Dose-dependent changes in orientation amplitude maps in the cat visual cortex after propofol bolus injections.

A general intravenous anesthetic propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is widely used in clinical, veterinary practice and animal experiments. It activates gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABAa) receptors. Though the cerebral cortex is one of the major targets of propofol action, no study of dose dependency of propofol action on cat visual cortex was performed yet.

Dynamics of Stability of Orientation Maps Recorded with Optical Imaging.

Orientation selectivity is an important feature of visual cortical neurons. Optical imaging of the visual cortex allows for the generation of maps of orientation selectivity that reflect the activity of large populations of neurons. To estimate the statistical significance of effects of experimental manipulations, evaluation of the stability of cortical maps over time is required.

[The Pulvinar of the Cat: Structural and Functional Organization and the Role in Cognitive Processes].

The present review is devoted to modern knowledge about a structure and function of the cat's lateral posterior-pulvinar complex of the thalamus (LP-P). The LP-P is a subcortical structure belonging to visual system. This complex appears in phylogenesis simultaneously with lateral geniculate body and visual cortex, develops structurally and in human, occupies about 1/3 of the thalamus.

Repetitive adaptation induces plasticity of spatial frequency tuning in cat primary visual cortex.

Sensory neurons display transient changes in their response properties following prolonged exposure to an appropriate stimulus (adaptation). In adult cat primary visual cortex, spatial frequency-selective neurons shift their preferred spatial frequency (SF) after being adapted to a non-preferred SF. In anesthetized cats prepared for electrophysiological recordings in the visual cortex, we applied a non-preferred spatial frequency for two successive periods of adaptation (a recovery and interval of ∼90 min separated both phases of adaptation) in order to determine if a first adaptation retained an influence on a second adaptation.

Adaptive behavior of neighboring neurons during adaptation-induced plasticity of orientation tuning in VI.

Background: Sensory neurons display transient changes of their response properties following prolonged exposure to an appropriate stimulus (adaptation). In adult cat primary visual cortex, orientation-selective neurons shift their preferred orientation after being adapted to a non-preferred orientation. The direction of those shifts, towards (attractive) or away (repulsive) from the adapter depends mostly on adaptation duration.

Long adaptation reveals mostly attractive shifts of orientation tuning in cat primary visual cortex.

In the adult brain, sensory cortical neurons undergo transient changes of their response properties following prolonged exposure to an appropriate stimulus (adaptation). In cat V1, orientation-selective cells shift their preferred orientation after being adapted to a non-preferred orientation. There are conflicting reports as to the direction of those shifts, towards (attractive) or away (repulsive) from the adapter.

Visual cells remember earlier applied target: plasticity of orientation selectivity.

Background: A canonical proposition states that, in mature brain, neurons responsive to sensory stimuli are tuned to specific properties installed shortly after birth. It is amply demonstrated that that neurons in adult visual cortex of cats are orientation-selective that is they respond with the highest firing rates to preferred oriented stimuli.

Methodology/principal Findings: In anesthetized cats, prepared in a conventional fashion for single cell recordings, the present investigation shows that presenting a stimulus uninterruptedly at a non-preferred orientation for twelve minutes induces changes in orientation preference.

Synchrony between orientation-selective neurons is modulated during adaptation-induced plasticity in cat visual cortex.

Background: Visual neurons respond essentially to luminance variations occurring within their receptive fields. In primary visual cortex, each neuron is a filter for stimulus features such as orientation, motion direction and velocity, with the appropriate combination of features eliciting maximal firing rate. Temporal correlation of spike trains was proposed as a potential code for linking the neuronal responses evoked by various features of a same object.

Adaptation changes the spatial frequency tuning of adult cat visual cortex neurons.

The modular layout of striate cortex is arguably a hallmark of all cortical organization. Neurons of a given module or domain respond optimally to very few specific properties, such as orientation or direction. However, it is possible, under appropriate conditions, to compel a neuron to respond preferentially to a different optimal property.

Spatial frequency characteristics of nearby neurons in cats' visual cortex.

Various methods have allowed mapping of responses to several stimulus features on the cortical surface, particularly edge orientation and motion direction. The cortical mapping of spatial frequencies (SF), which is the basic property that leads to perception of spatial details of visual objects, is still controversial. We recorded simultaneously extracellular action potentials from neighboring cells in superficial layers of the area 17-18 border region of anesthetized cats.

Neuron participation in a synchrony-encoding assembly.

Background: Synchronization of action potentials between neurons is considered to be an encoding process that allows the grouping of various and multiple features of an image leading to a coherent perception. How this coding neuronal assembly is configured is debated. We have previously shown that the magnitude of synchronization between excited neurons is stimulus-dependent.

Effects of excitation and inactivation in area 17 on paired cells in area 18.

This investigation examines how neighboring neurons of area 18 react when area 17 inputs are excited or depressed. In anesthetized cats, area 18 responses to a sine-wave grating in the receptive field were analyzed, while a second grating was positioned in its periphery and responses were recorded in area 17. This latter site was also inactivated with GABA.

Contextual modulation of synchronization to random dots in the cat visual cortex.

