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Receptive-field structure of optic flow responsive Purkinje cells in the vestibulocerebellum of pigeons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2006

IAN R. WINSHIP  and
DOUGLAS R.W. WYLIE
IAN R. WINSHIP
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
DOUGLAS R.W. WYLIE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Abstract

Neurons sensitive to optic flow patterns have been recorded in the the olivo-vestibulocerebellar pathway and extrastriate visual cortical areas in vertebrates, and in the visual neuropile of invertebrates. The complex spike activity (CSA) of Purkinje cells in the vestibulocerebellum (VbC) responds best to patterns of optic flow that result from either self-rotation or self-translation. Previous studies have suggested that these neurons have a receptive-field (RF) structure that “approximates” the preferred optic flowfield with a “bipartite” organization. Contrasting this, studies in invertebrate species indicate that optic flow sensitive neurons are precisely tuned to their preferred flowfield, such that the local motion sensitivities and local preferred directions within their RFs precisely match the local motion in that region of the preferred flowfield. In this study, CSA in the VbC of pigeons was recorded in response to a set of complex computer-generated optic flow stimuli, similar to those used in previous studies of optic flow neurons in primate extrastriate visual cortex, to test whether the receptive field was of a precise or bipartite organization. We found that these RFs were not precisely tuned to optic flow patterns. Rather, we conclude that these neurons have a bipartite RF structure that approximates the preferred optic flowfield by pooling motion subunits of only a few different direction preferences.

Keywords

Optic flowVestibulocerebellumInferior oliveOptokineticReceptive fields
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 115 - 126
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

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