The role of putamen and pallidum in motor initiation in the cat

The participation of basal ganglia in motor initiation was studied in six cats operantly trained to perform a ballistic flexion movement, triggered after a brief sound in a simple reaction time condition or delayed after the same sound in the presence of a tone cue. The activity of 356 neurons was recorded in the putamen and in the pallidum (globus pallidus and entopeduncular nucleus). A total of 19.4% of the neurons were not related to the conditioned flexion movement: they were either unrelated to the task (10.1%) or related to other periods of the motor performance such as trial beginning or reward delivery (9.3%). About 60% of the remaining neurons — defined as task-related — exhibited changes in firing rate that occurred, in the reaction time condition, less than 100 ms after the go signal and therefore began prior to movement onset. For most neurons, in the delayed condition, these early changes were absent, suggesting that their occurrence in the reaction time condition was not a sensory response but rather was related to the movement initiation. In addition, for many neurons these changes shifted in time, remaining time-locked to the movement. Correlations between these early changes in activity and motor parameters were demonstrated, suggesting that these changes were movement-related. For most neurons the firing levels observed during intertrial intervals and during foreperiod were similar. The mean discharge rate during the foreperiod was 19.2 impulses/s. Three patterns of activity were observed before movement: increases in discharge rate (61% of task-related neurons), transient decreases followed by increases (11%), or prolonged decreases (28%). Only minor differences were found between the characteristics of the populations of neurons recorded in the three sites under study: on average the neurons recorded in the globus pallidus were more active than the neurons recorded in the putamen or in the entopeduncular nucleus. The fact that, for certain neurons, the changes of activity prior to movement were different in reaction time condition and in delayed condition showed that the pattern of activity preceding movement might depend on the temporal requirements for motor initiation. Taken together with the motor effects obtained in the same task following GABA-receptor activation with muscimol microinjections in these structures, the present results suggest that putamen and pallidal neurons participate in the initiation of the conditioned movement under study.     

Single-unit activity in the globus pallidus and neostriatum of the rat during performance of a trained head movement

Summary Single-unit extracellular neuronal recordings were obtained from the globus pallidus (GP) and the neostriatum (NS) of rats while they performed a learned head movement in response to an auditory cue. In both GP and NS, units that altered their discharge rate in association with head movements and with the cues that triggered these head movements were prevalent. Frequently, the responses were directionally-specific (i.e., the magnitude or direction of change in firing rate of these neurons was substantially different for trials in which head movements were made to the left vs. the right). For some units, firing rates were altered only in response to the movement cue or only in association with head movements. However, the majority of neurons exhibited responses with both cue-related and movement-related components. Neuronal responses to the auditory cue usually were context-dependent, in that they did not occur if the same stimulus was presented when the animal was not performing the task. At least a small proportion of GP and NS neurons also appeared to exhibit context-dependent movement-related activity, in that responses occasionally were observed that were associated either with sensory-triggered head movements or with spontaneous head movements, but not with both. These data are consistent with previous suggestions that the activity of basal ganglia neurons during movement performance is highly dependent on the conditions associated with movement initiation. The data also indicate that the response characteristics of both GP and NS neurons in the rat are generally similar to those that have been described for basal ganglia neurons in primates and cats during sensory triggered movement tasks. However, the proportion of task-related neurons that exhibited responses with both movement-related and cue-related components was greater than has generally been reported in studies of cats and primates, suggesting that neurons with these response properties may be more predominant in the rat basal ganglia.     

Encoding of sound-source location and movement: activity of single neurons and interactions between adjacent neurons in the monkey auditory cortex.

