Summary
To investigate the role of the projection from superior colliculus to the cuneiform nucleus in mediating collicular responses, the cuneiform area (including the cuneiform nucleus and immediately adjacent structures such as caudal central grey) was stimulated in rats with microinjections of glutamate (50 mM, 200 nl, 10 nmole) and the animals' head and body movements observed. The most common responses obtained from sites in the cuneiform area were freezing, darting or fast running, the form or direction of which did not appear to be strongly influenced by the laterality of the injection. These responses were only a subset of those that have been obtained in previous studies from stimulation of the superior colliculus itself: stimulation of the cuneiform area did not give contralaterally directed movements resembling orienting or approach, or ipsilaterally directed movements resembling cringing or shying. It therefore appears that the tectocuneiform projection is likely to be involved only in some of the behaviours appropriate to unexpected stimuli that are mediated by the superior colliculus, namely undirected defensive responses elicited normally by certain kinds of threatening or noxious stimulation. Involvement with such responses would be consistent with an apparent lack of topography in the tectocuneiform projection, and the connections of the cuneiform nucleus with parts of the brain concerned with nociception (see previous paper). It is unclear, however, whether the somatic responses occur in parallel with, or as a result of, autonomic changes that have also been evoked by stimulation of the cuneiform area. One striking feature of stimulating the cuneiform area with glutamate was that at many sites the intensity of the response appeared to increase with successive (one to three) injections. It is possible that this plasticity of response, which can also be obtained from the superior colliculus itself, is related to processes involved in sensitisation or learning of defensive responses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandler R (1982) Induction of ‘rage’ following microinjections of glutamate into midbrain but not hypothalamus of cats. Neurosci Lett 30: 183–188
Bandler R (1984) Identification of hypothalamic and midbrain periaqueductal grey neurones mediating aggressive and defensive behaviour by intracerebral microinjections of excitatory amino acids. In: Bandler R (ed) Modulation of sensorimotor activity during alterations in behavioral states. Alan R Liss Inc, New York, pp 369–391
Bandler R, DePaulis A, Vergnes M (1985) Identification of midbrain neurones mediating defensive behaviour in the rat by microinjections of excitatory amino acids. Behav Brain Res 15: 107–119
Bonvallet M, Newman-Taylor A (1967) Neurophysiological evidence for a differential organisation of the mesencephalic reticular formation. Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 22: 54–73
Brudzynski SM, Houghton PE, Brownlee RD, Mogenson GJ (1986) Involvement of neuronal cell bodies of the mesencephalic locomotor region in the initiation of locomotor activity of freely behaving rats. Brain Res Bull 16: 377–381
Chalupa LM (1984) Visual physiology of the mammalian superior colliculus. In: Vanegas H (ed) The comparative neurology of the optic tectum. Plenum Press, New York, pp 775–818
Chalupa LM, Rhoades RW (1977) Responses of visual, somatosensory, and auditory neurones in the golden hamster's superior colliculus. J Physiol 270: 595–626
Chevalier G, Vacher S, Deniau JM, Desban M (1985) Disinhibition as a basic process in the expression of striatal functions. I. The striato-nigral influence on tecto-spinal/tecto-diencephalic neurons. Brain Res 334: 215–226
Cools AR, Coolen JMM, Smit JC, Ellenbroek BA (1984) The striato-nigro-collicular pathway and explosive running behaviour: functional interaction between neostriatal dopamine and collicular GABA. Eur J Pharmacol 100: 71–78
Cools AR, Ellenbroek BA, van der Heuvel CM (1983) Picrotoxin microinjections into the brain: a model of abrupt withdrawal ‘jumping’ behaviour in rats not exposed to any opiate? Eur J Pharmacol 90: 237–243
Coote JH, Hilton SM, Zbrozyna AW (1973) The ponto-medullary area integrating the defence reaction in the cat and its influence on muscle blood flow. J Physiol 229: 257–274
Curtis DR, Phillis JW, Watkins JC (1961) Actions of amino acids on the isolated hemisected spinal cord of the toad. Br J Pharmacol 16: 262–283
Dean P, Mitchell IJ, Redgrave P (1988a) Contralateral head movements produced by microinjection of glutamate into superior colliculus of rats: evidence for mediation by multiple output pathways. Neuroscience 24: 491–500
