Biomedical subjects

S Löwel

Publications and source records attributed to S Löwel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The layout of functional maps in area 18 of strabismic cats.

Strabismus (or squint) is both a well-established model for developmental plasticity and a frequent clinical symptom. To analyze experience-dependent plasticity of functional maps in the brain we used optical imaging of intrinsic signals to visualize both orientation and ocular dominance domains in cat area 18. In strabismic animals, iso-orientation domains exhibited a pinwheel-like organization, as previously described for area 18 of normally raised animals and for area 17 of both normally raised and strabismic cats. In area 18, mean pinwheel density was similar in the experimental (2.2 pinwheel centers per mm2 cortical surface) and control animals (2.3/mm2 in normally raised animals), but significantly lower than in area 17 of both normally raised and strabismic cats (2.7-3.4/mm2). A comparison of orientation and ocular dominance domains revealed that iso-orientation domains were continuous across the borders of ocular dominance domains and tended to cross these borders at steep angles. Thus, the orientation map does not seem to be modified by experience-dependent changes in afferent activity. Together with our recent observation that strabismus does not enhance the segregation of ocular dominance domains in cat area 18, the present data indicate that the layout of functional maps in area 18 is less susceptible to experience-dependent manipulations than in area 17.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Early postnatal development of functional ocular dominance columns in cat primary visual cortex.

During postnatal development of the visual cortex the thalamocortical afferents serving the two eyes segregate into alternating patches called ocular dominance (OD) columns. Interested in the dynamics of this segregation process we studied the appearance of functional OD columns in the primary visual cortex of normally raised and strabismic kittens aged 2-6 weeks using 2-deoxyglucose labelling in awake animals. In both experimental groups, OD columns covering the entire area 17 and spanning all cortical laminae are first visible at 3 weeks and appear already adult-like at 4 weeks, much earlier than thought on the basis of previous anatomical studies. We hypothesize that a small and anatomically undetectable imbalance between the afferents from the two eyes is amplified by intracortical interactions so that their activity patterns become different and may guide the segregation process of the afferents in cortical layer IV.

Afferent Pathways↗

PubMed2000

Does the migraine aura reflect cortical organization?

Individuals suffering from classical migraine report an astonishing diversity of migraine auras. A frequently reported symptom is a visual hallucination known as fortification illusion (FI). Here we demonstrate that the typical zig-zag pattern of the FI can be reproduced using experimental data of orientation maps of the primary visual cortex (V1) assuming that a continuous excitation front propagates across V1. We put forward a model in which the cortical neurons within this excitation wave are activated sufficiently to contribute to conscious perception. It is shown that the discontinuous repetitive nature of the zig-zag pattern of the FI can reflect the specific layout of visual cortical orientation maps. Additionally, dynamic features of the FI are predicted based on our model.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

An analysis of orientation and ocular dominance patterns in the visual cortex of cats and ferrets.

We report an analysis of orientation and ocular dominance maps that were recorded optically from area 17 of cats and ferrets. Similar to a recent study performed in primates (Obermayer & Blasdel, 1997), we find that 80% (for cats and ferrets) of orientation singularities that are nearest neighbors have opposite sign and that the spatial distribution of singularities deviates from a random distribution of points, because the average distances between nearest neighbors are significantly larger than expected for a random distribution. Orientation maps of normally raised cats and ferrets show approximately the same typical wavelength; however, the density of singularities is higher in ferrets than in cats. Also, we find the well-known overrepresentation of cardinal versus oblique orientations in young ferrets (Chapman & Bonhoeffer, 1998; Coppola, White, Fitzpatrick, & Purves, 1998) but only a weak, not quite significant overrepresentation of cardinal orientations in cats, as has been reported previously (Bonhoeffer & Grinvald, 1993). Orientation and ocular dominance slabs in cats exhibit a tendency of being orthogonal to each other (Hubener, Shoham, Grinvald, & Bonhoeffer, 1997), albeit less pronounced, as has been reported for primates (Obermayer & Blasdel, 1993). In chronic recordings from single animals, a decrease of the singularity density and an increase of the ocular dominance wavelength with age but no change of the orientation wavelengths were found. Orientation maps are compared with two pattern models for orientation preference maps: bandpass-filtered white noise and the field analogy model. Bandpass-filtered white noise predicts sign correlations between orientation singularities, but the correlations are significantly stronger (87% opposite sign pairs) than what we have found in the data. Also, bandpass-filtered noise predicts a deviation of the spatial distribution of singularities from a random dot pattern. The field analogy model can account for the structure of certain local patches but not for the whole orientation map. Differences between the predictions of the field analogy model and experimental data are smaller than what has been reported for primates (Obermayer & Blasdel, 1997), which can be explained by the smaller size of the imaged areas in cats and ferrets.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1998

