The directional effects of passive eye movement on the directional visual responses of single units in the pigeon optic tectum |
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Authors: | P C Knox H C Whalley |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 11 Crichton St, Edinburgh EH8 9LE, UK, GB |
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Abstract: | We have investigated the visual responses of 184 single units located in the superficial layers of the optic tectum (OT)
of the decerebrate, paralysed pigeon. Visual responses were similar to those reported in non-decerebrate preparations; most
units responded best to moving visual stimuli, 18% were directionally selective (they had a clear preference for a particular
direction of visual stimulus movement), 76% were plane-selective (they responded to movement in either direction in a particular
plane). However, we also found that a high proportion of units showed some sensitivity to the orientation of visual stimuli.
We examined the effects of extraocular muscle (EOM) afferent signals, induced by passive eye movement (PEM), on the directional
visual responses of units. Visual responses were most modified by particular directions of eye movement, although there was
no unique relationship between the direction of visual stimulus movement to which an individual unit responded best and the
direction of eye movement that caused the greatest modification of that visual response. The results show that EOM afferent
signals, carrying information concerning the direction of eye movement, reach the superficial layers of the OT in the pigeon
and there modify the visual responses of units in a manner that suggests some role for these signals in the processing of
visual information.
Received: 17 June 1996 / Accepted: 29 April 1997 |
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Keywords: | Extraocular muscle afferents Visual processing Optic tectum Pigeon |
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