Dean P, Mitchell IJ, Redgrave P (1988b) Responses resembling defensive behaviour produced by microinjection of glutamate into superior colliculus of rats. Neuroscience 24: 501–510
Dean P, Redgrave P (1984a) The superior colliculus and visual neglect in rat and hamster. I. Behavioural evidence. Brain Res Rev 8: 129–141
Dean P, Redgrave P (1984b) The superior colliculus and visual neglect in rat and hamster. III. Functional implications. Brain Res Rev 8: 155–163
Dean P, Redgrave P, Mitchell IJ (1988c) Organisation of efferent projections from superior colliculus to brainstem in rat: evidence for functional output channels. In: Hicks TP, Benedek G (eds) Vision within extrageniculo-striate systems. Progress in brain research, Vol 75. Elsevier, Amsterdam (in press)
Dean P, Redgrave P, Sahibzada N, Tsuji K (1986) Head and body movements produced by electrical stimulation of superior colliculus in rats: effects of interruption of crossed tectoreticulospinal pathway. Neuroscience 19: 367–380
Depoortere R, Bagri A, Di Scala G, Sandner G (1987) Involvement of the mesencephalic locomotor region in negative reinforcement. Neuroscience 22: Suppl S656
Dräger UC, Hubel DH (1975) Responses to visual stimulation and relationship between visual, auditory and somatosensory projections to mouse superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 38: 690–713
Finlay BL, Schneps SE, Wilson KG, Schneider GE (1978) Topography of visual and somatosensory projections to the superior colliculus of the golden hamster. Brain Res 142: 223–235
Garcia-Rill E (1986) The basal ganglia and the locomotor regions. Brain Res Rev 11: 47–63
Goodchild AK, Dampney RAL, Bandler R (1982) A method for evoking physiological responses by stimulation of cell bodies, but not axons of passage, within localised regions of the central nervous system. J Neurosci Meth 6: 351–363
Harting JK, Huerta MF (1984) The mammalian superior colliculus: studies of its morphology and connections. In: Vanegas H (ed) The comparative neurology of the optic tectum. Plenum Press, New York, pp 687–773
Henkel CK, Edwards SB (1978) The superior colliculus control of pinna movements in the cat: possible anatomical connections. J Comp Neurol 182: 763–776
Hilton SM (1982) The defence-arousal system and its relevance for circulatory and respiratory control. J Exp Biol 100: 159–174
Imperato A, Di Chiara G (1981) Behavioural effects of GABA-agonists and antagonists infused in the mesencephalic reticular formation-deep layers of superior colliculus. Brain Res 224: 185–194
Kaczmarek LK, Adey WR (1974) Some chemical and electrophysiological effects of glutamate in cerebral cortex. J Neurobiol 5: 231–241
Keay KA, Redgrave P, Dean P (1987) Cardiovascular changes elicited by microinjection of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) into the superior colliculus of the hooded Lister rat. Neurosci Lett Suppl 26: S238
Keay KA, Redgrave P, Dean P (1988) Cardiovascular and respiratory changes elicited by stimulation of rat superior colliculus. Brain Res Bull 20: 13–26
Kilpatrick IC, Collingridge GL, Starr MS (1982) Evidence for the participation of γ-aminobutyiate containing neurons in striatal and nigral derived circling in the rat. Neuroscience 7: 207–222
Larson MA, McHaffie JG, Stein BE (1987) Response properties of nociceptive and low-threshold mechanoreceptive neurons in the hamster superior colliculus. J Neurosci 7: 547–564
May PJ, Vidal P-P, Baker R (1985) Electrophysiology of the paralemniscal-facial pathway. Soc Neurosci Abstr 11: 82
McBean GJ, Roberts PJ (1985) Neurotoxicity of L-glutamate and DL-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate in the rat striatum. J Neurochem 44: 247–254
McHaffie JG, Stein BE (1982) Eye movements evoked by electrical stimulation in the superior colliculus of rats and hamsters. Brain Res 247: 243–253
McMahon SB, Wall PD (1985) Electrophysiological mapping of brainstem projections of spinal cord lamina I cells in the rat. Brain Res 333: 19–26
Mel'nikova ZL (1975) Locomotion of rats induced by stimulation of the mesencephalon. Bull Moscow Univ (Biol) 30: 45–51 (in Russian)
Mushiake S, Shosaku A, Kayama Y (1984) Inhibition of thalamic ventrobasal complex neurons by glutamate infusion into the thalamic reticular nucleus in rats. J Neurosci Res 12: 93–100
Parker SM, Sinnamon HM (1983) Forward locomotion elicited by electrical stimulation in the diencephalon and mesencephalon of the awake rat. Physiol Behav 31: 581–587
Paxinos G, Watson C (1982) The rat brain in stereotaxic coordinates. Academic Press, Sydney
Pope SG, Dean P (1979) Hyperactivity, aphagia and motor disturbance following lesions of superior colliculus and underlying tegmentum in rats. Behav Neural Biol 27: 433–453
Puil E (1981) S-glutamate: its interactions with spinal neurons. Brain Res Rev 3: 229–322