1. Neuronal mechanisms for decoding sound azimuth and angular movement were studied by recordings of several single units in parallel in the core areas of the auditory cortex of the macaque monkey. The activity of 180 units was recorded during the presentation of moving and static sound stimuli. Both the activity of single units and the interactions between neighboring neurons in response to each stimulus were analyzed. 2. Sixty-two percent of the units showed significant modulation of their firing rates as a function of the stimulus azimuth. Contralateral stimuli were preferred by the majority (approximately 60%) of these neurons. Thirty-five percent of the units showed mild but statistically significant modulation of their firing rates, which was specifically attributed to the angular movement of the sound source. 3. Eighty-nine percent of the "movement-sensitive" units were also "azimuth sensitive." The sound source's azimuth determined the pattern of the response components (on, sustained, off), whereas the source's movement affected only the magnitude of these components, typically the sustained component. Most neurons for which the sustained response to static sounds was greater for contralateral than ipsilateral stimuli preferred moving sounds that were moving into the contralateral hemifield. 4. Cross-correlation analysis was carried out for 245 neuron pairs. Cross-correlograms were computed for each pair under all stimulus conditions to allow comparison of the neuronal interactions under the various conditions. The shapes of some correlograms (after subtraction of direct stimulus effects) were dependent on specific stimulus conditions, suggesting that the effective connectivity between these neurons depended on the location and/or movement of the sound stimuli. Furthermore, joint peristimulus time (JPST) analysis indicated that modifications of connectivity may be temporally related to the stimulus and may occur over short periods of time. These results could not have been predicted from analysis of the independent single-unit responses to the stimuli. 5. The data suggest that both firing rates and correlated activity between adjacent neurons in the auditory cortex encode sound location and movement.     

Sustained seizures cause circumscribed cerebral changes in glial fibrillary acidic protein,neurofilament and laminin immunofluorescence

Summary Single cell activity was examined in the three motor fields of the monkey frontal cortex with the aim of comparing the neuronal activity preceding movements triggered by a visual signal to that preceding nontriggered (self-paced) movements. The following findings emerged from this study. 1. Neuronal activity changes were observed at two different phases in relation to the movement onset; the shortlead type observed within 480 ms prior to the movement onset and the long-lead type, beginning earlier (typically 1 to 2 s). 2. Neurons in both the supplementary motor area (SMA) and premotor area (PM) exhibited the short-lead activity changes prior to the triggered and self-paced movement. Their magnitudes were similar in 63% of SMA and in 36% of PM neurons, whether the movement was triggered or self-paced. 3. SMA neurons, as a whole, were not less active before the triggered than self-paced movement. 4. On the other hand, as many as 92 PM neurons (61%) were related exclusively or peferentially to the triggered movement. 5. The majority of precentral motor cortex (MC) neurons exhibited similar activity changes before the two modes of movement initiation. 6. The long lead type of activity changes were observed mainly prior to the self-paced and much less frequently before the triggered movement. They were particularly abundant among SMA neurons. These results do not support the simple dichotomy hypothesis that SMA primarily takes part in self-paced movement and PM is only involved in visually triggered movement. However, PM neurons show relatively more prominent responses to the visual trigger signal and SMA neurons are intimately related to a long-lasting process leading to initiation of the self-paced movement.Supported by Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology from Science and Technology Agency of Japan (Research on the development of basic technologies for brain function analysis)     

Influence of the globus pallidus on arm movements in monkeys. III. Timing of movement-related information

Monkeys were trained to make a visually triggered arm-reaching movement to a lighted button in a simple reaction-time paradigm, during which the reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) were measured. Stimulus trains of varying duration were applied at various times before and during the movement at locations in the globus pallidus where application of long stimulus trains caused increased MTs. A critical stimulus period was identified during which stimulus application effectively prolonged MTs. The activity of pallidal neurons was examined during performance of the same behavioral task. More than 60% of the neurons examined showed task-related changes in activity that began before or during the reaching movement. For 45% of these cells, the initial change in firing occurred during the critical stimulus period, 50-150 ms before mechanically detected movement. Comparison of the critical stimulus period, the time of task-related changes in the discharge of pallidal neurons, and the time of EMG activity in muscles acting at the back, shoulder, elbow, and wrist revealed that both the critical stimulus period and changes in neuronal discharge occurred at or after initial muscle activation and during the buildup of EMG activity. These data are consistent with a model in which the globus pallidus plays a role in scaling the magnitude of muscle activity that determines movement velocity without affecting the initiation or sequential organization of the programmed motor output.     

