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Notizen: Summary Extracellular activity from vestibular nuclei neurons and vertical eye movements were recorded in the alert cat during sinusoidal optokinetic stimulation in the vertical plane at frequencies varying from 0.0125 Hz to 0.75 Hz. Among a population of 96 vestibular units located in and around Deiters' nucleus, 73 neurons (76%) displayed a firing rate modulation which followed the input at the standard parameters of visual stimulation (0.05 Hz; 10.1 deg/s or 9.1 cm/s peak to peak velocity). Two different patterns of modulation were found. In 42 cells (57%) an increase in the firing rate was observed during motion of the visual scene in the downward direction, while 31 neurons (43%) showed the opposite behavior, with an enhanced firing rate during upward movement. The phase of the neuronal responses was close (± 45°) to the velocity peaks (+90°: downward and -90°: upward) of visual scene motion for 65 among the 73 neurons. Mean values of phase was-6.1 ± 19.5° (SD) and -3.2 ± 15.5° (SD) with respect to the +90° and -90° velocity peaks, respectively. In the frequency range 0.0125–0.75 Hz, the phase of the neuronal responses remained almost stable, with only a slight lag which reaches -22° at the 0.25 Hz visual stimulation. The firing rate modulation was found to be predominant at low frequencies (0.0125 Hz–0.25 Hz), with three distinct peaks of modulation occurring either at 0.025 Hz, 0.10 Hz or 0.25 Hz, depending on the recorded cells. Above 0.5 Hz, the cell modulation was very poorly developed or even absent. A gain attenuation was observed in all units, which was more important in cells showing a peak of modulation at 0.025 Hz as compared with the others (-20.7 dB vs -9.6 dB, respectively, in the 0.025 Hz–0.25 Hz decade). The gain of the optokinetic reflex (OKR) progressively decreased from mean values of 0.78 ± 0.15 to 0.05 ± 0.06 in the 0.025 Hz–0.5 Hz frequency range. A close correlation was observed between the OKR slow phase velocity and the modulation of the neuronal responses in the two cell populations with maximal modulations at 0.10 Hz or 0.25 Hz. No correlations were noticed in the third population characterized by a peak of modulation at 0.025 Hz. In all units, the phase of eye movement velocity and of neuronal responses were both related to the velocity of the visual surround motion. These correlations were also found when varying the amplitude of the visual stimulation at a fixed frequency. Saturation was observed in the unit responses at velocities above 68.5°/s. When considering both the gain attenuation in the frequency range and the correlation between firing rate modulation and OKR slow phase velocity, two rather different cell populations can be distinguished: one with neurons peaking at 0.025 Hz (strong gain attenuation; no correlation with OKR velocity) and one with neurons peaking at 0.10 Hz or 0.25 Hz (slight gain attenuation; correlation with OKR velocity). This study points to the influence of visual motion cues on vestibular nuclei unit activity in the low-frequency range. A velocity coding of visual — surround motion in the vertical plane is performed by vestibular neurons. Our results in the alert cat suggest that both retinal (retinal slip) and extraretinal (proprioceptive afferences from eye muscles, efference copy) inputs can be involved in this visually induced modulation of vestibular nuclei neurons.

Notizen: Summary In the present study we have investigated in the awake cat the response dynamics of vestibular nuclei neurons to visual or/and otolith stimulation elicited by vertical linear motion. Of the 53 units tested during sinusoidal motion at 0.05 Hz (9.1 cm/ s), 1 (1.9%) was responsive to the otolith input only, 13 (24.5%) were influenced by the visual input only and 23 (43.4%) responded to both modalities. Neurons were excited either during upward or downward animal or visual surround movement. Most units displayed a firing rate modulation very close to motion velocity. All the neurons receiving convergent visual and otolith inputs (0.05 Hz, 9.1 cm/s) exhibited synergistic patterns of response. Motion velocity coding was improved in terms of inputoutput phase relationship and response sensitivity when visual and otolith signals were combined. Depending on the units, visual-otolith interactions in single neurons could follow a linear or a nonlinear mode of summation. The dynamic characteristics of visual-otolith interactions were examined in the 0.05 Hz–0.50 Hz frequency bandwidth. Visual signals seemed to predominate over otolith signals at low stimulus frequencies (up to 0.25 Hz), while the contrary was found in the higher frequency range of movement (above 0.25 Hz). The effects of visual stabilization (VS: suppression of visual motion cues) was observed in a small sample of units. As a rule, VS induced a reduction in the amplitude of unit response as compared to visual + otolith stimulation, the lower the motion frequency, the more pronounced the attenuation. VS also decreased the amplitude of the otolith-dependent component of response. The possible modes of visual-vestibular interactions in single cells are discussed. The present study supports the hypothesis that visual and vestibular motion cues are weighted according to their internal relevance.