Redgrave P, Dean P (1985) Tonic desynchronization of cortical electroencephalogram by electrical and chemical stimulation of superior colliculus and surrounding structures in urethane-anaesthetised rats. Neuroscience 16: 659–671
Redgrave P, Dean P, Mitchell IJ, Odekunle A, Clark A (1988) The projection from superior colliculus to cuneiform area in the rat. I. Anatomical studies. Exp Brain Res 72: 611–625
Redgrave P, Dean P, Souki W, Lewis G (1981) Gnawing and changes in reactivity produced by microinjections of picrotoxin into the superior colliculus of rats. Psychopharmacology 75: 198–203
Redgrave P, Mitchell IJ, Dean P (1987a) Descending projections from the superior colliculus in rat: a study using orthograde transport of wheatgerm-agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase. Exp Brain Res 68: 147–167
Redgrave P, Mitchell IJ, Dean P (1987b) Further evidence for segregated output channels from superior colliculus in rat: ipsilateral tecto-pontine and tecto-cuneiform projections have different cells of origin. Brain Res 413: 170–174
Redgrave P, Odekunle A, Dean P (1986) Tectal cells of origin of predorsal bundle cells in rat: location and segregation from ipsilateral descending pathway. Exp Brain Res 63: 279–293
Rhoades RW (1981) Organization of somatosensory input to the deep collicular laminae in hamster. Behav Brain Res 3: 201–222
Rhoades RW, Mooney RD, Jacquin MF (1983) Complex somatosensory receptive fields of cells in the deep laminae of the hamster's superior colliculus. J Neurosci 3: 1342–1354
Ross CA, Ruggiero DA, Park DH, Joh TH, Sved AF, Fernandez-Pardel J, Saavedra JM, Reis DJ (1982) Tonic vasomotor control by the rostral ventrolateral medulla: effect of electrical or chemical stimulation of the area containing C1 adrenaline neurons on arterial pressure, heart rate, and plasma catecholamines and vasopressin. J Neurosci 4: 474–494
Ross GS, Sinnamon HM (1984) Forelimb and hindlimb stepping by the anesthetized rat elicited by electrical stimulation of the pons and medulla. Physiol Behav 33: 201–208
Ruth RE, Rosenfeld JP (1977) Tonic reticular activating system: relationship to aversive brain stimulation effects. Exp Neurol 57: 41–56
Rye DB, Saper CB, Lee HJ, Wainer BH (1987) Pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus of the rat: cytoarchitecture, cytochemistry and some extrapyramidal connections of the mesopontine tegmentum. J Comp Neurol 259: 482–524
Sahibzada N, Dean P, Redgrave P (1986) Movements resembling orientation or avoidance elicited by electrical stimulation of the superior colliculus in rats. J Neurosci 6: 723–733
Schiller PH (1985) The superior colliculus and visual function. In: Darien-Smith I (ed) Handbook of physiology — the nervous system, Vol 3. American Physiological Society, Bethesda, pp 457–505
Simson EL, Gold RM, Standish LJ, Pallett PL (1977) Axonsparing lesion technique: the use of monosodium-L-glutamate and other amino acids. Science 198: 515–517
Sinnamon HM (1984) Forelimb and hindlimb stepping by the anesthetized rat elicited by electrical stimulation of the diencephalon and mesencephalon. Physiol Behav 33: 191–199
Stein BE (1981) Organization of the rodent superior colliculus; some comparisons with other mammals. Behav Brain Res 3: 175–188
Stein BE, Dixon JP (1979) Properties of superior colliculus neurons in the golden hamster. J Comp Neurol 183: 269–284
Tiao Y-C, Blakemore C (1976) Functional organization of the superior colliculus of the golden hamster. J Comp Neurol 168: 483–503
Waldbillig RJ (1975) Attack, eating, drinking, and gnawing elicited by electrical stimulation of rat mesencephalon and pons. J Comp Physiol Psychol 89: 200–212
Watkins JC (1978) Excitatory amino acids. In McGeer EG, Olney JW, McGeer PL (eds) Kainic acid as a tool in neurobiology. Raven Press, New York, pp 37–69
Weldon DA, Calabrese LC, Nicklaus KJ (1983) Rotational behaviour following cholinergic stimulation of the superior colliculus in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 19: 813–820
Willette RN, Barcas PP, Krieger AJ, Sapru HN (1983) Vasopressor and depressor areas in the rat medulla. Neuropharmacology 22: 1071–1079
Wurtz RH, Albano JE (1980) Visual-motor function of the primate superior colliculus. Ann Rev Neurosci 3: 189–226
Yardley CP, Hilton SM (1986) The hypothalamic and brainstem areas from which the cardiovascular and behavioural components of the defence reaction are elicited in the rat. J Auton Nerv Syst 15: 227–244
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mitchell, I.J., Dean, P. & Redgrave, P. The projection from superior colliculus to cuneiform area in the rat. Exp Brain Res 72, 626–639 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250607
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250607