Cargando…

Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning

Several models of heading detection during smooth pursuit rely on the assumption of local constraint line tuning to exist in large scale motion detection templates. A motion detector that exhibits pure constraint line tuning responds maximally to any 2D-velocity in the set of vectors that can be dec...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Duijnhouwer, Jacob, Noest, André J., Lankheet, Martin J. M., van den Berg, Albert V., van Wezel, Richard J. A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3616296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23576963
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00022
_version_ 1782265136416817152
author Duijnhouwer, Jacob
Noest, André J.
Lankheet, Martin J. M.
van den Berg, Albert V.
van Wezel, Richard J. A.
author_facet Duijnhouwer, Jacob
Noest, André J.
Lankheet, Martin J. M.
van den Berg, Albert V.
van Wezel, Richard J. A.
author_sort Duijnhouwer, Jacob
collection PubMed
description Several models of heading detection during smooth pursuit rely on the assumption of local constraint line tuning to exist in large scale motion detection templates. A motion detector that exhibits pure constraint line tuning responds maximally to any 2D-velocity in the set of vectors that can be decomposed into the central, or classic, preferred velocity (the shortest vector that still yields the maximum response) and any vector orthogonal to that. To test this assumption, we measured the firing rates of isolated middle temporal (MT) and medial superior temporal (MST) neurons to random dot stimuli moving in a range of directions and speeds. We found that as a function of 2D velocity, the pooled responses were best fit with a 2D Gaussian profile with a factor of elongation, orthogonal to the central preferred velocity, of roughly 1.5 for MST and 1.7 for MT. This means that MT and MST cells are more sharply tuned for speed than they are for direction; and that they indeed show some level of constraint line tuning. However, we argue that the observed elongation is insufficient to achieve behavioral heading discrimination accuracy on the order of 1–2 degrees as reported before.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3616296
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-36162962013-04-10 Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning Duijnhouwer, Jacob Noest, André J. Lankheet, Martin J. M. van den Berg, Albert V. van Wezel, Richard J. A. Front Behav Neurosci Neuroscience Several models of heading detection during smooth pursuit rely on the assumption of local constraint line tuning to exist in large scale motion detection templates. A motion detector that exhibits pure constraint line tuning responds maximally to any 2D-velocity in the set of vectors that can be decomposed into the central, or classic, preferred velocity (the shortest vector that still yields the maximum response) and any vector orthogonal to that. To test this assumption, we measured the firing rates of isolated middle temporal (MT) and medial superior temporal (MST) neurons to random dot stimuli moving in a range of directions and speeds. We found that as a function of 2D velocity, the pooled responses were best fit with a 2D Gaussian profile with a factor of elongation, orthogonal to the central preferred velocity, of roughly 1.5 for MST and 1.7 for MT. This means that MT and MST cells are more sharply tuned for speed than they are for direction; and that they indeed show some level of constraint line tuning. However, we argue that the observed elongation is insufficient to achieve behavioral heading discrimination accuracy on the order of 1–2 degrees as reported before. Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-04-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3616296/ /pubmed/23576963 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00022 Text en Copyright © 2013 Duijnhouwer, Noest, Lankheet, van den Berg and van Wezel. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Duijnhouwer, Jacob
Noest, André J.
Lankheet, Martin J. M.
van den Berg, Albert V.
van Wezel, Richard J. A.
Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title_full Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title_fullStr Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title_full_unstemmed Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title_short Speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque MT and MST show modest constraint line tuning
title_sort speed and direction response profiles of neurons in macaque mt and mst show modest constraint line tuning
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3616296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23576963
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00022
work_keys_str_mv AT duijnhouwerjacob speedanddirectionresponseprofilesofneuronsinmacaquemtandmstshowmodestconstraintlinetuning
AT noestandrej speedanddirectionresponseprofilesofneuronsinmacaquemtandmstshowmodestconstraintlinetuning
AT lankheetmartinjm speedanddirectionresponseprofilesofneuronsinmacaquemtandmstshowmodestconstraintlinetuning
AT vandenbergalbertv speedanddirectionresponseprofilesofneuronsinmacaquemtandmstshowmodestconstraintlinetuning
AT vanwezelrichardja speedanddirectionresponseprofilesofneuronsinmacaquemtandmstshowmodestconstraintlinetuning