Activity of neurons of the subthalamic nucleus in relation to motor performance in the cat

The activity of subthalamic nucleus neurons related to motor performance was studied in three unrestrained cats operantly conditioned to perform a lever-release movement. The movement was initiated either rapidly after the trigger stimulus (a brief sound) in a simple reaction-time paradigm or after a delay in trials identified by a tone cue. These paradigms were randomly presented. The activity of 171 neurons was recorded in the contralateral and in the ipsilateral subthalamic nucleus, with respect to the performing limb. The mean spontaneous activity of cells in the ipsilateral side (18.5±13.8 imp/s, mean±SD) was higher than that in the contralateral side (8.5±8.1 imp/s). A total of 145 cells (85%) presented significant changes in activity in relation to the lever-release movement (task-related cells). The remaining 26 cells were either related to other events of the task (n=15; lever-press or reinforcement occurrence) or not related at all to the task performance (n=11). The majority of changes of activity of task-related cells were initial increases in discharge, which started on average, 127 ms before movement onset and lasted several hundreds of milliseconds. These increases in discharge were more frequent in the contralateral side (75 of 80 task-related cells, 94%) than in the ipsilateral side (43 of 65 task-related cells, 66%). The changes in activity, either increases or decreases, occurred early after the trigger stimulus, since 62% of them had a latency of less than 100 ms. Although the mean latency of initial increases was rather similar in both sides (97 ms contralateral versus 104 ms ipsilateral), the contralateral side was characterized by a high proportion of very early responses (less than 20 ms). For most neurons, the early changes in activity described above were absent after the trigger stimulus in the delayed condition. For certain neurons, the changes in activity prior to movement were different in reactiontime condition and in delayed condition, showing that the pattern of activity preceding movement might depend on the temporal requirements for motor initiation. The results suggest that a significant proportion of subthalamic cells are involved in the preparation and the initiation phases of the lever-release movement studied, although other hypotheses (e.g. stimulus-related responses) cannot be definitely ruled out. The timings and patterns of the changes in activity observed in the subthalamic nucleus in the present study, and in the pallidal complex previously, cannot be explained easily by the classical scheme where the external pallidum inhibits the subthalamic nucleus. The results suggest rather that the subthalamic nucleus, driven by a yet-to-be-determined excitatory input, exerts an excitatory influence on the pallidum and plays a crucial role in the control of the basal ganglia output neurons.     

Activity of ventrolateral thalamic neurons in relation to a simple reaction time task in the cat

Unrestrained cats performed ballistic forelimb flexion movements triggered by an auditory stimulus (CS) on a simple reaction time (RT) paradigm. During the variable foreperiod the subject was required to hold down a lever and to release it on presentation of the CS. The RTs ranged from 200 to 300 ms. The activity of single neurons of the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus (VL) was recorded bilaterally. More than 40% of the 166 units recorded in the VL contralateral to the performing limb presented, after the CS, changes of activity with a latency less than 100 ms and were classified into three types: (1) Twenty-five units had a short latency transient increase of activity 10 to 30 ms after the CS, followed by a longer increase or decrease in activity. Short latency increase as well as subsequent increase of the firing rate were not correlated to the RTs. (2) Twenty-nine units showed a 40-60 ms latency increase of activity which lasted long enough to continue during the forelimb movement. These units displayed a correlation between the RTs and the mean firing rate measured in the 40-100 ms period after the CS. The more the cells were activated, the shorter the RTs. (3) Fifteen units presented a reciprocal pattern of discharge with respect to the type (2) units. The firing rate decreased with latencies ranging from 20 to 90 ms after the CS. Only 14,5% of the 96 units recorded in the VL ipsilateral to the performing limb presented changes of activity starting in the 100 ms period following the CS. Background firing levels as well as phasic activity were rather low compared to those observed contralaterally. Sixteen units showed burst activity while the cat was performing but burst pattern was not time-related to the task. In an unconditioned animal, a very low level of activity and an absence of modulations were observed in both VLs.     

Role of the monkey substantia nigra pars reticulata in orienting behaviour and visually triggered arm movements

The role of the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) has been studied in the head-free monkey during orienting behaviour in response to visual instruction signals triggering head positioning and conditioned arm movement. During the behavioural responses we recorded the electromyographic activities of neck muscles and triceps brachii, head movement, horizontal electrooculogram and single unit activity of SNpr neurons. Activity of 38 neurons located in the medial part of SNpr were analysed during the visuo-motor task. Forty percent of these units showed a moderate decrease in tonic firing rate during postural preparation preceding the orientation toward eccentric visual signal. This decrease, unrelated with saccadic eye movements per se, was followed by a marked pause observed when the rewarded stimulus was switched on and the conditioned arm movement was executed to get the reward. These data suggest that the pause in discharge of these SNpr neurons are time locked with behaviourally relevant visual stimuli and/or appropriate motor responses.     