The layout of orientation and ocular dominance domains in area 17 of strabismic cats.

In the primary visual cortex of strabismic cats, the elimination of correlated activity between the two eyes enhances the segregation of the geniculocortical afferents into alternating ocular dominance domains. In addition, both tangential intracortical fibres and neuronal synchronization are severely reduced between neurons activated by different eyes. Consequently, ocular dominance columns belonging to different eyes are functionally rather independent. We wondered whether this would also affect the organization of orientation preference maps. To this end, we visualized the functional architecture of area 17 of strabismic cats with both optical imaging based on intrinsic signals and double labelling of orientation and ocular dominance columns with [14C]2-deoxyglucose and [3H]proline. As expected, monocular iso-orientation domains had a patchy appearance and differed for the two eyes, leading to a clear segregation of the ocular dominance domains. Comparison of 'angle maps' revealed that orientation domains exhibit a pinwheel organization as in normally reared cats. Interestingly, the map of orientation preferences did not show any breaks at the borders between ocular dominance columns: iso-orientation domains were continuous across these borders. In addition, iso-orientation contours tended to cross the borders of adjacent ocular dominance columns at right angles. These data suggest that the basic relations between the layout of orientation maps and ocular dominance columns are not disturbed by artificial decorrelation of binocular input. Therefore in cat area 17, the orientation map does not seem to be modified by experience-dependent changes of thalamic input connections. This suggests the possibility that use-dependent rearrangement of geniculocortical afferents into ocular dominance columns is due to Hebbian modifications whereby postsynaptic responsivity is constrained by the scaffold of the orientation map.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Functional specificity of long-range intrinsic and interhemispheric connections in the visual cortex of strabismic cats.

The development of both long-range intracortical and interhemispheric connections depends on visual experience. Previous experiments showed that in strabismic but not in normal cats, clustered horizontal axon projections preferentially connect cell groups activated by the same eye. This indicates that there is selective stabilization of fibers between neurons exhibiting correlated activity. Extending these experiments, we investigated in strabismic cats: (1) whether tangential connections remain confined to columns of similar orientation preference within the subsystems of left and right eye domains; and (2) whether callosal connections also extend predominantly between neurons activated by the same eye and preferring similar orientations. To this end, we analyzed in strabismic cats the topographic relationships between orientation preference domains and both intrinsic and callosal connections of area 17. Red and green latex microspheres were injected into monocular iso-orientation domains identified by optical imaging of intrinsic signals. Additionally, domains sharing the ocular dominance and orientation preference of the neurons at the injection sites were visualized by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiography. Quantitative analysis revealed that 56% of the retrogradely labeled cells within the injected area 17 and 60% of the transcallosally labeled neurons were located in the 2-DG-labeled iso-orientation domains. This indicates: (1) that strabismus does not interfere with the tendency of long-range horizontal fibers to link predominantly neurons of similar orientation preference; and (2) that the selection mechanisms for the stabilization of callosal connections are similar to those that are responsible for the specification of the tangential intrinsic connections.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

The perceptual grouping criterion of colinearity is reflected by anisotropies of connections in the primary visual cortex.

