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Vestibular and saccadic influences on dorsal and ventral nuclei of the lateral geniculate body

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Chronically prepared, awake cats were rotated in the horizontal plane with the head fixed. Single unit activity from the lateral geniculate body (LGB) was recorded together with eye position.

  2. 2.

    Over 165 neurons, 101 (61%) were influenced by rotation. 64 detected only the onset and the offset of vestibular stimulation without respect to the direction or the velocity of the rotatory movement. Global increase in firing was by far the most frequent response. A large proportion of these neurons were located within the dorsal nucleus of LGB, and had discrete receptive fields.

  3. 3.

    30 other neurons were influenced by rotation asymetrically. In 22 cases, firing rate increased during rotation contralateral to the recorded side. The reverse pattern was observed in 8 cases. In the direction of rotation where firing increased, maximum firing rate usually corresponded to the maximum amplitude of the velocity vector. In the opposite direction, firing decreased only slightly with respect to background activity.

  4. 4.

    The 7 other neurons were influenced only by angular velocity, and not by direction of rotation. Firing increased during rotation, and stopped when the direction was reverted, i.e., when velocity was equal to zero.

  5. 5.

    Neurons described under (3) and (4) poorly responded to light. Only 4 had a discrete receptive field. A large proportion were located in the ventral nucleus of LGB.

  6. 6.

    Over 157 neurons from the same sample, 82 (52%) were influenced by saccades in the dark. This number includes different types of saccade-locked changes. The most frequent type was an increase in firing about 250 msec after saccade onset, and clearly related to saccades in one direction (e.g., right or left) only. About a half of the neurons influenced by saccades responded to light, and 21 had a discrete receptive field. A large proportion of neurons influenced by saccades were located within the dorsal nucleus of LGB. However, about 20 were located in the ventral nucleus; they correspond to neurons described under (3), which also responded to the direction of rotation.

  7. 7.

    Possible contributions of these vestibular and saccadic influences on LGB to the control of visuomotor behavior, are discussed.

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Author notes

  1. Pts. Putkonen

    Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Helsinki, Finland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Neuropsychologie Expérimentale, Bron, France

    M. Magnin, M. Jeannerod & Pts. Putkonen

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  1. M. Magnin
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  2. M. Jeannerod
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Additional information

Supported by INSERM and FRMF, Paris. We wish to thank also U.E.R. de Biologie Humaine, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, for providing a grant to M.M.

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Magnin, M., Jeannerod, M. & Putkonen, P. Vestibular and saccadic influences on dorsal and ventral nuclei of the lateral geniculate body. Exp Brain Res 21, 1–18 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234255

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234255

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