Skip Navigation


Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on August 31, 2005
Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(6):779-790; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj022
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/6/779    most recent
bhj022v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Philipp, R.
Right arrow Articles by Hoffmann, K.-P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Philipp, R.
Right arrow Articles by Hoffmann, K.-P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

A Motion-sensitive Area in Ferret Extrastriate Visual Cortex: an Analysis in Pigmented and Albino Animals

R. Philipp, C. Distler and K.-P. Hoffmann

Allgemeine Zoologie und Neurobiologie, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Postfach 102148, D-44780 Bochum, Germany

Address correspondence to Prof. K.-P. Hoffmann, Allgemeine Zoologie und Neurobiologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Postfach 102148, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. Email kph{at}neurobiologie.ruhr-uni-bochum.de.

In search of the neuronal substrate for motion analysis in the ferret (Mustela putorius furo), we extracellularly recorded from extrastriate visual cortex in five pigmented and two albino ferrets under general anaesthesia and paralysis. Visual stimulation consisted of large area random dot patterns moving either on a circular path in the frontoparallel plane or expanding and contracting radially. Strongly direction-selective neurons were recorded in a circumscribed area in and just posterior to the suprasylvian sulcus, thus named by us the posterior suprasylvian area (area PSS). Altogether, we recorded 210 (90%) and 95 (72%) PSS neurons in pigmented and albino ferrets, respectively, that were direction selective. In these neurons responses during random dot pattern stimulation in the preferred direction were at least twice as strong than stimulation in the non-preferred direction. Response strength in preferred direction and tuning sharpness of PSS neurons in albinos were significantly reduced when compared to pigmented animals (median values: 34.1 versus 14.8 spikes/s and 142 versus 165° for pigmented and albino ferrets, respectively). Inter-spike-intervals during visual stimulation were significantly shorter in pigmented (median 9ms) than in albino PSS neurons (median 14ms). Our data indicate that area PSS may play a crucial role in motion perception in the ferret.

Key Words: albinism • direction selectivity • extrastriate visual cortex • ferret • radial motion sensitivity


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
B. Ahmed, A. Hanazawa, C. Undeman, D. Eriksson, S. Valentiniene, and P. E. Roland
Cortical Dynamics Subserving Visual Apparent Motion
Cereb Cortex, March 28, 2008; (2008) bhn038v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
J. K. Bizley, F. R. Nodal, V. M. Bajo, I. Nelken, and A. J. King
Physiological and Anatomical Evidence for Multisensory Interactions in Auditory Cortex
Cereb Cortex, September 1, 2007; 17(9): 2172 - 2189.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.