An important step in the processing of visual patterns is the segmentation of the retinal image. Neuronal responses evoked by the contours of individual objects need to be identified and associated for further joint processing. These grouping operations are based on a number of Gestalt criteria. Here we report that connections in the visual cortex of the cat exhibit a highly significant anisotropy, preferentially linking neurons activated by contours that have similar orientation and are aligned colinearly. These anatomical data suggest a close relation between the perceptual grouping criterion of colinearity and the topology of tangential intracortical connections. We propose that tangential intracortical connections support perceptual grouping by modulating the saliency of distributed cortical responses in a context-dependent way. The present data are compatible with the hypothesis that the criteria for this grouping operation are determined by the architecture of the tangential connections.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Theory meets experiment: correlated neural activity helps determine ocular dominance column periodicity.

The development of ocular dominance columns in primary visual cortex has attracted much interest from both experimentalists and theoreticians. One key parameter of these columns is their periodicity - it is thus important to understand how this is determined. Novel experimental work demonstrates that the periodicity is influenced by the temporal patterning of afferent activity, as predicted by recent theoretical work.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Relationships between dendritic fields and functional architecture in striate cortex of normal and visually deprived cats.

We examined relationships between the pattern of geniculocortical innervation and the dendritic fields of cells in layer 4 of in cat primary visual cortex. Experiments were performed on normal animals and on cats in which the geniculocortical projection was altered by monocular deprivation or by the induction of divergent squint during the critical period. Thalamic afferents providing the input from the contralateral eye were anterogradely labeled by injecting the fluorescent tracer Dil into lamina A of the lateral geniculate nucleus. Intracellular staining with Lucifer yellow in slice preparations allowed simultaneous visualization of the morphology of individual cells and the thalamic afferents. Our results demonstrate that spiny stellate cells close to the upper and lower margin of the geniculocortical input have highly asymmetric dendritic fields, and thereby confine their dendrites to the termination zone of these afferents. This effect was specific for the cell class; it was not observed in pyramidal neurons. These dendritic asymmetries perpendicular to the laminar borders of spiny stellate cells were not altered by monocular deprivation or strabismus. In contrast, visual deprivation strongly influenced the dendritic arbors of spiny stellate cells near the borders between adjacent ocular dominance columns. In normal animals, the dendrites of cells near columnar borders remained preferentially within one column. These dendritic asymmetries became much more pronounced in strabismic animals. Monocular deprivation weakened the influence of the columnar borders on dendritic fields. Spiny stellate cells within the columns of the open eye exhibited a slight tendency to confine their dendrites to these columns. Cells in the columns of the deprived eye showed the opposite effect; they extended their dendrites preferentially into the adjacent columns of the open eye. These results demonstrate that the segregation of geniculocortical afferents into ocular dominance columns and its perturbation by manipulation of the visual input plays an important role in defining the morphology of cortical target cells. Thus, activity-dependent structural changes not only occur at the level of the presynaptic terminals, but also at the level of the postsynaptic target cells, and thereby contribute to build up the functional architecture of the cortex.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Ocular dominance column development: strabismus changes the spacing of adjacent columns in cat visual cortex.

To investigate the role of visual experience for the gross layout of ocular dominance (OD) columns in the visual cortex, I compared the respective patterns in normally raised and strabismic cats. OD domains were visualized by (1) transneuronal labeling of the afferents from the left or right eye with intraocular 3H-proline injections or (2) 14C-2-deoxyglucose autoradiography after monocular visual stimulation in awake animals. To obtain the complete pattern of OD columns, flat-mount sections were prepared from the unfolded cortical hemispheres. Eliminating correlated activity between the two eyes by making the animals strabismic influenced the gross layout of the OD domains. In area 17, OD domains become more sharply delineated than in normal animals and spaced more widely. Spatial frequency analyses revealed a mean spacing of adjacent columns of 1100-1300 microns in strabismic and of 800-1000 microns in normal cats. In area 18, the spacing of the ocular dominance domains is larger than in area 17 for both normal and strabismic cats (1500-1650 microns), but little influenced by strabismus. These results indicate that in area 17 decreased correlation of activity between the eyes alters the periodicity of OD columns. In addition, these observations suggest that not only the segregation of afferents into distinct columns but also the final expression of the columnar grid is influenced by visual experience, and in particular by the temporal patterning of neural activity. This is further evidence for the hypothesis that the development of OD columns is governed by activity-dependent self-organizing principles.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Monocularly induced 2-deoxyglucose patterns in the visual cortex and lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat: I. Anaesthetized and paralysed animals.

