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Multisensory information facilitates reaction speed by enlarging activity difference between superior colliculus hemispheres in rats
- Source :
- PLoS One, PLoS ONE, PLoS, PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 9, p e25283 (2011)
- Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- Animals can make faster behavioral responses to multisensory stimuli than to unisensory stimuli. The superior colliculus (SC), which receives multiple inputs from different sensory modalities, is considered to be involved in the initiation of motor responses. However, the mechanism by which multisensory information facilitates motor responses is not yet understood. Here, we demonstrate that multisensory information modulates competition among SC neurons to elicit faster responses. We conducted multiunit recordings from the SC of rats performing a two-alternative spatial discrimination task using auditory and/or visual stimuli. We found that a large population of SC neurons showed direction-selective activity before the onset of movement in response to the stimuli irrespective of stimulation modality. Trial-by-trial correlation analysis showed that the premovement activity of many SC neurons increased with faster reaction speed for the contraversive movement, whereas the premovement activity of another population of neurons decreased with faster reaction speed for the ipsiversive movement. When visual and auditory stimuli were presented simultaneously, the premovement activity of a population of neurons for the contraversive movement was enhanced, whereas the premovement activity of another population of neurons for the ipsiversive movement was depressed. Unilateral inactivation of SC using muscimol prolonged reaction times of contraversive movements, but it shortened those of ipsiversive movements. These findings suggest that the difference in activity between the SC hemispheres regulates the reaction speed of motor responses, and multisensory information enlarges the activity difference resulting in faster responses.<br />Japan. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (Molecular Brain Science))<br />Japan. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists)<br />Japan. Science and Technology Agency (CREST Program)
- Subjects :
- Male
Superior Colliculi
Anatomy and Physiology
Visual System
Science
Cognitive Neuroscience
Population
Decision Making
Sensation
Neurophysiology
Stimulation
Biology
Neurological System
RS
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Motor Reactions
Behavioral Neuroscience
Stimulus modality
Model Organisms
Reaction Time
Premovement neuronal activity
Animals
education
Motor Systems
Computational Neuroscience
education.field_of_study
Multidisciplinary
Superior colliculus
Computational Biology
Animal Models
Sensory Systems
Rats
Electrophysiology
Acoustic Stimulation
Auditory System
Medicine
Rat
Neuroscience
Photic Stimulation
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS One, PLoS ONE, PLoS, PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 9, p e25283 (2011)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....63b0e91abfba2469db0392a93b33ac07