Title:	The spontaneous and stimulus evoked neural dynamics of the superior colliculus in the anesthetized ferret
Authors:	Stitt, Iain
Thesis advisor:	Prof. Dr. Andreas Karl Engel
Thesis referee:	Prof. Dr. Peter König Prof. Dr. Gordon Pipa
Abstract:	The study of brain dynamics has traditionally focused study on well-established cortico-cortical, thalamo-cortical, and hippocampo-cortical pathways in the brain, neglecting other brain structures. The superior colliculus (SC) is a highly conserved midbrain structure that displays vast intrinsic, local and global patterns of anatomical connectivity, and therefore presents itself as an interesting alternative structure to study the fundamental principles of neural dynamics. Here, we report for the first time the analysis of both stimulus evoked and spontaneously generated SC neural dynamics across three spatial scales: dynamics intrinsic to the SC, local dynamical interaction with the neighboring inferior colliculus (IC), and large-scale dynamical interaction with the cortex. Within the SC, visual evoked neural dynamics was best characterized by the presence of temporally precise gamma oscillations in retinorecipient superficial SC layers following flash and grating stimuli. Local interareal dynamics in the midbrain were defined by the presence of subthreshold visually evoked activity in the IC that was driven by visual inputs from the SC. Finally, spontaneously generated SC activity is strongly governed by the state of cortical networks, with SC activity locked to prominent slow cortical and spindle oscillations. Collectively, this work provides evidence that nature of neural activity in the SC is strongly governed by both bottom-up sensory and top-down cortical inputs.
URL:	https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2014110512920
Subject Keywords:	ferret; superior colliculus
Issue Date:	5-Nov-2014
License name:	Namensnennung-Keine Bearbeitung 3.0 Unported
License url:	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
Type of publication:	Dissertation oder Habilitation [doctoralThesis]
Appears in Collections:	FB08 - E-Dissertationen

This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License