Extending previous investigations of the topographic relationship between ocular dominance and orientation columns in the cat visual cortex the two systems were visualized with transneuronally transported [3H]proline and with activity-dependent uptake of [14C]2-deoxyglucose, respectively. In addition, we used the 2-deoxyglucose method for a functional assay of both columnar systems. To this end, cats were injected with [3H]proline in the right eye. Two weeks later, they were stimulated monocularly through this eye by presenting contours of only a single orientation in the left and contours of many different orientations in the right visual hemifield while 2-deoxyglucose was injected. The patterns of increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake and of terminal labelling were analysed in flat-mount sections of the visual cortices and in frontal sections of the lateral geniculate nuclei. In the lateral geniculate nucleus, regions of increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake are in register with the [3H]proline-labelled laminae of the open eye. In the visual cortex, the hemispheres stimulated with many different orientations showed a rather homogeneous accumulation of 2-deoxyglucose over the entire extent and throughout all layers of area 17. The hemispheres stimulated with a single orientation displayed columnar patterns of orientation domains essentially similar to those obtained with binocular presentation of a single orientation. In particular and despite monocular stimulation, regions of increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake were neither in register with the [3H]proline-labelled terminals of the increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake were neither in register with the [3H]proline-labelled terminals of the stimulated eye in layer IV nor confined to columns of neural tissue above and below these terminals. The maximal horizontal offset between the termination sites of thalamic afferents and activated orientation columns was in the order of 400 microns. These findings suggest several conclusions. (i) In the cat visual cortex, binocular convergence seems to occur so early in cortical processing that monocular stimulation with many orientations leads to a rather homogeneous activation of cortical tissue. (ii) From the termination zones of geniculate afferents activity is apparently distributed already within layer IV to the respective orientation columns. (iii) This horizontal spread of activity could be assured by target cells with radially extending dendrites and/or tangentially oriented fibres.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Monocularly induced 2-deoxyglucose patterns in the visual cortex and lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat: II. Awake animals and strabismic animals.

In the course of experiments studying the organization of ocular dominance columns in the visual cortex of cats, we noticed that--contrary to common belief--labelling with 2-deoxyglucose after monocular stimulation failed to induce a pattern of ocular dominance columns but resulted in a rather homogenous 2-deoxyglucose uptake throughout area 17 in anaesthetized and paralysed animals. We wondered whether 2-deoxyglucose columns could be obtained in awake animals and/or in strabismic animals, which have a more pronounced segregation of ocular dominance columns. To this end, we investigated 2-deoxyglucose patterns after monocular stimulation in three groups of animals: (i) in awake normally reared cats, (ii) in awake strabismic cats and (iii) in anaesthetized and paralysed strabismic cats. Additionally, we labelled ocular dominance columns with intraocular [3H]proline injections. In all cats, monocular stimulation induced 2-deoxyglucose patterns that were in precise register with the proline-labelled ocular dominance columns in layer IV. Regions of increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake extended in a columnar fashion through all cortical layers. In contrast to normally reared animals, in strabismic cats, the expression of 2-deoxyglucose labelled ocular dominance columns was not abolished by anaesthesia or paralysis. However, there was a difference between the 2-deoxyglucose patterns in the awake normally reared cats and the strabismic animals. In the former, the patches of 2-deoxyglucose labelling were smaller and occupied less territory than the afferents of the stimulated eye in layer IV. Together with the results of the previous study, these data indicate that in awake normally reared and in awake and anaesthetized strabismic cats, but not in anaesthetized and paralysed normally reared animals, monocular stimulation activates selectively neurons in columns that are in register with the termination sites of afferents from the stimulated eye. This suggests the existence of a mechanism in normally reared animals which restricts cortical activation after monocular stimulation to territories that are in register with the afferents from the stimulated eye. This mechanism appears to be effective only when the animals are awake and actively exploring their environment. This and the fact that the active columns were narrower than the terminal fields of the stimulated eye suggest an active inhibitory process, perhaps related to mechanisms of selective attention. The observation that ocular dominance columns persist in strabismic cats even under anaesthesia can be accounted for by the lack of binocular convergence in these animals.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Squint affects synchronization of oscillatory responses in cat visual cortex.

