Using a classic paper by Bell as a platform for discussing the role of corollary discharge-like signals in sensory perception and movement control

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Aaron L. Cecala
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fish ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Corollary Discharge ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
Posterior Lateral Line ◽  
Neural Substrate ◽  
Neurophysiological Data ◽  
Afferent Inputs ◽  
Classic Paper

Decades of behavioral observations have shown that invertebrate and vertebrate species have the ability to distinguish between self-generated afferent inputs versus those that are generated externally. In the present article, I describe activities focused around the discussion of a classic American Physiological Society paper by Curtis C. Bell that lays the foundation for students to investigate the neural substrate underlying this ability. Students will leave this activity being able to 1) describe the technical aspects and limitations of an electric fish preparation commonly used to acquire single unit (extracellular) neurophysiological data, 2) provide physiological evidence showing that the activity of principal cells in the posterior lateral line lobe of the electric fish brain reflects that of a reafference comparator that could be used in dissociating self-generated versus externally generated sensory signals, and 3) knowledgeably discuss hypotheses concerning the role of corollary discharge and cerebellar-like structures in vertebrate and invertebrate species. The skills and background knowledge gained in this activity lay the platform for advanced study of scientific investigations into sensory, motor, and cognitive processes in undergraduate, graduate, or medical school curricula.

Using a classic paper by Evarts as a platform for discussing cortical control of skeletal muscle in awake, behaving primates

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-250
Author(s):  
Aaron L. Cecala
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
Neurophysiological Data

A growing portion of premedical curricula is being devoted to the study of physiological mechanisms underlying animal behavior. In the present article, I describe an activity centered around a classic Journal of Neurophysiology paper by Edward V. Evarts that lays the foundation for students to investigate common behavioral and physiological techniques used to study motor control in primates. Students will leave this activity being able to 1) critically assess behavioral, electromyographic, and single unit (extracellular) neurophysiological data typically acquired by behavioral neurophysiologists; 2) provide physiological evidence that the primate precentral gyrus (primary motor cortex) controls voluntary movements of the wrist; 3) intelligently discuss hypotheses concerning the role of the primary motor cortex in the generation of movement in mammalian species; and 4) discuss the ethical implications of using mammalian species as model organisms. The skills and background knowledge gained in this activity lay the platform for advanced study of scientific investigations into sensory, motor, and cognitive processes in undergraduate, graduate, or medical school curricula.

scholarly journals Role of Primate Cerebellar Hemisphere in Voluntary Eye Movement Control Revealed by Lesion Effects

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 934-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masafumi Ohki ◽  
Hiromasa Kitazawa ◽  
Takahito Hiramatsu ◽  
Kimitake Kaga ◽  
Taiko Kitamura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Cerebellar Hemisphere ◽  
Target Velocity ◽  
Eye Movement Control ◽  
Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
Catch Up

The anatomical connection between the frontal eye field and the cerebellar hemispheric lobule VII (H-VII) suggests a potential role of the hemisphere in voluntary eye movement control. To reveal the involvement of the hemisphere in smooth pursuit and saccade control, we made a unilateral lesion around H-VII and examined its effects in three Macaca fuscata that were trained to pursue visually a small target. To the step (3°)-ramp (5–20°/s) target motion, the monkeys usually showed an initial pursuit eye movement at a latency of 80–140 ms and a small catch-up saccade at 140–220 ms that was followed by a postsaccadic pursuit eye movement that roughly matched the ramp target velocity. After unilateral cerebellar hemispheric lesioning, the initial pursuit eye movements were impaired, and the velocities of the postsaccadic pursuit eye movements decreased. The onsets of 5° visually guided saccades to the stationary target were delayed, and their amplitudes showed a tendency of increased trial-to-trial variability but never became hypo- or hypermetric. Similar tendencies were observed in the onsets and amplitudes of catch-up saccades. The adaptation of open-loop smooth pursuit velocity, tested by a step increase in target velocity for a brief period, was impaired. These lesion effects were recognized in all directions, particularly in the ipsiversive direction. A recovery was observed at 4 wk postlesion for some of these lesion effects. These results suggest that the cerebellar hemispheric region around lobule VII is involved in the control of smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements.

The Small Mammal Project: Engaging Students as Scientists

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-206
Author(s):  
Erika V. Iyengar ◽  
Paul T. Meier ◽  
Rachel E. Hamelers
Keyword(s):  
College Courses ◽  
Scientific Process ◽  
Scientific Creativity ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Dissemination Of Results ◽  
Scientific Questions

This article describes a sustained, student-driven, inquiry-based set of activities meant to illuminate the scientific process from the initial scientific questions to oral dissemination of results. It is appropriate for science majors and nonmajors, advanced high school through upper-level college courses. Involving students in hands-on, self-driven investigations will allow them to see the challenges of quantitative scientific investigations, and the role of scientific creativity in experimental design and interpretation. This project allows a large group of students to engage in the type of research project often only available to students working one-on-one with instructors or in research labs. This activity requires skeletons of multiple species of small mammals, but there are many ways to alter the project to suit available resources. We expect that students involved in hands-on, self-directed scientific investigations early in their academic careers are less likely to view science as a mere accumulation of facts and more likely to be empowered to participate later in more sustained scientific investigations.

