Patterns of synchronization in the superior colliculus of anesthetized cats
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Patterns of synchronization in the superior colliculus of anesthetized cats. / Brecht, M; Singer, W; Engel, A K.
In: J NEUROSCI, Vol. 19, No. 9, 01.05.1999, p. 3567-79.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of synchronization in the superior colliculus of anesthetized cats
AU - Brecht, M
AU - Singer, W
AU - Engel, A K
PY - 1999/5/1
Y1 - 1999/5/1
N2 - Sensorimotor transformations in the mammalian superior colliculus (SC) are mediated by large sets of distributed neurons. For such distributed coding systems, stimulus superposition poses problems attributable to the merging of neural populations coding for different stimuli. Such superposition problems could be overcome by synchronization of neuronal discharges, because it allows the selection of a subset of distributed responses for further joint processing. To assess the putative role of such a temporal binding mechanism in the SC, we have applied correlation analysis to visually evoked collicular activity. We performed recordings of single-unit and multiunit activity in the SC of anesthetized and paralyzed cats with multiple electrodes. Autocorrelation analysis revealed that collicular neurons often discharged in broad (20-100 msec) bursts or with an oscillatory patterning in the alpha- and beta-frequency range. Significantly modulated cross-correlograms were observed in 50% (128 of 258) of the collicular multiunit recording pairs, and for these pairs significant correlations occurred in 44% of the stimulation epochs. For the single-unit pairs, significant interactions were observed in 14 of 48 cases studied (29%). Collicular cross-correlograms were often oscillatory, and these oscillations covered a broad frequency range of up to 100 Hz, with a predominance of oscillation frequencies in the alpha- and beta-range. In the majority of the significant correlograms (64%) the phase lag of the center peak was <5 msec. The probability of collicular synchronization increased with the overlap of the receptive fields and the proximity of the recording sites. Correlations were also observed between cells in the superficial and deep SC layers. Collicular synchronization required activation of the respective cells with a single coherent stimulus and broke down when the neurons were activated with two different stimuli. These data are consistent with the notion that collicular synchrony could define assemblies of functionally related cells.
AB - Sensorimotor transformations in the mammalian superior colliculus (SC) are mediated by large sets of distributed neurons. For such distributed coding systems, stimulus superposition poses problems attributable to the merging of neural populations coding for different stimuli. Such superposition problems could be overcome by synchronization of neuronal discharges, because it allows the selection of a subset of distributed responses for further joint processing. To assess the putative role of such a temporal binding mechanism in the SC, we have applied correlation analysis to visually evoked collicular activity. We performed recordings of single-unit and multiunit activity in the SC of anesthetized and paralyzed cats with multiple electrodes. Autocorrelation analysis revealed that collicular neurons often discharged in broad (20-100 msec) bursts or with an oscillatory patterning in the alpha- and beta-frequency range. Significantly modulated cross-correlograms were observed in 50% (128 of 258) of the collicular multiunit recording pairs, and for these pairs significant correlations occurred in 44% of the stimulation epochs. For the single-unit pairs, significant interactions were observed in 14 of 48 cases studied (29%). Collicular cross-correlograms were often oscillatory, and these oscillations covered a broad frequency range of up to 100 Hz, with a predominance of oscillation frequencies in the alpha- and beta-range. In the majority of the significant correlograms (64%) the phase lag of the center peak was <5 msec. The probability of collicular synchronization increased with the overlap of the receptive fields and the proximity of the recording sites. Correlations were also observed between cells in the superficial and deep SC layers. Collicular synchronization required activation of the respective cells with a single coherent stimulus and broke down when the neurons were activated with two different stimuli. These data are consistent with the notion that collicular synchrony could define assemblies of functionally related cells.
KW - Anesthesia, General
KW - Animals
KW - Cats
KW - Cell Communication
KW - Electric Stimulation
KW - Evoked Potentials, Visual
KW - Neurons
KW - Oscillometry
KW - Paralysis
KW - Superior Colliculi
KW - Time Factors
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
C2 - 10212316
VL - 19
SP - 3567
EP - 3579
JO - J NEUROSCI
JF - J NEUROSCI
SN - 0270-6474
IS - 9
ER -