As shown previously, neurons in various areas of the cat's visual cortex respond to appropriate visual stimuli with oscillatory activity in the frequency range of 30-70 Hz. It has been suggested that synchronization of such responses serves to define assemblies of coherently active cells which represent individual visual objects. In this study, we have investigated this putative binding mechanism in the visual cortex of strabismic cats. We used six adult cats in which divergent squint had been induced surgically at the age of 3 weeks. Multiunit activity was recorded from area 17 with arrays of four or five closely spaced microelectrodes. Subsequently, auto- and cross-correlation functions were computed for all spike trains. To quantify the oscillatory nature of the responses and the strength of synchronization between spatially remote sites, damped sine wave functions were fitted to the correlograms. Analysis of responses obtained from 202 recording sites showed that the vast majority of cells had become monocular. Auto-correlation analysis revealed that the proportion of oscillatory firing patterns was similar to that observed in normal cats. However, cross-correlation analysis of 153 response pairs demonstrated that synchronization was reduced significantly between cells dominated by different eyes while it was as frequent and strong as in normal cats between cells dominated by the same eye. These findings indicate that strabismus not only causes a reorganization of afferent inputs but also affects intracortical interactions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Selection of intrinsic horizontal connections in the visual cortex by correlated neuronal activity.

In the visual cortex of the brain, long-ranging tangentially oriented axon collaterals interconnect regularly spaced clusters of cells. These connections develop after birth and attain their specificity by pruning. To test whether there is selective stabilization of connections between those cells that exhibit correlated activity, kittens were raised with artificially induced strabismus (eye deviation) to eliminate the correlation between signals from the two eyes. In area 17, cell clusters were driven almost exclusively from either the right or the left eye and tangential intracortical fibers preferentially connected cell groups activated by the same eye. Thus, circuit selection depends on visual experience, and the selection criterion is the correlation of activity.

Aging↗

PubMed1990

Tangential intracortical pathways and the development of iso-orientation bands in cat striate cortex.

Evidence is accumulating that tangential connections are a prominent feature of cortical organization. In the mammalian visual cortex, these connections appear to be related to columnar systems and theoretical considerations have suggested that they contribute to the development of regularly spaced orientation columns. We tested this assumption and examined whether early cortical lesions affected the formation and layout of the pattern of iso-orientation bands. In the striate cortex of 2-week-old kittens, tangential fiber paths were disrupted unilaterally along the representation of the horizontal meridian either by cuts, or by suction or by implanting pieces of Teflon. At this age, tangential fibers are still growing, orientation selectivity is only poorly developed and 2-deoxyglucose mapping does not yet reveal orientation columns. When the kittens were 7-10 weeks old, the organization of orientation bands was studied with the 2-deoxyglucose technique in flat-mounts of both visual cortices. In addition, kittens from the same litters as the experimental animals, having received the same lesions at the same postnatal day were subjected to neuroanatomical experiments to assess the effect of the lesion on the tangential fibers. These investigations revealed that a small fraction of tangential fibers had grown across the lesion when no mechanical barrier was implanted while disruption of tangential connections was complete in cases who had received Teflon implants. Apart from minor irregularities that were confined to the vicinity of the lesion, the 2-deoxyglucose experiments showed no differences in the pattern of orientation bands between the lesioned and intact hemispheres. In both, the bands extended throughout all cortical layers and their main trajectories were orthogonal to the representation of the vertical meridian. We conclude that at least from two weeks of age onwards, intracortical tangential connections are not necessary for the development of the regular pattern of iso-orientation bands in the striate cortex of cats.

Amidines↗

PubMed1988

Topographic relations between ocular dominance and orientation columns in the cat striate cortex.