Sensory coding and corollary discharge effects in mormyrid electric fish

1989 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fish ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Electric Organ Discharge ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Electric Organ ◽  
Motor Command ◽  
Corollary Discharge ◽  
Weakly Electric Fish ◽  
Central Projection ◽  
Sensory Coding

Weakly electric fish use their electrosensory systems for electrocommunication, active electrolocation and low-frequency passive electrolocation. In electric fish of the family Mormyridae, these three purposes are mediated by separate classes of electroreceptors: electrocommunication by Knollenorgan electroreceptors, active electrolocation by Mormyromast electroreceptors and low-frequency passive electrolocation by ampullary electroreceptors. The primary afferent fibres from each class of electroreceptors terminate in a separate central region. Thus, the mormyrid electrosensory system has three anatomically and functionally distinct subsystems. This review describes the sensory coding and initial processing in each of the three subsystems, with an emphasis on the Knollenorgan and Mormyromast subsystems. The Knollenorgan subsystem is specialized for the measurement of temporal information but appears to ignore both intensity and spatial information. In contrast, the Mormyromast subsystem is specialized for the measurement of both intensity and spatial information. The morphological and physiological characteristics of the primary afferents and their central projection regions are quite different for the two subsystems and reflect the type of information which the subsystems preserve. This review also describes the electric organ corollary discharge (EOCD) effects which are present in the central projection regions of each of the three electrosensory subsystems. These EOCD effects are driven by the motor command that drives the electric organ to discharge. The EOCD effects are different in each of the three subsystems and these differences reflect differences in both the pattern and significance of the sensory information that is evoked by the fish's own electric organ discharge. Some of the EOCD effects are invariant, whereas others are plastic and depend on previous afferent input. The mormyrid work is placed within two general contexts: (a) the measurement of time and intensity in sensory systems, and (b) the various roles of motor command (efferent) signals and self-induced sensory (reafferent) signals in sensorimotor systems.

The Role of Reafference in Recalibration of Limb Movement Control and Locomotion

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-310
Author(s):  
James R. Lackner ◽  
Paul DiZio
Keyword(s):  
Movement Control ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
The Body ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Reaching Movements ◽  
Optomotor Response ◽  
Coriolis Forces ◽  
Effects Of Rotation ◽  
Centripetal Forces

The reafference model has frequently been used to explain spatial constancy during eye and head movements. We have found that its basic concepts also form part of the information processing necessary for the control and recalibration of reaching movements. Reaching was studied in a novel force environment–a rotating room that creates centripetal forces of the type that could someday substitute for gravity in space flight, and Coriolis forces which are side effects of rotation. We found that inertial, noncontacting Coriolis forces deviate the path and endpoint of reaching movements, a finding that shows the inadequacy of equilibrium position models of movement control. Repeated movements in the rotating room quickly lead to normal movement patterns and to a failure to perceive the perturbing forces. The first movements made after rotation stops, without Coriolis forces present, show mirror-image deviations and evoke perception of a perturbing force even though none is present. These patterns of sensorimotor control and adaptation can largely be explained on the basis of comparisons of efference copy, reafferent muscle spindle, and cutaneous mechanoreceptor signals. We also describe experiments on human iocomotion using an apparatus similar to that which Mittelstaedt used to study the optomotor response of the Eristalis fly. These results show that the reafference principle relates as well to the perception of the forces acting on and exerted by the body during voluntary locomotion.

scholarly journals Role of corollary discharge in space constancy

1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Stark ◽  
Bruce Bridgeman
Keyword(s):  
Corollary Discharge ◽  
Space Constancy

The Role of Online Visual Feedback for the Control of Target-Directed and Allocentric Hand Movements

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 846-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore Thaler ◽  
Melvyn A. Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Sensorimotor Control ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Target Locations

Studies that have investigated how sensory feedback about the moving hand is used to control hand movements have relied on paradigms such as pointing or reaching that require subjects to acquire target locations. In the context of these target-directed tasks, it has been found repeatedly that the human sensory-motor system relies heavily on visual feedback to control the ongoing movement. This finding has been formalized within the framework of statistical optimality according to which different sources of sensory feedback are combined such as to minimize variance in sensory information during movement control. Importantly, however, many hand movements that people perform every day are not target-directed, but based on allocentric (object-centered) visual information. Examples of allocentric movements are gesture imitation, drawing, or copying. Here we tested if visual feedback about the moving hand is used in the same way to control target-directed and allocentric hand movements. The results show that visual feedback is used significantly more to reduce movement scatter in the target-directed as compared with the allocentric movement task. Furthermore, we found that differences in the use of visual feedback between target-directed and allocentric hand movements cannot be explained based on differences in uncertainty about the movement goal. We conclude that the role played by visual feedback for movement control is fundamentally different for target-directed and allocentric movements. The results suggest that current computational and neural models of sensorimotor control that are based entirely on data derived from target-directed paradigms have to be modified to accommodate performance in the allocentric tasks used in our experiments. As a consequence, the results cast doubt on the idea that models of sensorimotor control developed exclusively from data obtained in target-directed paradigms are also valid in the context of allocentric tasks, such as drawing, copying, or imitative gesturing, that characterize much of human behavior.

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