Directional tuning of motion-sensitive cells in the anterior superior temporal polysensory area of the macaque

An investigation was made into the directional sensitivity of cells in the macaque anterior superior temporal polysensory region (STPa) to the motion of objects. The cells studied were sensitive to the presence of motion but showed little or no selectivity for the form of the stimulus. Directional tuning was not continuously distributed about all possible directions. The majority of cells were most responsive to motion in a direction within 15° of one of the three cartesian axes (up/down, left/right, towards/away). Tuning to direction varied in sharpness. For most (34/37) cells the angular change in direction required to reduce response to half maximal was between 45 and 70° (for 3/37 cells it was > 90°). The estimates of the directionality (median I _d = 0.97) of STPa cells was similar to that reported for posterior motion processing areas (the middle temporal area, MT, and the medial superior temporal area, MST). The tuning for direction (sharpness, distribution and discrimination) of the motion-sensitive STPa cells were found to be similar to the tuning for perspective view of STPa cells selective for static form of the head and body. On average the STPa responses showed a 100- to 300-ms transient burst of activity followed by a tonic discharge maintained at approximately 20% of the peak firing rate for the duration of stimulation. The responses of motion-sensitive STPa cells occurred at an earlier latency (mean 91 ms) than responses of cells selective for static form (mean 119 ms), but the time course of responses of the two classes of cell were similar in many other respects. The early response latency and directional selectivity indicate that motion sensitivity in STPa cells derives from the dorsal visual pathway via MT/MST. The similarity of tuning for direction and perspective view within STPa may facilitate the integration of motion and form processing within this high-level brain area.     

Differences in the temporal dynamics of the visual ON and OFF pathways

The temporal structure of spike trains recorded from optic fibers and single units of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and primary visual cortex of the cat was studied with a novel method of inter-spike interval analysis. ON type relay cells of the LGN exhibited a multimodal interval distribution preferring a distinct interval (fundamental interval) and its multiples during the sustained light response, whereas most OFF cells showed a broad, unimodal distribution. The general pattern of the interval distribution was relatively independent of stimulus size and contrast and the degree of light adaptation. Simultaneously recorded S-potentials originating from the retinal input generally produced only a single peak at the fundamental interval length. Therefore, the multimodal interval distribution of LGN cells seems to be a result of intra-geniculate inhibition. Cortical cells also showed a weak tendency to fire with spike intervals similar to LGN cells. Therefore, the regular firing pattern observed at peripheral stages of the visual pathway can persist at higher levels and might promote the occurrence of oscillatory activity.     

Neuron transplantation into mice hippocampus alters sensitivity to barbital narcosis

The role of several hippocampal innervations in the sensitivity to barbital-induced narcosis was studied in selected mice strains. The outbred and inbred mouse strains HS/Ibg, SABRA/HUC, C57BL, CBA/LAC, and BALB/c were tested for barbital-induced sleep (315 mg/kg). The relatively short sleeping HS/Ibg (HS) and the longest sleeping BALE/c (BALE) were chosen for further investigation. Cholinergic (ACh), serotonergic (5-HT), and noradrenergic (NE) innervations were studied in HS strain; whereas BALE, which possesses both an unusually high sensitivity to barbital and unique NE innervations in the cortex and hippocampus, was employed in a detailed study of the NE innervations. Transplantation of embryonic NE cells from the mouse embryo into the hippocampus of adult HS mice increased barbital narcosis by 65% (p < 0.05), whereas transplantation of 5-HT cells decreased barbital narcosis by 54% (p < 0.001). Transplantation of ACh cells had no significant effect on barbital-induced narcosis. BALB mice were subjected to NE cell transplantation into the hippocampus and cortex. Similarly to HS, BALB receiving NE transplants into their hippocampus slept 34% longer than control after barbital challenge (p < 0.025). Noradrenergic cell transplantation into frontal cortex had no effect on barbital sleep. The results suggest that (a) enhancement by neural grafting of the NE innervation to the hippocampus accentuates and enhancement of the 5-HT innervations attenuates the sensitivity to barbital narcosis, whereas ACh innervations have no effect on the sensitivity to barbital narcosis, and (b) the unusually high sensitivity of BALB mice to barbital may not be related to its unique NE innervations.     

