Modulation of neuronal activity by target uncertainty

Basso, Michele A.; Wurtz, Robert H.

doi:10.1038/37975

Cited by 316 publications

(225 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

196

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, it can explain at the microcircuit level how collicular activity decreases when multiple stimuli are presented in primates (8). Retinotopic recruitment of GABAergic neurons across the tectum is integrated directly by tectal output cells responsible for action, thereby generating global suppression through competitive inhibition and ensuring the absence of inappropriate responses.…”

Section: In Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Current models postulate that stimulus selection occurs through a process involving competitive interaction between different visual stimuli, resulting in the appropriate eye-head movement (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). The optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals) has a causal role in the stimulus selection process (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and not only in the control of saccades and eyehead gaze shifts (13)(14)(15)(16). Although the collicular contribution to the selection process is of central importance, the underlying neuronal processes have remained elusive due to methodological limitations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

Kardamakis

Saitoh

Grillner

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The optic tectum (called superior colliculus in mammals) is critical for eye-head gaze shifts as we navigate in the terrain and need to adapt our movements to the visual scene. The neuronal mechanisms underlying the tectal contribution to stimulus selection and gaze reorientation remains, however, unclear at the microcircuit level. To analyze this complex-yet phylogenetically conservedsensorimotor system, we developed a novel in vitro preparation in the lamprey that maintains the eye and midbrain intact and allows for whole-cell recordings from prelabeled tectal gaze-controlling cells in the deep layer, while visual stimuli are delivered. We found that receptive field activation of these cells provide monosynaptic retinal excitation followed by local GABAergic inhibition (feedforward). The entire remaining retina, on the other hand, elicits only inhibition (surround inhibition). If two stimuli are delivered simultaneously, one inside and one outside the receptive field, the former excitatory response is suppressed. When local inhibition is pharmacologically blocked, the suppression induced by competing stimuli is canceled. We suggest that this rivalry between visual areas across the tectal map is triggered through long-range inhibitory tectal connections. Selection commands conveyed via gazecontrolling neurons in the optic tectum are, thus, formed through synaptic integration of local retinotopic excitation and global tectal inhibition. We anticipate that this mechanism not only exists in lamprey but is also conserved throughout vertebrate evolution.optic tectum | superior colliculus | GABAergic inhibition | gaze control | evolution V isual scenes are composed of abundant stimuli, and the gaze needs continuously to be redirected toward different objectsan important task for the brain. Current models postulate that stimulus selection occurs through a process involving competitive interaction between different visual stimuli, resulting in the appropriate eye-head movement (1-5). The optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals) has a causal role in the stimulus selection process (6-12) and not only in the control of saccades and eyehead gaze shifts (13-16). Although the collicular contribution to the selection process is of central importance, the underlying neuronal processes have remained elusive due to methodological limitations. It is our aim here to address this issue in a novel experimental model.The optic tectum is well developed in the lamprey, belonging to the oldest extant vertebrate group that evolved 560 million years ago (17), and it has remained conserved throughout vertebrate phylogeny (18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Afferents from retina provide a direct input to the superficial layers of the optic tectum, where a retinotopic map is formed (23-26). The intermediate and deep layers give rise to projections to brainstem areas and a motor map is formed that is responsible for the coordination of eye, head, and body movements (22,(27)(28)(29).To uncover the mechanisms underlying visual stimulus selection for gaz...

show abstract

Section: In Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

Kardamakis

Saitoh

Grillner

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These general findings also receive support from neural recordings in the superior colliculus of macaques, a structure involved in generating eye movements. Basso and Wurtz (1997) show that before the monkey selects a final eye movement, as increasing numbers of potential saccade targets are presented (up to eight), neurons correspondingly represent the increasing number of saccade options. These studies, accompanied by the recent results from Baumann et al (2009), strongly support the notion that effector-specific areas, before decision, individually encode multiple motor options with respect to an object (possible grip types) and its location (possible reaches and saccades).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In this way, the brain begins to specify how to perform actions even before selecting what action it wants to perform (e.g., Cisek, 2007). While some experiments in reach-and eye-related areas of the brain support this hypothesis (e.g., Basso and Wurtz, 1997;Cisek and Kalaska, 2005), in these tasks, the number of possible targets always determined the number of potential movements (reaches or saccades). As such, potential movements were only represented with respect to locations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Simultaneous Encoding of Potential Grasping Movements in Macaque Anterior Intraparietal Area

Gallivan¹,

Wood²

2009

J. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Monosynaptic inputs to specific cell types of the intermediate and deep layers of the superior colliculus

Doykos

Gilmer

Person

et al. 2020

J of Comparative Neurology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The intermediate and deep layers of the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) are a key locus for several critical functions, including spatial attention, multisensory integration, and behavioral responses. While the SC is known to integrate input from a variety of brain regions, progress in understanding how these inputs contribute to SC-dependent functions has been hindered by the paucity of data on innervation patterns to specific types of SC neurons. Here, we use G-deleted rabies virusmediated monosynaptic tracing to identify inputs to excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the intermediate and deep SC. We observed stronger and more numerous projections to excitatory than inhibitory SC neurons. However, a subpopulation of excitatory neurons thought to mediate behavioral output received weaker inputs, from far fewer brain regions, than the overall population of excitatory neurons. Additionally, extrinsic inputs tended to target rostral excitatory and inhibitory SC neurons more strongly than their caudal counterparts, and commissural SC neurons tended to project to similar rostrocaudal positions in the other SC. Our findings support the view that active intrinsic processes are critical to SC-dependent functions, and will enable the examination of how specific inputs contribute to these functions.

show abstract

Modulation of neuronal activity by target uncertainty

Cited by 316 publications

References 4 publications

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

Simultaneous Encoding of Potential Grasping Movements in Macaque Anterior Intraparietal Area

Monosynaptic inputs to specific cell types of the intermediate and deep layers of the superior colliculus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About