Synchronization of neuronal activity has been proposed as a binding mechanism for integration of image properties into one coherent percept. In the present study, we investigated the contextual modulation of synchronization to random dot patterns. Coherent motion of random dots evoked well synchronized responses in area 17 of anaesthetized cats when the stimulus was presented in the compound receptive field of recorded sites.

Analysis of frequency components of cortical potentials evoked by progressive misalignment of Kanizsa squares.

Cortical gamma oscillations (20-100 Hz) are thought to play an important role in encoding visual perception. If so they should emerge at about threshold. In the present investigation we examined the latter proposal.

Influence of NO downregulation on oscillatory evoked responses in developing rat superior colliculus.

Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in neuronal transmission by modulating neurotransmitter release in adults and in stabilizing synaptic connections in developing brains. We investigated the influence of downregulation of NO synthesis on oscillatory components of ON and OFF evoked field potentials in the rat superior colliculus. NO synthesis was decreased by inhibiting nitric oxide synthase (NOS) with an acute microinjection of N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME).

Modulation of the synchronization between cells in visual cortex by contextual targets.

It has been suggested that synchronization of action potentials encodes diverse features of a single image. However, properties of the synchronization, which occurs on a time scale of approximately 1-5 ms, are still poorly understood. We have tested the modulation of synchronization by manipulating the contextual targets introduced in the surround of the receptive field.

Comparative computations of spike synchronization in visual cortex of cats.

In recent years it has been proposed that synchronous activity between neurons is a putative mechanism to bind together various trigger features of an image. Thus the measure of synchronization becomes an important issue since it may be an electrophysiological sign of visual perception. This paper describes and compares six techniques of computing synchronization strength, that is, the central peak of a cross-correlogram.

Stimuli outside the classical receptive field modulate the synchronization of action potentials between cells in visual cortex of cats.

It is proposed that various attributes of an image are bound neuronally when responsive units fire in synchrony. Our investigations describe the influences of the contextual stimuli upon the occurrence of synchronization, in anaesthetized cats. Once a significant synchronization was recorded in the cross-correlogram (XCRG) between evoked action potentials of two groups of neurons in response to a drifting sine-wave grating, additional gratings were positioned outside the compound receptive field.

Relationships between image structure and gamma oscillations and synchronization in visual cortex of cats.

The relationships between visual object configurations and interneuronal spike synchronization and gamma oscillations are examined in the present investigation. Cells were initially stimulated with moving, optimally oriented, single 20 degrees -long bars of light, centred on the compound receptive field of a pool of cortical neurons. When this kind of stimulus evoked intrinsic gamma oscillations and/or synchronization, we gradually fractured the original target.

Response component analysis of simple and complex cells of area 18 during depression of area 17.

Simple and complex cells of visual areas of cats may be reliably classified according to the modulatory index (MI) of their responses. This investigation is aimed at analysing the MI in area 18 when a small region (about 200-400 microm in diameter) of area 17 was inactivated with a microinjection of GABA, in anesthetized cats. Cells were stimulated with sine-wave gratings whose orientation, spatial, and temporal frequencies were optimal for the studied unit.

Pulvinar participates in synchronizing neural assemblies in the visual cortex, in cats.

It has been proposed that the perception of a coherent image necessitates two processes, that is, an ensemble of neurons which synchronizes discharges of individual cells and stimulus-specific gamma-band (gamma) neuronal oscillations which may serve as carrier signals for a temporal code. We tested the hypothesis that cortical gamma-oscillations and synchronization depend upon the interactions between the lateral posterior-pulvinar complex of the thalamus (LP-P) and visual cortex. Local reversible inactivation of the LP-P was achieved by pressure injections of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Maturation of visual receptive field properties in the rat superior colliculus.

Visually responsive neurons were recorded in the superficial layers of rat superior colliculus from postnatal day 12 to 28. Receptive field properties such as size, type (ON, OFF, ON-OFF and motion sensitive) and direction selectivity were analyzed to disclose changes during maturation. Although some aspects of sensory properties are modified during development (latency, receptive field sizes, and proportions of receptive field types), a high level of sophistication is also present in young animals even before eyelid opening.

Stimulus-dependent oscillations in the cat visual cortex: differences between bar and grating stimuli.

We have investigated the dependence of cortical oscillations on the type of visual stimulus. Single unit recordings were performed in areas 17 and 18 of the cat visual cortex. Among 217 cortical neurons oscillations in the frequency range of 22-102 Hz were found in 29 cells (13%).

The lateral posterior-pulvinar complex modulation of stimulus-dependent oscillations in the cat visual cortex.

It has been suggested that binding coherent targets depends on the capacity of excited cortical cells to fire in synchrony at approximately 40 Hz. However, the origin of stimulus-related cortical oscillations is still not clear. We hypothesized that 40 Hz oscillations might propagate to the visual cortex from the lateral posterior-pulvinar complex (LP-P) whose cells send fibers to the visual cortex and have a tendency to exhibit oscillations.

Visually-triggered oscillations in the cat lateral posterior-pulvinar complex.

The so-called 40 Hz oscillations are found at almost all stages of visual processing are thought to play a critical role in perception. The goal of this investigation was to look at the presence of stimulus-specific oscillations in the lateral posterior-pulvinar complex of the thalampus (LP-P) for which the oscillations were still not described. Rhythmic patterns in multiunit LP-P activity of anaesthetized cats were revealed in 14% of recording sites.