Spatial responsiveness of monkey hippocampal neurons to various visual and auditory stimuli.

To investigate involvement of the hippocampal formation in spatial information processing, activity of neurons in the hippocampal formation of the conscious monkey was recorded during presentation of various visual and auditory stimuli from several directions around the monkey. Of 1,047 neurons recorded, 106 (10.1%) responded to some stimuli from one or more directions. Of these 106 neurons with directionally differentiating responsiveness, 49 responded to visual stimulation, 35 to auditory stimulation, and 22 to both. Among 81 neurons, each tested with more than 10 different stimuli, one type responded independent of the nature of the stimulus (nonselective, n = 39), and responses of the other type depended on the nature of the stimulus (selective, n = 42). To investigate effects of change in spatial relations between test stimuli and background stimuli fixed on the monkey or fixed in the environment, 59 of 106 neurons were tested while the experimental apparatus holding the stimulus was moved relative to the monkey. Of these 59 neurons, 36 changed their responsiveness; 7 maintained the magnitude of their responses but changed the response direction with the movement of the apparatus, 5 changed direction regardless of the movement, and 24 did not change direction, but decreased or extinguished responses from the preferred direction. Thirty-two of 106 neurons were also tested by rotating the monkey. The directionally differentiating responsiveness of 11 neurons followed the monkey (egocentric neurons), that of 9 remained in place in the environment (allocentric neurons), and responses of 12 were reversibly extinguished when the monkey was rotated. The results suggest that these hippocampal neurons may be involved in identification of relations among various kinds of stimuli in different spatial frameworks (egocentric or allocentric) and this identification may be developed from multiple sensory modalities.     

Effects of crossmodal divided attention on late ERP components. II. Error processing in choice reaction tasks.

Reaction times and event-related potentials in correct and incorrect trials were studied in a bimanual choice reaction task. In a focused attention (FA) condition, the stimulus modality was constant (visual or auditory); in a divided attention (DA) condition, the modality was varied at random from trial to trial. Stimulus- and response-triggered averages were computed from the midline EEG leads. In error trials, the ERP amplitude was reduced in the P300 range (300-500 msec) and enhanced in the slow wave range (500-700 msec) compared to correct reaction trials. Difference plots between the ERPs (incorrect minus correct reaction trials) revealed a large fronto-central negativity ("NE") and a parieto-occipital "slow wave." These components appeared larger in the response-triggered averages. We believe that they reflect two different stages of error processing. After auditory stimuli the NE peaked much later for DA than for FA, which supports the idea of an asymmetrical allocation of processing resources to the disadvantage of the auditory modality in our DA condition.     

Modulation of rat cortical area 17 neuronal responses to moving visual stimuli during norepinephrine and serotonin microiontophoresis

The present study was conducted to examine the actions of norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) on the multiphasic, visually evoked discharges of cells recorded from the visual cortex (area 17) of anesthetized Long-Evans pigmented rats. Visual responses of 51 cells, evoked by computer controlled presentation of moving visual stimuli, were examined before, during and after low level microiontophoretic application of NE (1-55 nA) or 5-HT (1-50 nA). Drug-induced changes in stimulus-evoked and spontaneous discharges were quantitatively assessed by computer analysis of peri-event histograms. In the majority of cases tested, NE produced a net enhancement of visually evoked responses by facilitating excitatory and inhibitory components of stimulus-bound discharges. By contrast, 5-HT tended to suppress stimulus-evoked excitation and inhibition in many cases to the extent that neurons were no longer responsive to appropriate visual stimuli. In selected cases we were able to demonstrate additional effects of NE and 5-HT on response threshold, direction selectivity and discrimination of receptive field borders. For example, in some cells NE was capable of revealing evoked responses to visual stimuli which were previously ineffective in eliciting stimulus-bound discharges. In other instances, changes in cell activity evoked by stimulus movement across the visual field were accentuated during NE application in such a way that unit discharges at receptive field borders were more sharply defined in comparison to control conditions. 5-HT, on the other hand, was capable of decreasing the contrast between spontaneous and visually evoked discharge at receptive field boundaries. In summary, these results suggest that endogenously released NE and 5-HT may modulate, by complimentary actions, the magnitude of responses of visual cortical neurons to afferent synaptic inputs. Moreover, these monoaminergic projection systems may also have the capacity to modify the threshold of detection of afferent signals within a neuronal network as well as alter feature extraction properties of the circuit.     

