Distribution of auditory motion-direction sensitive neurons in the barn owl's midbrain

J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2002 Oct;188(9):705-13. doi: 10.1007/s00359-002-0342-6. Epub 2002 Sep 10.

Abstract

Barn owls have neurons sensitive to acoustic motion-direction in the midbrain. We report here that acoustic motion-direction sensitive neurons with receptive-field centres in frontal auditory space are not randomly distributed. In the inferior colliculus and optic tectum in the left (right) brain, the responses of about two-thirds of the motion-direction sensitive neurons were sensitive to clockwise (counter-clockwise) motion. The midbrain contains maps of auditory space that represent about 15 degrees of ipsilateral and all of contralateral space. Since a similar bias in motion-direction sensitivity was observed for neurons with receptive-field centres in ipsilateral as well as for neurons with receptive fields centres in contralateral auditory space, the brain side at which a motion-direction sensitive neuron was recorded was a more important predictor for the preferred direction of a cell than the spatial direction of the centre of the receptive field. Within one dorso-ventral electrode pass motion-direction sensitivity typically stayed constant suggesting a clustered or even a columnar-like organization. We hypothesize from these distributions that the right brain is important for orientating movements to the left hemisphere and vice versa.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation / methods
  • Animals
  • Auditory Perception / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping / methods
  • Mesencephalon / anatomy & histology
  • Mesencephalon / physiology*
  • Motion Perception / physiology*
  • Neurons, Afferent / physiology*
  • Strigiformes / physiology*