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W Singer

Publications and source records attributed to W Singer.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

The role of binocular neurons in the cat striate cortex in combining information from the two eyes.

Cats were raised under conditions of daily alternating monocular exposure, so that each eye received normal input, but the animals were never allowed to use both eyes simultaneously. With single cell recording techniques it could be shown that this led to a severe disturbance of the normal binocularity of cortical neurons. The cats were trained by operant techniques in a two-choice box to discriminate with each eye non-retinotopic stimulus pairs. To test the ability to combine binocular signals it was tested whether the learned discrimination would transfer to red/green colored stimuli which were viewed dichoptically through appropriately colored contract lenses. The arrangement was such that the positive stimulus could be distinguished from the negative stimuli only when the signals from both eyes were combined and used simultaneously. All cats showed immediate transfer, from the monocularly learned discrimination task to the dichoptic paradigm. This indicates that the presence of a normal population of binocular cortical cells in area 17 is not a prerequisite for the ability to use binocular cues for the solution of a pattern discrimination task.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Prominent excitatory pathways in the cat visual cortex (A 17 and A 18): a current source density analysis of electrically evoked potentials.

The current source density (CSD) method in its one-dimensional approximation is used to analyze the field potentials in visual areas 18 and 17 of the cat, which were elicited by stimulating electrodes in the optic chiasm (OX), the optic radiation (OR) or in the respective cortical area itself. The CSD analysis reveals the basic pattern of excitatory postsynaptic activity. 1. In both visual areas the basic specific excitatory activity flows along three different intracortical pathways, all starting in layer IV: The first pathway relays activity from layer IV to supragranular pyramidal cells via strong, local connections to layer III and from there through long-distance connections to layer II. The second pathway conveys activity from layer IV to layer V, where it mainly contacts apical dendrites of layer VI pyramidal cells. This infragranular polysynaptic activity is not clearly resolvable into separate components, suggesting that it is conveyed by various groups of axons, among them long-distance horizontal connections. The third pathway has one synaptic relay within layer IV and then conveys activity to layer III. In addition, monosynaptic activity is revealed in layers VI and I. 2. In A 18 one coherent, fast-conducting group of afferents induces this basic activity pattern. In A 17 no such fast conducting input is resolvable; the supragranular activity is induced by a small group of afferents with intermediate conduction velocity, which terminate in the upper part of layer IV. The infragranular activity is induced by afferents with slower and widely scattered conduction velocities, which terminate in the lower part of layer IV. The layer VI input is very prominent in A 17 and also has a wide latency scatter. 3. The supragranular activity is more prominent in A 18 than in A 17 and the respective layers appear thicker, in accordance with anatomy. In A 17 the infragranular activity prevails and layers IV and VI appear very broad, again in accordance with anatomy. 4. Comparison of the CSDs with the original evoked potentials shows that the surface evoked potentials over A 18 reflect the three dipolar sink/source distributions of the coherent monosynaptic activity in layer IV and of the two prominent polysynaptic activities in layers III and II. The widely scattered activity in the lower part of layer IV in A 17 and all infragranular activities in both areas generate smaller, partly closed-field potentials; those are not discernible from the strong far-field potentials which originate from the supragranular activity and--especially in A 17--from farther distant events.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Association and dissociation of visual functions in a case of bilateral occipital lobe infarction.

A severe restriction of the visual field was observed in a patient suffering a bilateral occipital lobe infarction. Soon after the lesion, the visual field had an angle of approx. 4 degrees. Some recovery was observed within the following months. Within the restricted visual field, several visual functions were tested. Increment threshold, for instance, was found to be one log unit higher than would normally be expected. Color vision was completely lost soon after the lesion, but some recovery was later observed. Although binocular interaction was demonstrated by the interocular transfer of after-effects, the patient never experienced steropsis. He also seemed unable to recognize faces. Dsepite the small visual field, optokinetic nystagmus could be elicited. A notable slowing down of visual analyses was observed in experiments on visual reaction time, on the inversion of the Necker cube, and on binocular rivalry. The complete loss of certain functions like steropsis or face recognition in contrast to a quantitative reduction of other functions like visual acuity or color perception can be discussed in the light of two conceptual models of perceptual processing. One model suggests the representation of different visual functions within one neuronal network, each function represented by a different number of neurons or a different algorithm within the network. The second model suggests a spatial segregation of different visual functions in different cortical areas that receive input from one common structure, presumably the striate cortex.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Ectopic ACTH syndrome: clinicopathological correlations.

Ten out of 164 cases of bronchogenic carcinoma showed pathological evidence at necropsy of the ectopic ACTH syndrome. All occurred in association with oat-cell carcinoma, constituting 19% of that group. The pathological features consisted of adrenocortical hyperplasia confined to the zona fasciculata and Crooke's hyaline change in the pituitary. Immunoperoxidase stainable ACTH was detected in the pituitary but not in the carcinoma tissue, a surprising finding, which may be due to the different nature of ACTH present in tumour tissue. The ectopic ACTH syndrome was diagnosed ante mortem in only four out of 10 patients on the basis of hypokalaemia and metabolic alkalosis. The lack of clinical pointers in all but terminal cases is discussed as well as possible measures for earlier diagnosis.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1978

Intrasellar paraganglioma associated with hypopituitarism.

A 37-year-old with a history of postpubertal arrest of sexual development and delayed growth was found to have an enlarged sella turcica. The clinical and biochemical features were consistent with hypopituitarism. A tumor was removed transsphenoidally that, through light microscopy, histochemistry, and electron microscopy, proved to be a paraganglioma. We report the possible origin of intrasellar paraganglioma, as well as the pathogenesis of hypopituitarism.

Adult↗