Single unit activity of noradrenergic neurons in locus coeruleus and serotonergic neurons in the nucleus raphe dorsalis of freely moving cats in relation to the cardiac cycle

Single unit activity of serotonergic (5-HT) neurons in the nucleus raphe dorsalis (NRD) and of noradrenergic (NE) neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) was recorded in relation to the cardiac cycle in awake, freely moving cats. The discharge of NRD-5-HT neurons showed no relationship to the cardiac cycle, while LC-NE neurons displayed a cardiac periodicity such that the units were most likely to fire from 80 to 180 ms after the peak of the cardiac r-wave (diastole), and least likely to fire during the period from 40 ms before to 60 ms after the r-wave (systole). The strength of this periodicity was inversely related to the discharge rate of individual cells. Exposure to a noxious environmental stimulus (15 min of 100 dB white noise) greatly attenuated the cardiac relationship of LC-NE neurons. A blood volume expansion of approximately 15% (9.0 ml/kg b. wt.) decreased unit rate by about 25%, but did not alter either the timing or the magnitude of the LC-NE cardiac relationship. These data are discussed in terms of the participation of NRD-5-HT and LC-NE neurons in cardiovascular function, and the possible role of LC-NE neurons in short-and long-term volume homeostasis.     

Bicuculline-induced enhancement of sensory responses and cross-correlations between reticular formation and cortical neurons

The visual, auditory and somatosensory responses of neurons in the brain stem reticular formation (RF) and pericruciate cortex of the cat are enhanced by intravenous administration of subconvulsant doses of bicuculline. The degree of enhancement in RF neurons is somewhat greater in magnitude and occurs in a greater percentage of RF neurons. The latency of response is shorter in the RF than in the cortex in 70% of cases. A large percentage of simultaneously recorded RF and cortical neurons which became responsive to the same stimulus exhibited consistent convulsant-induced cross-correlations of firing which were not present before drug treatment. The latency and correlation data are consistent with the possibility that the RF may subserve the cortical enhancement. Auditory response thresholds in RF neurons are reduced by bicuculline administration. Enhancement of RF neuronal responsiveness has previously been observed with several other convulsant drugs which are thought to act on different neurotransmitters suggesting that it may reflect a general action of these agents beyond the effects on specific neurotransmitters. The bicuculline-induced correlation of firing of RF and pericruciate neurons may be involved in the mechanism of initiation of convulsant-mediated seizure generalization induced by sensory stimuli.     

Stimulus‐specific adaptation to visual but not auditory motion direction in the barn owl's optic tectum

Whether the auditory and visual systems use a similar coding strategy to represent motion direction is an open question. We investigated this question in the barn owl's optic tectum (OT) testing stimulus‐specific adaptation (SSA) to the direction of motion. SSA, the reduction of the response to a repetitive stimulus that does not generalize to other stimuli, has been well established in OT neurons. SSA suggests a separate representation of the adapted stimulus in upstream pathways. So far, only SSA to static stimuli has been studied in the OT. Here, we examined adaptation to moving auditory and visual stimuli. SSA to motion direction was examined using repeated presentations of moving stimuli, occasionally switching motion to the opposite direction. Acoustic motion was either mimicked by varying binaural spatial cues or implemented in free field using a speaker array. While OT neurons displayed SSA to motion direction in visual space, neither stimulation paradigms elicited significant SSA to auditory motion direction. These findings show a qualitative difference in how auditory and visual motion is processed in the OT and support the existence of dedicated circuitry for representing motion direction in the early stages of visual but not the auditory system.     

