QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, July 27, 2005, 25(30):7081-7089; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1379-05.2005

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) A correction has been published Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (14) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Marín, G. Articles by Letelier, J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Marín, G. Articles by Letelier, J. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Oscillatory Bursts in the Optic Tectum of Birds Represent Re-Entrant Signals from the Nucleus Isthmi Pars Parvocellularis

Gonzalo Marín, Jorge Mpdozis, Elisa Sentis, Tomás Ossandón, and Juan Carlos Letelier

Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Casilla 653, Chile

Fast oscillatory bursts (OBs; 500-600 Hz) are the most prominent response to visual stimulation in the optic tectum of birds. To investigate the neural mechanisms generating tectal OBs, we compared local recordings of OBs with simultaneous intracellular and extracellular single-unit recordings in the tectum of anesthetized pigeons. We found a specific population of units that responded with burst discharges that mirrored the burst pattern of OBs. Intracellular filling with biocytin of some of these bursting units demonstrated that they corresponded to the paintbrush axon terminals from the nucleus isthmi pars parvocellularis (Ipc). Direct recordings in the Ipc confirmed the high correlation between Ipc cell firing and tectal OBs. After injecting micro-drops of lidocaine in the Ipc, the OBs of the corresponding tectal locus disappeared completely. These results identify the paintbrush terminals as the neural elements generating tectal OBs. These terminals are presumably cholinergic and ramify across tectal layers in a columnar manner. Because the optic tectum and the Ipc are reciprocally connected such that each Ipc neuron sends a paintbrush axon to the part of the optic tectum from which its visual inputs come, tectal OBs represent re-entrant signals from the Ipc, and the spatial-temporal pattern of OBs across the tectum is the mirror representation of the spatial-temporal pattern of bursting neurons in the Ipc. We propose that an active location in the Ipc may act, via bursting paintbrushes in the tectum, as a focal "beam of attention" across tectal layers, enhancing the saliency of stimuli in the corresponding location in visual space.

Key words: fast oscillations; vision; optic tectum; superior colliculus; cholinergic; attention

---

Received April 8, 2005; revised June 15, 2005; accepted June 20, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Reches and Y. Gutfreund Auditory and Multisensory Responses in the Tectofugal Pathway of the Barn Owl J. Neurosci., July 29, 2009; 29(30): 9602 - 9613. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.-H. Tseng, L.-Y. Tsai, and S.-R. Yeh Induction of High-Frequency Oscillations in a Junction-Coupled Network J. Neurosci., July 9, 2008; 28(28): 7165 - 7173. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Reches and Y. Gutfreund Stimulus-Specific Adaptations in the Gaze Control System of the Barn Owl J. Neurosci., February 6, 2008; 28(6): 1523 - 1533. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. A. Goddard, E. I. Knudsen, and J. R. Huguenard Intrinsic Excitability of Cholinergic Neurons in the Rat Parabigeminal Nucleus J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2007; 98(6): 3486 - 3493. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Marin, C. Salas, E. Sentis, X. Rojas, J. C. Letelier, and J. Mpodozis A Cholinergic Gating Mechanism Controlled by Competitive Interactions in the Optic Tectum of the Pigeon J. Neurosci., July 25, 2007; 27(30): 8112 - 8121. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. de Labra, C. Rivadulla, K. Grieve, J. Marino, N. Espinosa, and J. Cudeiro Changes in Visual Responses in the Feline dLGN: Selective Thalamic Suppression Induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of V1 Cereb Cortex, June 1, 2007; 17(6): 1376 - 1385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. A. Maczko, P. F. Knudsen, and E. I. Knudsen Auditory and Visual Space Maps in the Cholinergic Nucleus Isthmi Pars Parvocellularis of the Barn Owl J. Neurosci., December 6, 2006; 26(49): 12799 - 12806. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Gruberg, E. Dudkin, Y. Wang, G. Marin, C. Salas, E. Sentis, J. Letelier, J. Mpodozis, J. Malpeli, H. Cui, et al. Influencing and Interpreting Visual Input: The Role of a Visual Feedback System J. Neurosci., October 11, 2006; 26(41): 10368 - 10371. [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help