Effects of monoamine uptake inhibitors given early postnatally on monoamines in the brain stem,caudate/putamen and cortex,and on dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in the caudate/putamen

Summary Rats were treated with desipramine 5mg/kg, nomifensine 10mg/kg, zimelidine 25 mg/kg or with 0.9% sodium chloride once a day during the second and third weeks after birth, and brain stem, caudate/putamen and cortical monoamines, and caudate/putamen dopamine D₁ (³[H]SCH 23390) and D₂ (³[H]spiroperidol) receptor binding were measured when rats were at two months of age. In the brain stem, the concentration of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenyl glycol was increased in nomifensine rats and the ratio of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid to 5-hydroxytryptamine was increased in zimelidine rats. In the caudate/putamen, the concentrations of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid and the ratio of homovanillic acid to dopamine were increased in desipramine rats; neither³[H]SCH 23390 nor³[H]spiroperidol binding were affected by any of the three monoamine uptake inhibiting antidepressants studied. In the cortex, the ratio of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid to 5-hydroxytryptamine was increased in desipramine and zimelidine rats. The findings suggest that desipramine but not nomifensine increases the metabolism of dopamine in the caudate/ putamen and nomifensine but not desipramine increases the metabolism of norepinephrine in the brain stem, and furthermore that the metabolism of serotonin is affected by desipramine as well as by zimelidine. It is possible that also treatment of women with these drugs during late pregnancy causes long-lasting changes in the brain of human fetus.     

Therapeutic effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on motor function in Parkinson''s disease patients

Cortical excitability of the primary motor cortex is altered in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, modulation of cortical excitability by high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the motor cortex might result in beneficial effects on motor functions in PD. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of rTMS of the motor cortex on motor functions in patients with PD. Thirty-six unmedicated PD patients were included consecutively in this study. The patients were assigned in a randomized pattern to one of two groups, one group receiving real-rTMS (suprathreshold 5-Hz, 2000 pulses once a day for 10 consecutive days) and the second group receiving sham-rTMS using closed envelopes. Total motor section of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), walking speed, and self-assessment scale were performed for each patient before rTMS and after the first, fifth, 10th sessions, and then after 1 month. Evaluation of these measures was performed blindly without knowing the type of rTMS. anova for repeated measurements revealed a significant time effect for the total motor UPDRS, walking speed and self-assessment scale during the course of the study in the group of patients receiving real-rTMS (P = 0.0001, 0.001, and 0.002), while no significant changes were observed in the group receiving sham-rTMS except in self-assessment scale (P = 0.019). A 10-day course of real-rTMS resulted in statistically significant long-term improvement of the motor functions in comparison with the sham-rTMS. The rTMS could have a therapeutic role of for PD patients.     

Movement-related potential measures of different modes of movement selection in Parkinson's disease

Movement-related potentials were recorded preceding self-paced voluntary movements in patients with Parkinson's disease and in healthy subjects of the same age group. We compared the Readiness Potential preceding joystick movements in a fixed direction and preceding joystick movements in freely selected directions. In normal subjects the Readiness Potential amplitude was higher preceding freely selected movements than preceding movements in a fixed direction. The Readiness Potential in Parkinson patients failed to be modified by the different modes of movement selection. The modulation of the Readiness Potential by different ways of preparing for movement might be due to the supplementary motor area (SMA) being more strongly engaged by tasks requiring internal control of movements than by tasks that are externally structured. The results suggest that this task-dependent variation of SMA activity is reduced in Parkinson's disease. A failing capacity to adapt SMA activity to different task demands has previously been suggested by evidence from positron emission tomography studies using similar tasks.     

Pyramidal cells in primary auditory cortex project to cochlear nucleus in rat

Recent work has demonstrated that the auditory cortex in rat sends direct projections to the auditory nuclei of the brainstem, including the cochlear nucleus and superior olive. To determine the cortical origin of the projections to cochlear nucleus, Fast Blue, a retrograde fluorescent tracer, was injected into the cochlear nucleus. Labeled cells in the forebrain were then studied with light microscopy and mapped. The projection was found to originate from large pyramidal neurons in layer V of primary auditory cortex. The projection was predominantly ipsilateral, and no labeled neurons were found in other cortical areas. These data imply that primary auditory cortex exerts influence over ascending auditory information at the earliest stages of the central auditory system.     