Auditory stimuli enhance MDMA-conditioned reward and MDMA-induced nucleus accumbens dopamine, serotonin and locomotor responses

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as ecstasy, is a popular drug often taken in environments rich in audio and visual stimulation, such as clubs and dance parties. The present experiments were conducted to test the notion that auditory stimulation influences the rewarding effects of MDMA. In Experiment 1, a conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure was conducted in which rats received MDMA (1.5mg/kg, s.c.) in a distinctive environment accompanied by music (65-75dB), white noise (70dB), or no added sound. Animals were pretreated with saline on alternating days in an alternate environment. Results revealed CPP in animals exposed to white noise during MDMA trials. For Experiment 2, rats from Experiment 1 had access to operant levers that delivered intravenous MDMA (0.5mg/kg/inj) or saline (0.1ml) on alternate days in the presence or absence of the same types of auditory stimuli as previously experienced. After three each of MDMA and non-reinforced (saline) sessions, animals were tested for NAcc DA and 5-HT responses to MDMA (1.5mg/kg) or saline under the same stimulus conditions. Findings revealed that NAcc DA and 5-HT increased after an MDMA injection, and both DA and 5-HT were significantly highest in animals exposed to music during the test session. These results indicate that paired sensorial stimuli can engage the same systems activated during drug use and enhance neurochemical and behavioral responses to MDMA administration.     

Convergence and interaction of reticulofugal and afferent impulses on caudate nucleus neurons in the cat

In chronic experiments on cats the activity of 269 striatal neurons was investigated extracellularly under direct electrical stimulation of the midbrain reticular formation and using different sensory stimuli: auditory, mechanical, visual. The same striatal neuron responded to reticular and peripheral stimulations. The responses to reticular stimulation recorded in 53% of striatal neurons were orthodromic with high probability of appearance. 23% of striatal neurons responded to reticular stimulation and to stimuli of a single modality. 14% of neurons exhibited polymodal responses. Under all kinds of stimulation excitatory reactions prevailed. Interaction between reticular and acoustic inputs was revealed with paired stimulation in 100 striatal neurons. The reticular formation stimulation caused both facilitatory (predominantly) and inhibitory influences on striatal neurons.     

Spatio-temporal constraints for auditory--visual integration

The perceptual coherence of auditory and visual information is achieved by integrative brain processes. Specialized single neurons with spatial and temporal interactions of auditory and visual stimuli have been demonstrated by several neurophysiological studies. The present, psychophysical, study investigates possible perceptual correlates of these neuronal features. Subjects had to indicate the point of subjective spatial alignment (PSSA) for a horizontally moving visual stimulus that crossed the position of a stationary sound source. Auditory and visual stimuli consisted of periodic pulses that were systematically varied in their phase relationship or repetition rate. PSSAs obtained for continuous visual stimuli served as a reference. When sound and light pulses were coincident in phase at a repetition rate of 2 Hz, PSSAs were shifted by approximately 3 degrees in a direction opposite to the movement of the visual stimulus (with respect to the reference condition). This shift markedly decreased when the temporal disparity exceeded approximately 100 ms and disappeared near phase opposition (250 ms disparity). With 4 Hz repetition rate (temporal disparity < or =125 ms), there was no significant effect of phase relationship on PSSAs, but still an approximately constant shift with respect to the reference value. Variation of the repetition rate resulted in almost constant shifts in PSSA of approximately 3 degrees between 1 and 4 Hz and a linear decrease (slope 0.27 degrees /Hz) with higher repetition rates. These results suggest a spatio-temporal 'window' for auditory-visual integration, that extends over approximately 100 ms and approximately 3 degrees : when auditory and visual stimuli are within this window, they are always perceived as spatially coincident. These psychophysical findings may be related to properties of bimodal neurons such as have been demonstrated by neurophysiological recordings in midbrain and cortex.     

Effect of corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 antagonist on extracellular norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of rats in vivo

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) is a major mediator of adaptive responsiveness to stress. We measured changes in extracellular concentrations of catecholamine and indoleamines in freely moving rats in response to administration of CRF1 antagonist CP-154,526 by using in vivo microdialysis. Dialysis probes were placed stereotaxically in either the hippocampus or the prefrontal cortex. We examined the response in the hippocampus or the prefrontal cortex to 32.0 mg/kg i.p. administration of CP-154,526. CP-154,526 reduced the extracellular concentration of norepinephrine (NE) from 30 min to 180 min and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) from 30 min to 60 min after injection in the hippocampus. CP-154,526 did not remarkably change dopamine (DA). There were no significant differences between CP-154,526 and vehicle in NE, 5-HT and DA in the prefrontal cortex. The present results indicate that CRF1 receptor antagonist produced a decrease in dialysate concentration of NE and 5-HT, but not DA, in the hippocampus. These results suggest that the CRH-1 receptor antagonist suppresses the release of NE and 5-HT in the hippocampus.