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Differences between ipsilaterally and contralaterally evoked potentials in the visual wulst of the zebra finch

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Manfred Bredenkötter  and
Hans-Joachim Bischof
Manfred Bredenkötter
Affiliation:
Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensphysiologie, Universität Bielefeld, Federal Republic of Germany
Hans-Joachim Bischof
Affiliation:
Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensphysiologie, Universität Bielefeld, Federal Republic of Germany
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Abstract

The telencephalic target of the thalamofugal visual pathway in birds, the visual wulst, is part of the hyperstriatum accessorium/dorsale in the bird's brain. In this study, we tried to determine the exact location of the visually responsive area in the zebra finch by recording visually evoked potentials (VEPs) from different sites throughout the hyperstriatum and calculating current source densities (CSDs). In addition, we examined the influence of ipsilateral and contralateral stimuli on stimulus processing within this area, and tried to get insight into the neuronal machinery of the thalamofugal pathway by application of drugs such as tetrodotoxin (TTX) and picrotoxin.

About two-thirds of the hyperstriatum is responsive to contralateral stimuli but only a small portion responds to ipsilateral stimuli. Contralateral visual information arrives in the hyperstriatum dorsale (HD) and is processed further to the hyperstriatum accessorium (HA).

The small influence of ipsilaterally evoked potentials is not due to inhibition by the activity of the contralateral eye, as could be demonstrated previously for the ectostriatum. Instead, our results show that ipsilaterally evoked potentials are inhibited at least in part by a projection from the contralateral visual wulst.

Keywords

BirdsVisual wulstVisually evoked responsesTetrodotoxinPicrotoxinCurrent source-density analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , August 1990 , pp. 155 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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