produces a modest increase in the hyperpolarizing response. However, larger stimuli which illuminate surrounding regions of the retina often evoke a delayed depolarizing potential which antagonizes the sustained phase of the cone's hyperpolarizing response to central illumination. 4. The outer diameter of the region of the antagonistic surround is at least 2.2 mm in extent. An annulus evokes a depolarizing response only if the central region of the receptive field is simultaneously activated. 5. The present results provide the first direct evidence that the receptive fields of cones in fish retinas have an antagonistic center-surround organization. Luminosity-type horizontal cells probably serve as the interneurons which mediate the depolarizing influence of the surround.

scholarly journals The physiological basis for contrast opponency in motion computation in Drosophila

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giordano Ramos-Traslosheros ◽  
Marion Silies
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Motion Computation ◽  
Biological Substrate ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
Neuronal Computation

AbstractIn Drosophila, direction-selective neurons implement a mechanism of motion computation similar to cortical neurons, using contrast-opponent receptive fields with ON and OFF subfields. It is not clear how the presynaptic circuitry of direction-selective neurons in the OFF pathway supports this computation if all major inputs are OFF-rectified neurons. Here, we reveal the biological substrate for motion computation in the OFF pathway. Three interneurons, Tm2, Tm9 and CT1, provide information about ON stimuli to the OFF direction-selective neuron T5 across its receptive field, supporting a contrast-opponent receptive field organization. Consistent with its prominent role in motion detection, variability in Tm9 receptive field properties transfers to T5, and calcium decrements in Tm9 in response to ON stimuli persist across behavioral states, while spatial tuning is sharpened by active behavior. Together, our work shows how a key neuronal computation is implemented by its constituent neuronal circuit elements to ensure direction selectivity.

Efficient coding correlates with spatial frequency tuning in a model of V1 receptive field organization

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN WILTSCHUT ◽  
FRED H. HAMKER
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Hebbian Learning ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Efficient Coding ◽  
Early Visual Processing ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization

AbstractEfficient coding has been proposed to play an essential role in early visual processing. While several approaches used an objective function to optimize a particular aspect of efficient coding, such as the minimization of mutual information or the maximization of sparseness, we here explore how different estimates of efficient coding in a model with nonlinear dynamics and Hebbian learning determine the similarity of model receptive fields to V1 data with respect to spatial tuning. Our simulation results indicate that most measures of efficient coding correlate with the similarity of model receptive field data to V1 data, that is, optimizing the estimate of efficient coding increases the similarity of the model data to experimental data. However, the degree of the correlation varies with the different estimates of efficient coding, and in particular, the variance in the firing pattern of each cell does not predict a similarity of model and experimental data.

Development of spatial receptive-field organization and orientation selectivity in kitten striate cortex

1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 1158-1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. O. Braastad ◽  
P. Heggelund
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Orientation Selectivity ◽  
Half Width ◽  
Orientation Tuning ◽  
Maximal Response ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization

The functional organization of the receptive field of neurons in striate cortex of kittens from 8 days to 3 mo of age was studied by extracellular recordings. A quantitative dual-stimulus technique was used, which allowed for analysis of both enhancement and suppression zones in the receptive field. Furthermore the development of orientation selectivity was studied quantitatively in the same cells. Already in the youngest kittens the receptive fields were spatially organized like adult fields, with a central zone and adjacent flanks that responded in opposite manner to the light stimulus. The relative suppression in the subzones was as strong as in adult cells. Both simple and complex cells were found from 8 days. The receptive fields were like magnified adult fields. The width of the dominant discharge-field zone and the distance between the positions giving maximum discharge and maximum suppression decreased with age in the same proportions. The decrease could be explained by a corresponding decrease of the receptive-field-center size of retinal ganglion cells. Forty percent of the cells were orientation selective before 2 wk, and the fraction increased to 94% at 4 wk. Cells whose responses could be attenuated to at least half of the maximal response by changes of slit orientation were termed orientation selective. The half-width of the orientation-tuning curves narrowed during the first 5 wk, and this change was most marked in simple cells. The ability of the cells to discriminate between orientations in statistical terms was weak in the youngest kittens due to a large response variability, and showed a more pronounced development than the half-width did. The orientation-tuning curves were fitted by an exponential function, which showed the shape to be adultlike in all age groups. Two kittens were dark reared until recording at 1 mo of age. The spatial receptive-field organization and the orientation selectivity in these kittens were similar to normal-reared kittens at 1 mo. The responsivity of the cells of the dark-reared kittens was lower, and the latency before firing was longer than in the normal-reared kittens of the same age, and these response properties were more similar to those in 1- to 2-wk-old normal kittens. Our results indicate that the spatial organization of the receptive field is innate in most cells and that visual experience is unnecessary for the organization to be maintained and for the receptive-field width to mature during the first month postnatally.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Sensory and Motor Effects of Etomidate Anesthesia