Rhythmically firing neostriatal neurons in monkey: activity patterns during reaction-time hand movements.

While previous studies have identified rhythmically firing neurons (RFNs) in monkey neostriatum and these rhythmic firing patterns have been shown to evolve in neostriatal tonically active neurons (TANs) after dopamine input depletion, the activity patterns of RFNs during motor behavior are still far from completely understood. We examined the single-unit activity patterns of neostriatal neurons, recorded in awake behaving monkeys during a wrist movement task, for evidence of rhythmic activity. Monkeys made ballistic wrist flexion and extension movements in response to vibrotactile cues. Animals held a steady wrist position for 0.5 to 2.0 s while awaiting the onset of the go-cues (hold period). Although the majority of neostriatal neurons (274/306) did not fire rhythmically, approximately 10% of the neurons (32/306) fired rhythmically at 10-50 Hz during the hold period. Most RFNs (28/32) showed significant activity changes during the time between go-cue presentation and movement onset (premovement activity). One-half of RFNs exhibited premovement activity that differed as a function of movement direction. Only one RFN may have responded to the delivery of a fruit juice reward. Neuronal firing was analyzed using interspike interval distributions, autocorrelations, and serial correlation techniques. These analyses showed that the activity patterns of most RFNs were consistent with an integrate-and-fire model of neuronal rhythm generation. Changes in RFN activity patterns during the premovement interval and intertrial variations in firing frequency could be explained by changes in the general level of excitatory input. These observations are consistent with the firing properties reported for neostriatal cholinergic interneurons. It has been suggested that tonically active neurons may be cholinergic interneurons and that these neurons show changes in activity related to specific aspects of behavioral paradigms, such as rewards. RFNs may constitute a special class of TANs. The results presented here suggest that RFNs may have a role in movement initiation. We speculate that RFNs may modulate the propagation of cortical oscillations via basal ganglia-thalamic-cortical loops.     

Relationships between sensory responsiveness and premovement activity of quickly adapting neurons in areas 3b and 1 of monkey primary somatosensory cortex

Summary When monkeys make wrist movements in response to vibration of their hands, primary somatosensory (SI) cortical neurons that adapt quickly to the vibratory stimulus often exhibit two temporally separate types of activity. Initially, these neurons respond to the stimulus. They then cease discharging, only to resume firing prior to the movement. This activation, cessation and reactivation occurs even though the sensory stimulus remains on until after the movement is begun. The first change in activity is most likely related to sensory input. The second, which has been called premovement activity, may have a sensory component as well as one related to the upcoming movement. We wanted to test the hypothesis that the premovement activity exhibited when vibration is present represents both a reactivation of a neuron's vibratory response and the premovement activity that normally occurs when vibration is absent. We also wanted to determine if area 3b and 1 quickly adapting (QA) neurons show similar or different activity patterns during the initiation and execution of sensory triggered wrist movements. Four monkeys were trained to make wrist flexion and extension movements in response to vibratory stimuli delivered to the handle which the animals used to control the behavioral paradigm. Two of the four monkeys also made similar wrist movements following visual cues. We found that the premovement activity of QA neurons located in area 1 (but not area 3b) is comprised of a sensory-related component as well as a movement-related component. The magnitude of these individual components differs in relationship to a neuron's receptive field type, the movement direction and the external force imposed on the stimulated forelimb. Premovement activity of area 3b and area 1 QA neurons occurs at the same time prior to movement, regardless of whether visual or vibratory cues are used to trigger wrist movements. This activity occurs at about the same time as others have observed elevations in the threshold for tactile perception, suggesting that premovement activity and changes in sensory responsiveness before movement may be related. These and previous findings are used to construct a model which may predict the firing patterns of SI QA neurons during behavioral tasks. These findings also suggest that areas 3b and 1 may have different roles in processing task-related somatosensory information.     

