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D Carden

Publications and source records attributed to D Carden.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

The electrophysiological basis of colour processing in macaques with V4 lesions.

Monkeys with lesions of visual area V4 have deficits in colour constancy, but are able to discriminate hues and segment the spectrum in a categorical manner. To investigate the nature of the processing mechanisms subserving the spared functions we recorded occipital visual evoked potentials (VEPs) of normal monkeys and monkeys with bilateral lesions of area V4. The stimuli used to elicit the potentials were chromatic and achromatic gratings of low spatial frequency. The waveforms from the two groups of animals were similar in all respects. VEPs for the onset of a chromatic grating were negative-going, indicative of the activity of sustained units, as opposed to those elicited by offset or reversal of the grating which were positive-going. The amplitude of the chromatic, 12.5 Hz reversal VEP went through a minimum at isoluminance, in accord with low temporal resolution of colour processing. The VEP waveforms were identical in character from three weeks to approximately four years post-operatively. These data indicate that chromatic processing in areas V1 and V2 is normal after V4 lesions and, together with the behavioural evidence, that these areas are sufficient for some basic aspects of colour perception.

Animals

The effects of V4 lesions on the visual abilities of macaques: hue discrimination and colour constancy.

Monkeys with lesions of cortical visual area V4 were compared with unoperated monkeys in three experiments. In Expt. 1 they were tested for the reacquisition of a pre-operatively learned hue discrimination task. In Expt. 2, as a test of colour constancy, the monkeys were required to perform previously overlearned colour discrimination tasks when the amounts of red, green and blue light in the illuminant were changed. In Expt. 3 the animals were compared on the post-operative acquisition of hue, greyness and saturation discrimination tasks. The results of Expt. 1 showed that monkeys with V4 lesions can regain their pre-operative levels of performance on hue discrimination tasks. Expt. 2 showed that monkeys with V4 lesions have a colour constancy deficit. Expt. 3 reinforced the finding that the animals with V4 lesions could learn to perform fine hue discriminations but that their final, asymptotic performance was not as reliable as that of normal animals. The wavelength discrimination data are discussed within the context of recent electrophysiological findings that V4 is involved in selective attention to visual stimuli and the constancy data are interpreted as evidence that V4 is important for defining colour constancy thresholds but not for constructing the perceptual categories underlying constant colour perception.

Animals

The effects of lesions of area V4 on the visual abilities of macaques: colour categorization.

Monkeys with V4 lesions and unoperated controls were tested behaviourally for their perception of the colour categories red, green, blue and yellow. As expected, the monkeys with V4 lesions took longer to acquire the colour discriminations. However, the pattern of learning was the same in the two groups of animals. Both the lesioned and the control animals made more errors when the stimuli to be discriminated belonged to the same colour category than when they belonged to different categories and thus showed normal colour categorization. The results suggest that monkeys with V4 lesions perceive the colour spectrum according to the same fundamental perceptual categories as normal monkeys and humans, and thus support the view that, in the colour domain, the four basic perceptual categories are constructed by chromatic mechanisms operating earlier than visual area V4.

Animals

The effects of V4 lesions on the visual abilities of macaques: shape discrimination.

Monkeys with bilateral ablation of cortical visual area V4 were compared with unoperated controls for their ability to relearn postoperatively a series of preoperatively acquired two-choice visual discrimination problems. The animals with V4 lesions were impaired on relearning to discriminate between different shapes, and discrimination between identical shapes presented at different orientations was also impaired. Some of the deficits were consistent with disrupting the input to inferotemporal cortex, but discrimination of a subset of the stimuli is known to be unaffected by inferotemporal cortex lesions and could not be explained in the same way. To clarify the nature of the deficit, and to test the hypothesis that shapes differing in orientation are analyzed in the occipitoparietal processing pathway, animals with V4 lesions were also compared to normals on their ability to acquire a version of the landmark task. The V4 animals performed as well as the control animals on this task. The results suggest that V4 is important for the shape discrimination abilities that survive inferotemporal cortex lesions. The role of V4 in shape analysis is discussed in the light of recent evidence that V4 neurones are modulated by visual attention.

