Biomaterial Database

Responses of visual, somatosensory, and auditory neurones in the golden hamster's superior colliculus. 1977

L M Chalupa, and R W Rhoades

1. The response characteristics of visual, somatosensory, and auditory neurones in the golden hamster's superior colliculus were investigated.2. As has been noted for other mammalian species, a distinct difference between the functional organizations of the superficial and deeper layers of the superior colliculus was observed.3. Neurones in the superficial layers were exclusively visual, with small receptive-fields, and generally did not show response decrements with repeated stimulation. The sizes of the receptive-fields did not vary appreciably as a function of retinal eccentricity.4. In the deeper layers, visual receptive-fields were large, or could not be accurately delimited, and response habituation was often evident. In addition, many cells in the deeper layers of the colliculus responded only to somatosensory stimuli. Far fewer cells, which appeared to be confined to the caudal portions of the colliculus, responded to auditory stimuli. Polymodal cells were also encountered.5. Selectivity to opposing directions of movement was tested for ninety-four visual cells. Using a ;null' criterion, 27.7% of these cells were judged to be directionally selective. A distribution of the preferred directions of these cells showed a significant preference for movement with an upper-nasal component. With a statistical criterion, 60.6% of these cells were considered to show a significant asymmetry in responding to movement in opposing directions.6. Directional selectivity was also tested for ninety-two cells following acute, unilateral, lesions of the visual cortex. For the eighty cells recorded, homolateral to the ablated cortex, 27.5% were judged as directionally selective using the statistical criterion, while 12.5% were selective with the ;null' criterion. Of the twelve cells isolated in the colliculus, contralateral to the lesions, seven were judged as directionally selective with the statistical, and three with the ;null' criterion.7. The effects of visual cortical lesions upon directional selectivity appeared to be confined to cells in the superficial layers of the colliculus. It was suggested that directional selectivity of many cells in the superficial layers of the tectum of the hamster is organized cortically.8. A clear spatial correspondence was observed for the receptive-fields of visual, somatosensory, and auditory neurones.9. As has been suggested for other species, the hamster's superior colliculus appears to play an important role in orienting the animal toward visual, somatosensory, and auditory stimuli.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009474	Neurons	The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM.	Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D011984	Sensory Receptor Cells	Specialized afferent neurons capable of transducing sensory stimuli into NERVE IMPULSES to be transmitted to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. Sometimes sensory receptors for external stimuli are called exteroceptors; for internal stimuli are called interoceptors and proprioceptors.	Nerve Endings, Sensory,Neurons, Sensory,Neuroreceptors,Receptors, Neural,Neural Receptors,Receptors, Sensory,Sensory Neurons,Sensory Receptors,Nerve Ending, Sensory,Neural Receptor,Neuron, Sensory,Neuroreceptor,Receptor Cell, Sensory,Receptor Cells, Sensory,Receptor, Neural,Receptor, Sensory,Sensory Nerve Ending,Sensory Nerve Endings,Sensory Neuron,Sensory Receptor,Sensory Receptor Cell