In the visual cortex of four adult cats ocular dominance and orientation columns were visualized with (3H)proline and (14C)deoxyglucose autoradiography. The two columnar systems were reconstructed from serial horizontal sections or from flat-mount preparations and graphically superimposed. They share a number of characteristic features: In both systems the columns have a tendency to form regularly spaced parallel bands whose main trajectory is perpendicular to the border between areas 17 and 18. These bands frequently bifurcate or terminate in blind endings. The resulting irregularities are much more pronounced in the ocular dominance than in the orientation system. The periodicity of the columnar patterns was assessed along trajectories perpendicular to the main orientation of the bands and differed in the two columnar systems. The spacing of the ocular dominance stripes was significantly narrower than the spacing of orientation bands. The mean periodicity of a particular columnar system was virtually identical in the two hemispheres of the same animal but it differed substantially in different animals. However, the spacing of orientation columns covaried with that of the ocular dominance columns, the ratios of the mean spacings of the two columnar systems being similar in the four cats. The superposition of the two columnar systems revealed no obvious topographic relation between any of the organizational details such as the location of bifurcations, blind endings and intersections. We suggest the following conclusions: 1. The developmental processes generating the two columnar systems seem to obey the same algorithms but they act independently of each other. 2. The space constants of the two systems are rigorously specified and appear to depend on a common variable. 3. The main orientation of the bands in both columnar systems is related to a) the representation of the vertical meridian, b) the anisotropy of the cortical magnification factor, and c) the tangential spread of intracortical connections.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Topographic organization of the orientation column system in large flat-mounts of the cat visual cortex: a 2-deoxyglucose study.

We developed a flat-mount technique in order to visualize, without additional reconstruction, the system of orientation columns in the cat visual cortex by using 2-deoxyglucose-autoradiography. Experimental animals were injected with 2-deoxyglucose and then stimulated for 45-60 minutes either with vertical or horizontal or oblique gratings alone or with vertical and horizontal gratings presented in alternation. In both areas 17 and 18 stimulation with either vertical or horizontal or oblique stripes produced similar and highly ordered patterns of parallel bands of increased 2-deoxyglucose uptake that were perpendicular to the boundaries of the areas. In area 17 they occasionally extended without interruption from the 17/18 border on the top of the lateral gyrus to the monocular segment in the splenial sulcus. Superposition of serial sections revealed that these bands were present in all cortical layers and in precise register along lines orthogonal to the lamination. The center-to-center spacing of the bands was 1.0-1.1 mm in area 17 and 1.2-1.4 mm in area 18. Stimulation with alternating vertical and horizontal contours led to a pattern the general organization of which resembled that induced by a single orientation but the spacing of which was reduced by a factor of 0.5. This strongly supports the concept that orientation is mapped in a system of parallel bands and argues against a recently formulated hypothesis that iso-orientation bands extend like spokes from centers that lack orientation selectivity (Braitenberg and Braitenberg, Biol. Cybern. 33:179-186, '79). Another characteristic feature, revealed by the flat-mount technique, was a periodic variation of 2-deoxyglucose uptake along the bands that gave them a beaded appearance. The mean center-to-center distance between adjacent beads on the same band was in the range of 0.9-1.2 mm and remained unchanged when horizontal and vertical gratings were presented in alternation. We propose that these beads reflect another columnar system whose features have yet to be determined.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

The pattern of ocular dominance columns in flat-mounts of the cat visual cortex.

Ocular dominance (OD) columns in the cat visual cortex were visualized with autoradiography after intravitreal injection of (3H)proline. Extending previous studies, a flat-mount technique was applied that enabled the analysis of the distribution of label throughout extensive regions of the visual cortex without requiring reconstruction from serial sections. OD-columns were confined to layer IV and consisted of isolated patches and short bands. The latter were parallel to each other and regularly spaced, the main trajectory being orthogonal to the 17/18 border. This pattern of the geniculo-cortical terminals was similar in the hemispheres ipsi- and contralateral to the injected eye. The mean periodicities of the OD-bands were virtually identical in the two hemispheres of the same animal: 850 microns and 830 microns in cat D1 and 770 microns and 800 microns in cat D2. However, the ipsilateral OD-columns appeared smaller, more heavily labeled and more sharply delineated than the contralateral columns.

Animals↗