The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 81 No. 1 January 1999, pp. 256-266
Copyright ©1999 The American Physiological Society

Complex Spike Activity of Purkinje Cells in the Ventral Uvula and Nodulus of Pigeons in Response to Translational Optic Flow

Douglas R. W. Wylie¹ and Barrie J. Frost²

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9; and ² Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada

Wylie, Douglas R. W. and Barrie J. Frost. Complex spike activity of Purkinje cells in the ventral uvula and nodulus of pigeons in response to translational optic flow. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 256-266, 1999. The complex spike (CS) activity of Purkinje cells in the ventral uvula and nodulus of the vestibulocerebellum was recorded from anesthetized pigeons in response to translational optic flow. Translational optic flow was produced using a "translator" projector: a mechanical device that projected a translational optic flowfield onto the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room and encompassed the entire binocular visual field. CS activity was broadly tuned but maximally modulated in response to translational optic flow along a "best" axis. Each neuron was assigned a vector representing the direction in which the animal would need to translate to produce the optic flowfield that resulted in maximal excitation. The vector is described with reference to a standard right-handed coordinate system, where the vectors, +x, +y, and +z represent, rightward, upward, and forward translation of the animal, respectively. Neurons could be grouped into four response types based on the vector of maximal excitation. +y neurons were modulated maximally in response to a translational optic flowfield that results from self-motion upward along the vertical (y) axis. y neurons also responded best to translational optic flow along the vertical axis but showed the opposite direction preference. The two remaining groups responded best to translational optic flow along horizontal axes: x + z neurons and xz neurons. In summary, our results suggest that the olivocerebellar system dedicated to the analysis of translational optic flow is organized according to a reference frame consisting of three approximately orthogonal axes: the vertical axis, and two horizontal axes oriented 45° to either side the midline. Previous research has shown that the rotational optic flow system, the eye muscles, the vestibular semicircular canals and the postural control system all share a similar spatial frame of reference.

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