Premium
A comparison of visual responses in the lateral geniculate nucleus of alert and anaesthetized macaque monkeys
Author(s) -
Alitto Henry J.,
Moore th Bartlett D.,
Rathbun Daniel L.,
Martin Usrey W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.190538
Subject(s) - parvocellular cell , lateral geniculate nucleus , neuroscience , macaque , thalamus , magnocellular cell , visual cortex , receptive field , visual system , biology , psychology , nucleus
Non‐technical summary Neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus are the major source of visual input to the cerebral cortex. Much of our understanding of the physiology of LGN neurons comes from data collected in anaesthetized animals. This study examines the visual responses of LGN neurons in alert animals and compares these responses to those from anaesthetized animals. Compared to the anaesthetized animal, LGN neurons in the alert animal respond to visual stimuli with stronger responses and follow stimuli drifting at higher spatial and temporal frequencies. Stronger responses are likely to translate into an increased coupling between the LGN and visual cortex, as firing rate and interspike interval are known to influence the dynamics of synaptic communication between the two structures.