GABAergic mechanisms in the cat red nucleus: Effects of intracerebral microinjections of muscimol or bicuculline on a conditioned motor task

Summary Interneurons in the Red Nucleus (RN) are known to be under cortical control and to exert an inhibitory action, mediated by GABAergic mechanisms, on the main output towards the spinal cord. The effects of discrete injections of a GABA receptor agonist (muscimol) or an antagonist (bicuculline) in the Red Nucleus were tested on a motor task performed by seven cats. The subjects were trained to release a lever with a flexion movement of the forelimb controlled by a reaction time (RT) paradigm. Muscimol as well as bicuculline increased RTs in a dose-dependent manner at doses below 100 ng. However the parameters of the force exerted on the lever were differentially altered by the two drugs. Muscimol increased RTs by slowing down the force change preceding movement as well as slightly delaying its latency. While bicuculline increased drastically the force change latency. It could also speed up the force change velocity for low doses. At higher doses (up to 500 ng) both drugs produced an arrest of the performance either associated with anxiety signs (bicuculline) or dystonic movements of the head followed by body rotations (muscimol). The strong motor impairments as well as the disruption of the conditioned performances following muscimol or bicuculline microinjection in the RN suggest an important functional role for GABAergic interneurons. Under the control of cortical afferences they can modulate rubrospinal activity and participate in the triggering of a conditioned movement.     

Time course of conjugated neuronal firing in the motor cortex of conditioned cats

The activity of neurons able to generate impulses synergistically at intervals of not more than 0.5 msec (conjugated neuronal firing) was analyzed in the motor cortex of cats with two forms of learned behavior (a conditioned response to time and a conditioned defensive response to sound). It is shown that conjugated neuronal firing is a process based on spontaneous impulse traffic and that its nonuniform distribution in time is determined by changes occurring in cellular structures during adaptive behavior. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 121, No. 6, pp. 619–622, June, 1996     

Conditioned changes of synaptic transmission in the motor cortex of the cat

Intracellular recordings were made from 117 neurons in the motor cortex of anesthetized cats. The pyramidal tract (PT) and VL nucleus of thalamus were stimulated in order to activate the neurons from two directions. 1. PT cells were conditioned by antidromic trains (10--50 cps for 4--15 s) and by paired PT and VL stimuli with different intervals and sequences. The VL-EPSPs were examined before and after conditioning, to find differences in efficacy in giving rise to spikes. The conditioning procedures resulted in a remarkable facilitation of VL-EPSPs, manifesting itself as a significant rise of efficacy in generating spikes, a shortening of peak latency and in some cases, an enhancement of background firing. 2. In non-PT neurons the same conditioning procedures elicited heterosynaptic facilitation and a rise in firing activity. 3. Intracellularly injected square wave pulses also resulted in facilitation of VL-EPSPs. 4. Pairings of PT and VL stimuli were more effective than trains in evoking conditioned changes. 5. Plastic modifications were observed in the 13.7% of the neurons subjected to conditioning procedures. 6. The authors assume that synchronous activity of the pre- and postsynaptic neurons is a highly important condition for plastic changes in the efficacy of synaptic transmission.     

Firing of inferior colliculus neurons in response to low-frequency sound stimulation during sleep and waking

SUMMARY  In vivo extracellular recordings of 102 units in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (IC), were made in chronically implanted guinea-pigs during the sleep/wake cycle. During wakefulness, the units were classified according to their response characteristics. Most neurons (63%) recorded showed changes, increasing or decreasing in the number of evoked discharges during the animal's transitions between wakefulness and slow-wave sleep. In the paradoxical sleep phase, the result was similar; changes were observed in most neurons, while only 11% of units did not shift their discharge pattern during ipsilateral sound stimulation.
The post-stimulus time histogram of the overall evoked pattern of discharge showed sleep/wake dependency, i.e. changed in 35% of the units recorded during the 50 ms of sound stimulation.
Fifty-five percent of auditory neurons did not show any change in the spontaneous firing rate during slow-wave sleep as compared to the previous waking period, while 22% exhibited a discharge increase and 23% decreased their firing. During paradoxical sleep, 14 out of 17 cells increased their spontaneous firing rate. The IC auditory neurons send descending connections to regions such as the dorsal pontine nuclei, known to mediate sleep processes. Thus, for constant auditory input, the firing rate or number of discharge variations are due to functional shifts in the sleeping brain. Auditory processing is present during sleep and differs from that observed during wakefulness. Differences were observed in the evoked firing number and/or spontaneous rate, as well as in the pattern of discharge. The ultimate reason for auditory unit shifts during sleep remains yet unexplained.     