Elevation of cell adhesion molecule immunoreactivity in the anterior cingulate cortex in bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging reports of increases in signal hyperintensities in white and deep gray matter and other work indicate that there might be an inflammatory response in affective disorders. METHODS: The microvascular immunoreactivity of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 was measured with image analysis in postmortem tissue from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) from 15 unipolar and 15 bipolar subjects and compared with each other and with 15 subjects with schizophrenia and 15 control subjects. RESULTS: Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 immunoreactivity in gray and white matter of the ACC in bipolar subjects was increased compared with control subjects (gray: p =.001; white: p <.001) and schizophrenic subjects (gray: p =.016; white: p =.025) and modestly increased in white matter compared with unipolar subjects (p =.049). No such differences were found in the DLPFC. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the presence of an inflammatory response in the ACC in bipolar disorder.     

A sexually dimorphic ratio of orbitofrontal to amygdala volume is altered in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Neuroanatomic sexual dimorphisms have been correlated with behavioral differences between healthy men and women. We have reported higher orbitofrontal cortex to amygdala ratio (OAR) in women than men. Although gender differences in schizophrenia are evident clinically and correlate with neuroanatomic measures, their relationship to OAR has not been examined. METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 31 neuroleptic-na?ve schizophrenic patients (16 men) and 80 healthy volunteers (34 men), aged less than 50 years. An automated tissue segmentation procedure was combined with expert-guided parcellation of orbitofrontal and amygdala volumes. RESULTS: Men with schizophrenia had increased OAR relative to healthy men, whereas women had decreased OAR. Increased OAR in men with schizophrenia reflected abnormally low amygdala volumes, whereas decreased OAR in women reflected abnormally low orbitofrontal volumes. Less severe negative symptoms were associated with increased OAR in men but with decreased OAR in women. In men, increased amygdala volume was associated with greater symptom severity, whereas in women higher volumes of both amygdala and orbitofrontal regions were associated with lesser severity of negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These opposite OAR abnormalities, whereby men show feminization and women masculinization, suggest gender-mediated effects of the underlying neuropathologic processes. The correlations with symptom severity suggest that neuroanatomic abnormalities in OAR reflect compensatory brain changes.     

Organization of the callosal connections of visual areas V1 and V2 in the macaque monkey

The interhemispheric efferent and afferent connections of the V1/V2 border have been examined in the adult macaque monkey with the tracers horseradish peroxidase and horseradish peroxidase conjugated to wheat germ agglutinin. The V1/V2 border was found to have reciprocal connections with the contralateral visual area V1, as well as with three other cortical sites situated in the posterior bank of the lunate sulcus, the anterior bank of the lunate sulcus, and the posterior bank of the superior temporal sulcus. Within V1, callosal projecting cells were found mainly in layer 4B with a few cells in layer 3. Anterograde labeled terminals were restricted to layers 2, 3, 4B, and 5. In extrastriate cortex, retrograde labeled cells were in layers 2 and 3 and only very rarely in infragranular layers. In the posterior bank of the lunate sulcus, labeled terminals were scattered throughout all cortical layers except layers 1 and 4. In the anterior bank of the lunate sulcus and in the superior temporal sulcus, anterograde labeled terminals were largely focused in layer 4. Callosal connections in all contralateral regions were organized in a columnar fashion. Columnar organization of callosal connections was more apparent for anterograde labeled terminals than for retrograde labeled neurons. In the posterior bank of the lunate sulcus, columns of callosal connections were superimposed on regions of high cytochrome activity. The tangential extent of callosal connections in V1 and V2 was found to be influenced by eccentricity in the visual field. Callosal connections were denser in the region of V1 subserving foveal visual field than in cortex representing the periphery. In V1 subserving the fovea, callosal connections extended up to 2 mm from the V1/V2 border and only up to 1 mm in more peripheral located cortex. In area V2 subserving the fovea, cortical connections extended up to 8 mm from the V1/V2 border and only up to 3 mm in peripheral cortex.