HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 93/5/2575    most recent 00926.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (29) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Perrault, T. J. Articles by Wallace, M. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Perrault, T. J., Jr. Articles by Wallace, M. T.

Superior Colliculus Neurons Use Distinct Operational Modes in the Integration of Multisensory Stimuli

Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Submitted 6 September 2004; accepted in final form 30 December 2004

Many neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) integrate sensory information from multiple modalities, giving rise to significant response enhancements. Although enhanced multisensory responses have been shown to depend on the spatial and temporal relationships of the stimuli as well as on their relative effectiveness, these factors alone do not appear sufficient to account for the substantial heterogeneity in the magnitude of the multisensory products that have been observed. Toward this end, the present experiments have revealed that there are substantial differences in the operations used by different multisensory SC neurons to integrate their cross-modal inputs, suggesting that intrinsic differences in these neurons may also play an important deterministic role in multisensory integration. In addition, the integrative operation employed by a given neuron was found to be well correlated with the neuron's dynamic range. In total, four categories of SC neurons were identified based on how their multisensory responses changed relative to the predicted addition of the two unisensory inputs as stimulus effectiveness was altered. Despite the presence of these categories, a general rule was that the most robust multisensory enhancements were seen with combinations of the least effective unisensory stimuli. Together, these results provide a better quantitative picture of the integrative operations performed by multisensory SC neurons and suggest mechanistic differences in the way in which these neurons synthesize cross-modal information.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. C. Alvarado, T. R. Stanford, B. A. Rowland, J. W. Vaughan, and B. E. Stein Multisensory Integration in the Superior Colliculus Requires Synergy among Corticocollicular Inputs J. Neurosci., May 20, 2009; 29(20): 6580 - 6592. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Zahar, A. Reches, and Y. Gutfreund Multisensory Enhancement in the Optic Tectum of the Barn Owl: Spike Count and Spike Timing J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2009; 101(5): 2380 - 2394. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Gingras, B. A. Rowland, and B. E. Stein The Differing Impact of Multisensory and Unisensory Integration on Behavior J. Neurosci., April 15, 2009; 29(15): 4897 - 4902. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Kayser, C. I. Petkov, and N. K. Logothetis Visual Modulation of Neurons in Auditory Cortex Cereb Cortex, July 1, 2008; 18(7): 1560 - 1574. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. N. Carriere, D. W. Royal, and M. T. Wallace Spatial Heterogeneity of Cortical Receptive Fields and Its Impact on Multisensory Interactions J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2008; 99(5): 2357 - 2368. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Leo, N. Bolognini, C. Passamonti, B. E. Stein, and E. Ladavas Cross-modal localization in hemianopia: new insights on multisensory integration Brain, March 1, 2008; 131(3): 855 - 865. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Alvarado, T. R. Stanford, J. W. Vaughan, and B. E. Stein Cortex Mediates Multisensory But Not Unisensory Integration in Superior Colliculus J. Neurosci., November 21, 2007; 27(47): 12775 - 12786. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Alvarado, J. W. Vaughan, T. R. Stanford, and B. E. Stein Multisensory Versus Unisensory Integration: Contrasting Modes in the Superior Colliculus J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2007; 97(5): 3193 - 3205. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Avillac, S. Ben Hamed, and J.-R. Duhamel Multisensory Integration in the Ventral Intraparietal Area of the Macaque Monkey J. Neurosci., February 21, 2007; 27(8): 1922 - 1932. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Jiang, H. Jiang, and B. E. Stein Neonatal Cortical Ablation Disrupts Multisensory Development in Superior Colliculus J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2006; 95(3): 1380 - 1396. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Campos, A. Cherian, and M. A. Segraves Effects of Eye Position upon Activity of Neurons in Macaque Superior Colliculus J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2006; 95(1): 505 - 526. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]