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 1231-1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Engelmann ◽  
Joao Bacelo ◽  
Erwin van den Burg ◽  
Kirsty Grant
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Feedback Inhibition ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Dynamic Structure ◽  
Corollary Discharge ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Inhibitory Components ◽  
Motor Effects

The effects of anesthesia with etomidate on the cellular mechanisms of sensory processing and sensorimotor coordination have been studied in the active electric sense of the mormyrid fish Gnathonemus petersii. Like many anesthetics, etomidate is known to potentiate GABAA receptors, but little is known about the effects on sensory processing at the systems level. A better understanding is necessary for experimental studies of sensory processing, in particular regarding possible effects on the dynamic structure of excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields and to improve the knowledge of the mechanisms of anesthesia in general. Etomidate slowed the electromotor discharge rhythm, probably because of feedback inhibition at the premotor level, but did not alter the structure of the electromotor command. Sensory translation through primary afferents projecting to the cerebellum-like electrosensory lobe (ELL) was not changed. However, central interneurons and projection neurons were hyperpolarized under etomidate, and their spiking activity was reduced. Although the spatial extent and the center/surround organization of sensory receptive fields were not changed, initial excitatory responses were followed by prolonged inhibition. Corollary discharge input to ELL was maintained, and the temporal sequence of excitatory and inhibitory components of this descending signal remained intact. Later inhibitory corollary discharge responses were prolonged by several hundred milliseconds. The result was that excitatory reafferent sensory input was conserved with enhanced precision of timing, whereas background activity was greatly reduced. Anti-Hebbian synaptic plasticity evoked by association of sensory and corollary discharge input was still present under anesthesia, and differences compared with the nonanesthetized condition are discussed.

Functional specificity of lateral geniculate nucleus laminae of the rhesus monkey

1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 788-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Schiller ◽  
J. G. Malpeli
Keyword(s):  
Rhesus Monkey ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Microelectrode Recording ◽  
Functional Specificity ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Conduction Velocities ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization

1. This study investigated the functional specificity of the lateral geniculate mucleus (LGN) of the rhesus monkey using microelectrode-recording techniques. 2. The parvocellular laminae of the LGN receive input predominantly from medium-conduction-velocity optic tract fibers, while the magnocellular laminae receive fast-conducting axons from the retina. 3. Cells projecting from the parvocellular layers to area 17 have medium-conduction velocities, while those from the magnocellular layers are fast conducting. 4. The majority of cells in the parvocellular layers have a concentric color-opponent receptive-field organization. The receptive fields of magnocellular layers cells are also concentrically organized, but their center-surround organization is independent of wavelength. 5. Responses in the parvocellular layers are more sustained than in the magnocellular layers. 6. Cells in the dorsal pair of parvocellular layers are predominantly on-center. In the ventral pair of parvocellular layers, most cells are off-center. 7. Blue-selective cells are found predominantly in the ventral pair of parvocellular layers. All of these found gave on-responses to blue stimuli.

The development of the binocular depth cells in the secondary visual cortex of the lamb

1979 ◽  
Vol 204 (1157) ◽  
pp. 455-465 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Newborn Lamb ◽  
Adaptive Process ◽  
Field Organization ◽  
Receptive Field Organization ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Binocular Deprivation

In most respects, the response properties of cells in the secondary visual cortex of the newborn lamb were indistinguishable from those in the adult. The cells were sharply selective to orientation; the orientation preferences were the same in each eye, and they varied systematically as the electrode penetrated the cortex. The receptive-field organization did not differ noticeably from that in adults, and complex, hypercomplex, and a few simple cells were all observed. The ocular dominance distribution was similar to that in the adult. Most importantly, binocular cells were found with disparate receptive fields even in newborn, visually inexperienced animals. As in the adult, the disparities were largely horizontal, and they appeared to be arranged in columns. Many of the cells responded preferentially to a binocular stimulus at a particular disparity setting (often approximately zero), but unlike those in the adult almost all the binocular cells in the newborn lamb would also respond monocularly, and the enhancement at the optimal disparity was less than in the adult. The full development of binocular selectivity took several weeks, and was blocked by binocular deprivation. We conclude that the basic wiring of stereoscopic mechanisms is innate, but the development of mature binocular interaction may depend on an adaptive process which makes use of the visual information received during binocular stimulation.

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