Monkey primary somatosensory cortical activity during the early reaction time period differs with cues that guide movements

Vibration-related neurons in monkey primary somatosensory cortex (SI) discharge rhythmically when vibratory stimuli are presented. It remains unclear how functional information carried by vibratory inputs is coded in rhythmic neuronal activity. In the present study, we compared neuronal activity during wrist movements in response to two sets of cues. In the first, movements were guided by vibratory cue only (VIB trials). In the second, movements were guided by simultaneous presentation of both vibratory and visual cues (COM trials). SI neurons were recorded extracellularly during both wrist extensions and flexions. Neuronal activity during the instructed delay period (IDP) and the early reaction time period (RTP) were analyzed. A total of 96 cases from 48 neurons (each neuron contributed two cases, one each for extension and flexion) showed significant vibration entrainment during the early RTPs, as determined by circular statistics (Rayleigh test). Of these, 50 cases had cutaneous (CUTA) and 46 had deep (DEEP) receptive fields. The CUTA neurons showed lower firing rates during the IDPs and greater firing rate changes during the early RTPs when compared with the DEEP neurons. The CUTA neurons also demonstrated decreases in activity entrainment during VIB trials when compared with COM trials. For the DEEP neurons, the difference of entrainment between VIB and COM trials was not statistically significant. The results suggest that somatic vibratory input is coded by both the firing rate and the activity entrainment of the CUTA neurons in SI. The results also suggest that when vibratory inputs are required for successful task completion, the activity of the CUTA neurons increases but the entrainment degrades. The DEEP neurons may be tuned before movement initiation for processing information encoded by proprioceptive afferents.     

The role of primate putamen neurons in the association of sensory stimuli with movement

Neuronal activity in the putamen of monkeys was recorded while they performed operantly conditioned body movements. Two categories of neurons were observed. Type I cells had tonic spontaneous discharges and responded to the sensory trigger stimuli for movements with excitation followed by inhibition or with only inhibition. These responses to the trigger stimuli disappeared when the conditioned movement was extinguished. Type II cells were characterized by phasic activity time-locked to the movement. Two subclasses of type II cells were observed. Type IIa cells exhibited phasic discharges before the first movement of a learned, repetitive sequence of arm or orofacial movements that were triggered by the sensory stimuli. Type IIb cells showed phasic activity modulation during each movement in one direction, either flexion or extension, in an unconditioned manner. Activity of the type IIa cells preceded the onset of EMG in prime mover muscles, while most type IIb cells were activated after the EMG had appeared. Thus, in both type I and type IIa cells the activity can be said to be behaviourally contingent. Type I cells show a movement contingent sensory response, and type IIa cells show movement-related activity that is contingent upon the triggering of the movement by a sensory stimulus.     

Short-term changes in movement frequency do not alter the spatial tuning of saccade-related neurons in intraparietal cortex

Modulations of the firing rates of neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) have been observed during experiments designed to examine decision-processing, movement planning, and visual attention. These modulations have been assumed to reflect a uniform scaling of spatially stationary response fields, which describe firing rate as a function of either visual target location or movement metrics. However, because complete response fields are rarely collected, the possibility exists that these modulations may reflect shifts in response field location or changes in response field size. Moreover, many of these observed changes in LIP neuronal activity are also correlated with experimental practices that alter the frequency with which particular visual stimuli are viewed and particular movements are produced. The effects of repeatedly presenting a particular target and eliciting a particular movement on the response fields of LIP neurons warrant closer inspection because manipulations of this type are known to alter both the location and size of the receptive fields of many cortical sensory neurons. To address this issue, we measured the response fields of neurons in intraparietal cortex under two conditions over a period of up to 2 h: one in which each of nearly 200 stimulus locations was equally likely to serve as the saccade target on a trial, and a second in which one stimulus location was up to 750 times likelier to serve as the saccade target on a trial than were any of the other stimulus locations. We found no shifts in response field location or changes in response field size when we altered the frequency with which particular movements were produced or particular visual stimuli were presented. These data suggest that the response fields of intraparietal neurons are stationary over short periods of time and under conditions similar to those typically used to study LIP neuronal activity.     

