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Visual unit, EEG and sustained potential shift responses to biologically significant stimuli in the brain of toads (Bufo bufo)

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Summary

Visual unit activity, EEG changes and sustained potential shifts (SPS) were recorded from the toad tectum whilst the animal was presented with a visual stimulus. Telencephalic EEGs were also recorded.

On the surface of the tectum, retinal unit activity preceded a sustained negative shift in potential and an increase in the amplitude and dominant frequency of the EEG. In deeper layers of the tectum, T5 units with configurational selectivity for ‘wormlike’ stimuli were found. The activity of these units followed a pronounced SPS and EEG change.

Visual unit activity was most pronounced during the negative-going phase of the synchronised EEG, when there was also a small decrease in amplitude of neuronal spikes. Similarities between the latencies and durations of EEGs and SPSs, and their response decrements, on repeated stimulus presentation, implies a close relationship between them not shared by the visual units studied. The specific activity of tectal units is discussed in relation to the correlated EEG and SPS changes, which may form part of an adaptive sensitizing mechanism.

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Abbreviations

EEG :

electroencephalogram

ERF :

excitatory receptive field

SPS :

sustained potential shift

T4, T5 :

tectal neurons

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Author notes

  1. Peter Richard Laming

    Present address: Department of Zoology, Queen's University, BT7 1NN, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuro-Ethology and Biocybernetics Laboratories, University of Kassel, D-3500, Kassel, Federal Republic of Germany

    Peter Richard Laming & Jörg -Peter Ewert

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  1. Peter Richard Laming
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  2. Jörg -Peter Ewert
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Laming, P.R., Ewert, J.P. Visual unit, EEG and sustained potential shift responses to biologically significant stimuli in the brain of toads (Bufo bufo). J. Comp. Physiol. 154, 89–101 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605394

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605394

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