D006224	Cricetinae	A subfamily in the family MURIDAE, comprising the hamsters. Four of the more common genera are Cricetus, CRICETULUS; MESOCRICETUS; and PHODOPUS.	Cricetus,Hamsters,Hamster
D006309	Hearing	The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition.	Audition
D000200	Action Potentials	Abrupt changes in the membrane potential that sweep along the CELL MEMBRANE of excitable cells in response to excitation stimuli.	Spike Potentials,Nerve Impulses,Action Potential,Impulse, Nerve,Impulses, Nerve,Nerve Impulse,Potential, Action,Potential, Spike,Potentials, Action,Potentials, Spike,Spike Potential
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001303	Auditory Cortex	The region of the cerebral cortex that receives the auditory radiation from the MEDIAL GENICULATE BODY.	Brodmann Area 41,Brodmann Area 42,Brodmann's Area 41,Heschl Gyrus,Heschl's Gyrus,Auditory Area,Heschl's Convolutions,Heschl's Gyri,Primary Auditory Cortex,Temporal Auditory Area,Transverse Temporal Gyri,Area 41, Brodmann,Area 41, Brodmann's,Area 42, Brodmann,Area, Auditory,Area, Temporal Auditory,Auditory Areas,Auditory Cortex, Primary,Brodmanns Area 41,Cortex, Auditory,Cortex, Primary Auditory,Gyrus, Heschl,Gyrus, Heschl's,Gyrus, Transverse Temporal,Heschl Convolutions,Heschl Gyri,Heschls Convolutions,Heschls Gyri,Heschls Gyrus,Primary Auditory Cortices,Temporal Auditory Areas,Temporal Gyrus, Transverse,Transverse Temporal Gyrus
D013003	Somatosensory Cortex	Area of the parietal lobe concerned with receiving sensations such as movement, pain, pressure, position, temperature, touch, and vibration. It lies posterior to the central sulcus.	Brodmann Area 1,Brodmann Area 2,Brodmann Area 3,Brodmann Areas 1, 2, 3,Brodmann Areas 1, 2, and 3,Brodmann Areas 3, 1, 2,Brodmann Areas 3, 1, and 2,Brodmann's Area 1,Brodmann's Area 2,Brodmann's Area 3,Brodmann's Areas 1, 2, and 3,Brodmann's Areas 3, 1, and 2,Parietal-Opercular Cortex,Primary Somesthetic Area,S1 Cortex,S2 Cortex,SII Cortex,Anterior Parietal Cortex,Gyrus Postcentralis,Post Central Gyrus,Postcentral Gyrus,Primary Somatic Sensory Area,Primary Somatosensory Area,Primary Somatosensory Areas,Primary Somatosensory Cortex,SI Cortex,Second Somatic Sensory Area,Secondary Sensory Cortex,Secondary Somatosensory Area,Secondary Somatosensory Cortex,Area 1, Brodmann,Area 1, Brodmann's,Area 2, Brodmann,Area 2, Brodmann's,Area 3, Brodmann,Area 3, Brodmann's,Area, Primary Somatosensory,Area, Primary Somesthetic,Area, Secondary Somatosensory,Areas, Primary Somatosensory,Brodmanns Area 1,Brodmanns Area 2,Brodmanns Area 3,Cortex, Anterior Parietal,Cortex, Parietal-Opercular,Cortex, Primary Somatosensory,Cortex, S1,Cortex, S2,Cortex, SI,Cortex, SII,Cortex, Secondary Sensory,Cortex, Secondary Somatosensory,Cortex, Somatosensory,Gyrus, Post Central,Gyrus, Postcentral,Parietal Cortex, Anterior,Parietal Opercular Cortex,Parietal-Opercular Cortices,Primary Somatosensory Cortices,Primary Somesthetic Areas,S1 Cortices,S2 Cortices,SII Cortices,Secondary Somatosensory Areas,Sensory Cortex, Secondary,Somatosensory Area, Primary,Somatosensory Area, Secondary,Somatosensory Areas, Primary,Somatosensory Cortex, Primary,Somatosensory Cortex, Secondary,Somesthetic Area, Primary,Somesthetic Areas, Primary
D013477	Superior Colliculi	The anterior pair of the quadrigeminal bodies which coordinate the general behavioral orienting responses to visual stimuli, such as whole-body turning, and reaching.	Colliculus, Superior,Optic Lobe, Human,Optic Lobe, Mammalian,Optic Tectum,Anterior Colliculus,Superior Colliculus,Tectum, Optic,Colliculi, Superior,Colliculus, Anterior,Human Optic Lobe,Human Optic Lobes,Mammalian Optic Lobe,Mammalian Optic Lobes,Optic Lobes, Human,Optic Lobes, Mammalian,Optic Tectums,Tectums, Optic