Notizen: Summary Electromyographic activity of dorsal neck muscles elicited by sinusoidal vertical linear accelerations was studied in alert cats over a wide range of frequencies. Experiments were performed in headfixed cats and total darkness in order to activate selectively the otolith system. The polyunitary EMG activity was recorded from splenius capitis muscles in normal and labyrinthectomized cats during vertical translations varying from 0.05–1 Hz with a fixed 290 mm peak-to-peak amplitude. The corresponding accelerations ranged from 0.003–1.2 g. In normal cats, the results showed a bilateral and sinusoidal modulation of the EMG activity characterized by two typical EMG patterns depending on the stimulus frequency. In the low-frequency range (0.05–0.25 Hz), the neck muscles responses were composed of a second harmonic (frequency double that of the input signal: H2 responses). The H2 pattern was characterized by an increase in EMG activity during both the upward and downward parts of translation. These two components of the H2 response were closely related to the two peak velocities (+90° and −90°) of the animal motion. Only slight decreases in amplitude and shifts in phase were observed when increasing the frequency. In the higher frequency range (0.25–1 Hz), the neck muscles response was composed of a fundamental frequency corresponding to the input signal (H1 response). The H1 pattern was in phase with the peak of downward acceleration at 0.25 Hz. A phase lag (up to 45°) and a gain attenuation (16.5 dB) were observed when increasing the frequency. The two H1 and H2 EMG patterns were totally absent in bilateral vestibular neurectomized cats. In unilateral vestibular neurectomized cats, a strong drop in gain and phase advance was noted, which mainly affected the H1 pattern. The present results describe some characteristics of otolith-spinal reflexes acting on the head musculature during vertical motion. They are compared with the neuronal responses that we have recorded within the vestibular nuclei complex in the same experimental conditions. The functional role of the vertical otolithneck reflexes in stabilizing the head in space during many real-life situations is discussed.

Notizen: Summary The aim of the present study was to investigate some aspects of the central processing of otolith information during linear motion. For this purpose, the response characteristics of 69 vestibular nuclei units to sinusoidal otolith stimulation in the vertical Z axis were analysed in the alert cat. Among this population of neurons which responded to a 0.05 Hz, 290 mm translation, 47 units (70%) displayed a firing rate modulation which followed the input frequency (H1 units). The majority of these neurons exhibited an increase in discharge rate during upward displacement, with a response phase close to the motion velocity or slightly leading downward acceleration. The acceleration related units were divided into two groups according to whether they showed clear increases or only a slight change in discharge rate when the stimulus frequency was increased. The former group was characterized by an average −16.3 dB drop in gain (from 43.9±1.8 dB, S.D. to 27.6±7 dB, S.D.) within the 0.05 Hz–0.5 Hz frequency range, while the latter group displayed an average −31.2 dB gain attenuation (from 45.1±1.1 dB, S.D. to 13.9±0 dB) within the same decade. In contrast to differences in response gain, all the units tested exhibited a relatively stable phase lead of about 20° with respect to downward peak acceleration. Conversely, units whose response was close to motion velocity in the lower frequency range (0.05 Hz–0.10 Hz) displayed a strong phase lead of about 100° when the stimulus frequency was increased (up to 0.50 Hz). These neurons were thus characterized by an acceleration related response in the higher frequency range. At the same time, an average −24.8 dB gain attenuation (from 47.7±3.4 dB to 22.9±3.7 dB) was found in the 0.05 Hz–0.5 Hz decade. The remaining 22 neurons (30%) were called H2 units since they displayed a response waveform double that of the input frequency, a response already described during sinusoidal rotation. Unit discharge reached a peak approximately in phase with maximum upward and downward velocity. Asymmetrical change in unit firing rate about the resting discharge level and different dynamic behavior of the upward and downward response components were usually found. These response characteristics suggest that the H2 patterns are centrally constructed and could result from convergence of otolith afferents having opposite polarization vectors. Other evidence suggests that these units which behave like motion-detectors can exert an influence on the neck musculature. Our results corroborate, at least in part, the findings of previous studies on the dynamic responses properties of otolith-dependent central neurons during roll tilt, or pure linear acceleration in the horizontal plane.