Suppression of spontaneous firing in inferior colliculus neurons during sound processing

Spontaneous activity is a well-known neural phenomenon that occurs throughout the brain and is essential for normal development of auditory circuits and for processing of sounds. Spontaneous activity could interfere with sound processing by reducing the signal-to-noise ratio. Multiple studies have reported that spontaneous activity in auditory neurons can be suppressed by sound stimuli. The goal of this study was to determine the stimulus conditions that cause this suppression and to identify possible underlying mechanisms. Experiments were conducted in the inferior colliculus (IC) of awake little brown bats using extracellular and intracellular recording techniques. The majority of IC neurons (82%) fired spontaneously, with a median spontaneous firing rate of 6 spikes/s. After offset of a 4 ms sound, more than half of these neurons exhibited suppression of spontaneous firing that lasted hundreds of milliseconds. The duration of suppression increased with sound level. Intracellular recordings showed that a short (<50 ms) membrane hyperpolarization was often present during the beginning of suppression, but it was never observed during the remainder of the suppression. Beyond the initial 50 ms period, the absence of significant changes in input resistance during suppression suggests that suppression is presynaptic in origin. Namely, it may occur on presynaptic terminals and/or elsewhere on presynaptic neurons. Suppression of spontaneous firing may serve as a mechanism for enhancing signal-to-noise ratios during signal processing.     

Timing and direction selectivity of subthalamic and pallidal neurons in patients with Parkinson disease

Current models of basal ganglia function suggest that some manifestations of Parkinson disease (PD) arise from abnormal activity and decreased selectivity of neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (Gpi). Our goal was to examine the timing and direction selectivity of neuronal activity relative to visually guided movements in the STN and Gpi of patients with PD. Recordings were made from 152 neurons in the STN and 33 neurons in the Gpi of awake subjects undergoing surgery for PD. Corresponding EMG data were obtained for half the cells. We employed a structured behavioral task in which the subjects used a joystick to guide a cursor to one of four targets displayed on a monitor. Each direction was tested over multiple trials. Movement-related modulation of STN activity began on average 264±10 ms before movement initiation and 92±13 ms before initial EMG activity, while modulation of Gpi activity began 204±21 ms before overt movement initiation. In the STN, 40% of cells demonstrated perimovement activity, and of these 64% were directionally selective. In Gpi, 45% of cells showed perimovement activity of which 80% were selective. In both nuclei, directionally selective cells had significantly lower baseline firing rates than nonselective cells (41±5 vs 59±4 spikes/s in STN, and 50±9 vs 74±15 spikes/s in Gpi). These results suggest that STN activity occurs earlier than previously reported, and that higher neuronal firing rates maybe associated with decreased direction selectivity in PD patients.     

Activity properties and location of neurons in the motor thalamus that project to the cortical motor areas in monkeys

The activity of neurons in the motor nuclei of the thalamus that project to the cortical motor areas (the primary motor cortex, the ventral and dorsal premotor cortex, and the supplementary motor area) was investigated in monkeys that were performing a task in which wrist extension and flexion movements were instructed by visuospatial cues before the onset of movement. Movement was triggered by a visual, auditory, or somatosensory stimulus. Thalamocortical neurons were identified by a spike collision, and exhibited 2 distinct types of task-related activity: 1) a sustained change in activity during the instructed preparation period in response to the instruction cues (set-related activity); and 2) phasic changes in activity during the reaction and movement time periods (movement-related activity). A number of set- and moment-related neurons exhibited direction selectivity. Most movement-related neurons were similarly active, irrespective of the different sensory modalities of the cue for movement. These properties of neuronal activity were similar, regardless of their target cortical motor areas. There were no significant differences in the antidromic latencies of neurons that projected to the primary and nonprimary motor areas. These results suggest that the thalamocortical neurons play an important role in the preparation for, and initiation and execution of, the movements, but are less important than neurons of the nonprimary cortical motor areas in modality-selective sensorimotor transformation. It is likely that such transformations take place within the nonprimary cortical motor areas, but not through thalamocortical information channels.