Animals

An evaluation of cocaine-induced chest pain.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine if enzymatic evidence of acute myocardial injury is present in patients complaining of chest pain after cocaine use when the ECG is normal or nondiagnostic. DESIGN: Serial ECG and creatinine kinase (CK) and CK isoenzymes (CK-ISO) determinations were performed at time of emergency department presentation and every six hours over 12 hours on individuals complaining of chest pain within six hours of last cocaine use. SETTING: ED of an urban tertiary care center. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Forty-two individuals with a mean age of 28.5 years. INTERVENTIONS: Patients with positive CK-ISOs were admitted immediately to formally rule out myocardial infarction. Patients developing ECG changes during observation period also were admitted even if CK-ISOs were normal. Patients with unchanged ECGs and normal CK-ISOs were discharged after 12 hours of observation. RESULTS: Eight patients (19%) had elevated CK and CK-ISO values at presentation. Two of these patients had elevated values on three sequential determinations and were believed to have sustained acute myocardial infarction. Six patients had elevated CK and CK-ISOs at presentation only. ECGs remained normal or nondiagnostic in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Enzymatic evidence of acute myocardial injury may occur in patients who develop chest pain after cocaine use and have normal or nondiagnostic ECGs. This injury may reflect acute infarction or transient ischemia. Single or serial normal or nondiagnostic ECGs do not rule out ischemia or injury in this group of patients.

Adult

Immediate mobilization of fractures of the neck of the fifth metacarpal.

Although fractures of the neck of the fifth metacarpal are common injuries, their management remains controversial. In this study we present the results of early mobilization after these fractures in 101 patients. We conclude that if rotational alignment of the finger is maintained, these fractures can be treated by immediate use with good functional and cosmetic results.

Adolescent

Stereotaxic head restraint for chronic and semi-chronic marmoset and macaque monkeys.

A device allowing head holding and stereotaxic manipulations in both small-sized Marmoset and in relatively large Macaca monkeys is described. Its design permits free access to most targets in the visual system and optimizes presentation of visual stimuli in awake-chronic and anaesthetized semi-chronic preparations. Extra-aural attachments to temporal bone are implanted stereotaxically, under anaesthesia, on both sides of the skull. This provides means for stereotaxic head-holding which minimizes discomfort to the animal. Maintenance of stereotaxic precision over long periods of time, possibility of realignment and use of one device for various monkey species are special features of the method.

Animals

Hypothermia.

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Anemia, Macrocytic

Eye movements induced by electrical stimulation of the frontal eye fields of marmosets and squirrel monkeys.

Two or three sites in the region of the frontal lobe of marmoset and squirrel monkey are definable as frontal eye fields (FEF) on the basis of electrical stimulation which results in slow and/or saccadic eye movements. In the squirrel monkey these are located on the banks of the arcuate and principal sulci; in the marmoset at estimated analogous locations. Eye ball deviations result from stimulation of these sites with a return to initial position at the end of stimulation. The induced eye movements included large, slow eye movements of varying speeds, micro- and macro-saccades, pendular eye movements, and saccadic stairways. The direction of these eye movements depended on the site stimulated. Both smooth slow and saccadic eye movements were obtained even with stimulation of the same site, depending on the stimulus intensity and the depth of anesthesia. A precise relationship between the site stimulated and the type of eye movement elicited could not be established in these species. Effective stimulus was 300 Hz frequency, 0.2-0.5 ms pulse duration, 0,05-0.05 mA current, and trains of 4-160 pulses. Characteristically, sites for induction of saccadic eye movements were frontal to sites for induction of slow eye movements.

Animals

A new treatment for congenital nystagmus.

Congenital nystagmus is a disorder of eye movement with an associated reduction in visual acuity. The latter is mainly due to the intensity of the nystagmus (amplitude times frequency) allowing the object of regard to spend only a short time on the fovea. Training patients by an auditory feedback technique to control the nystagmus enables visual sensitivity to improve. This method is compared with present alternatives, and further studies are suggested.

Adult

Direct readout of spectral sensitivity for clinical and research purposes.

The application of spectral sensitivity measurements to clinical problems has been limited by the complexity of calculating the corrections for nonlinearity and non-neutrality of the neutral wedge and for the quantum intensity of the test beam. Asimple electronic system is described which performs all these calculations automatically, as the subject makes the sensitivity setting, and records the sensitivity on an XY plotter. A range of 5 log units is covered with an accuracy of 0.05 log units.

Color Perception Tests

Luminance and opponent-color contributions to visual detection and adaptation and to temporal and spatial integration.

We show how the processes of visual detection and of temporal and spatial summation may be analyzed in terms of parallel luminance (achromatic) and opponent-color systems; a test flash is detected if it exceeds the threshold of either system. The spectral sensitivity of the luminance system may be determined by a flicker method, and has a single broad peak near 555 nm; the spectral sensitivity of the opponent-color system corresponds to the color recognition threshold, and has three peaks at about 440, 530, and 600 nm (on a white background). The temporal and spatial integration of the opponent-color system are generally greater than for the luminance system; further, a white background selectively depresses the sensitivity of the luminance system relative to the opponent-color system. Thus relatively large (1 degree) and long (200 msec) spectral test flashes on a white background are detected by the opponent-color system except near 570 nm; the contribution of the luminance system becomes more prominent if the size or duration of the test flash is reduced, or if the white background is extinguished. The present analysis is discussed in relation to Stiles' model of independent eta mechanisms.

Adult