Principles underlying sensory map topography in primary visual cortex.

The primary visual cortex contains a detailed map of the visual scene, which is represented according to multiple stimulus dimensions including spatial location, ocular dominance and stimulus orientation. The maps for spatial location and ocular dominance arise from the spatial arrangement of thalamic afferent axons in the cortex. However, the origins of the other maps remain unclear. Here we show that the cortical maps for orientation, direction and retinal disparity in the cat (Felis catus) are all strongly related to the organization of the map for spatial location of light (ON) and dark (OFF) stimuli, an organization that we show is OFF-dominated, OFF-centric and runs orthogonal to ocular dominance columns. Because this ON-OFF organization originates from the clustering of ON and OFF thalamic afferents in the visual cortex, we conclude that all main features of visual cortical topography, including orientation, direction and retinal disparity, follow a common organizing principle that arranges thalamic axons with similar retinotopy and ON-OFF polarity in neighbouring cortical regions.

Neural coding underlying the cue preference for celestial orientation.

Diurnal and nocturnal African dung beetles use celestial cues, such as the sun, the moon, and the polarization pattern, to roll dung balls along straight paths across the savanna. Although nocturnal beetles move in the same manner through the same environment as their diurnal relatives, they do so when light conditions are at least 1 million-fold dimmer. Here, we show, for the first time to our knowledge, that the celestial cue preference differs between nocturnal and diurnal beetles in a manner that reflects their contrasting visual ecologies. We also demonstrate how these cue preferences are reflected in the activity of compass neurons in the brain. At night, polarized skylight is the dominant orientation cue for nocturnal beetles. However, if we coerce them to roll during the day, they instead use a celestial body (the sun) as their primary orientation cue. Diurnal beetles, however, persist in using a celestial body for their compass, day or night. Compass neurons in the central complex of diurnal beetles are tuned only to the sun, whereas the same neurons in the nocturnal species switch exclusively to polarized light at lunar light intensities. Thus, these neurons encode the preferences for particular celestial cues and alter their weighting according to ambient light conditions. This flexible encoding of celestial cue preferences relative to the prevailing visual scenery provides a simple, yet effective, mechanism for enabling visual orientation at any light intensity.

Robins have a magnetic compass in both eyes.

Arising from W. Wiltschko et al. 419, 467-470 (2002); Wiltschko et al. replyThe magnetic compass of migratory birds is embedded in the visual system and it has been reported by Wiltschko et al. that European Robins, Erithacus rubecula, cannot show magnetic compass orientation using their left eye only. This has led to the notion that the magnetic compass should be located only in the right eye of birds. However, a complete right lateralization of the magnetic compass would be very surprising, and functional neuroanatomical data have questioned this notion. Here we show that the results of Wiltschko et al. could not be independently confirmed using double-blind protocols. European Robins can perform magnetic compass orientation with both eyes open, with the left eye open only, and with the right eye open only. No clear lateralization is observed.

Animal cryptochromes mediate magnetoreception by an unconventional photochemical mechanism.

Understanding the biophysical basis of animal magnetoreception has been one of the greatest challenges in sensory biology. Recently it was discovered that the light-dependent magnetic sense of Drosophila melanogaster is mediated by the ultraviolet (UV)-A/blue light photoreceptor cryptochrome (Cry). Here we show, using a transgenic approach, that the photoreceptive, Drosophila-like type 1 Cry and the transcriptionally repressive, vertebrate-like type 2 Cry of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) can both function in the magnetoreception system of Drosophila and require UV-A/blue light (wavelength below 420 nm) to do so. The lack of magnetic responses for both Cry types at wavelengths above 420 nm does not fit the widely held view that tryptophan triad-generated radical pairs mediate the ability of Cry to sense a magnetic field. We bolster this assessment by using a mutant form of Drosophila and monarch type 1 Cry and confirm that the tryptophan triad pathway is not crucial in magnetic transduction. Together, these results suggest that animal Crys mediate light-dependent magnetoreception through an unconventional photochemical mechanism. This work emphasizes the utility of Drosophila transgenesis for elucidating the precise mechanisms of Cry-mediated magnetosensitivity in insects and also in vertebrates such as migrating birds.

Salt concentration and solar orientation in two supralittoral sandhoppers: Talitrus saltator (Montagu) and Talorchestia ugolinii Bellan Santini and Ruffo.

The influence of salt concentration in the seawater on solar orientation in Talitrus saltator and Talorchestia ugolinii was studied in a confined environment (transparent plexiglass bowls). Sodium and calcium concentrations strongly affect both sea-land orientation and the sun compass mechanism in T.saltator, whereas the behaviour of T. ugolinii is less influenced. The absence of Na(+) does not influence the sun compass mechanism, but causes an inversion in the mean direction of orientation in T. saltator. In T. ugolinii, there was no influence on the compass mechanism for solar orientation and no inversion in the directional choice. In the absence of Ca(2+), a photonegative tendency was observed for T saltator together with marked reduction in the capacity to go in any direction. However, the effect of Ca(2+) absence on the orientation capacity of T. saltator is reversible and the orientation capacity can be reduced in a few minutes. The different behaviour of the two species of sandhoppers is discussed.

Mobile telephone use effects on perception of verticality.

Low-level radiofrequency (RF) signals may produce disorientation and nausea. In experiment I, we assessed mobile phone effects on graviception in nine symptomatic subjects after mobile telephone use and 21 controls. The mobile handset was strapped to each ear for 30 min in pulsed emission, continuous RF emission, or no emission test mode, respectively. The subjective visual vertical and horizontal (SVV/SVH) were tested from min 25 of exposure. There was no exposure effect; however, there was an ear effect, with the SVV/SVH being shifted to the opposite direction of the ear exposed. This could be due to thermal or RF effects or handset weight. In experiment II, we assessed the handset weight effect on 18 normal controls. After baseline SVV/SVH, the switched off handset was strapped to either ear; the SVV/SVH was repeated 25 min later. A significant ear effect was found. We compared the observed ear effect SVV/SVH change in the experiment II group to the continuous exposure ear effect change in the experiment I group, and the difference was not significant. The ear effect was attributed to a minor head tilt due to the handset weight, or proprioceptive stimulation of neck muscle affecting the perception of verticality.

Avian magnetic compass can be tuned to anomalously low magnetic intensities.

The avian magnetic compass works in a fairly narrow functional window around the intensity of the local geomagnetic field, but adjusts to intensities outside this range when birds experience these new intensities for a certain time. In the past, the geomagnetic field has often been much weaker than at present. To find out whether birds can obtain directional information from a weak magnetic field, we studied spontaneous orientation preferences of migratory robins in a 4 µT field (i.e. a field of less than 10 per cent of the local intensity of 47 µT). Birds can adjust to this low intensity: they turned out to be disoriented under 4 µT after a pre-exposure time of 8 h to 4 µT, but were able to orient in this field after a total exposure time of 17 h. This demonstrates a considerable plasticity of the avian magnetic compass. Orientation in the 4 µT field was not affected by local anaesthesia of the upper beak, but was disrupted by a radiofrequency magnetic field of 1.315 MHz, 480 nT, suggesting that a radical-pair mechanism still provides the directional information in the low magnetic field. This is in agreement with the idea that the avian magnetic compass may have developed already in the Mesozoic in the common ancestor of modern birds.

The magnetite-based receptors in the beak of birds and their role in avian navigation.

Iron-rich structures have been described in the beak of homing pigeons, chickens and several species of migratory birds and interpreted as magnetoreceptors. Here, we will briefly review findings associated with these receptors that throw light on their nature, their function and their role in avian navigation. Electrophysiological recordings from the ophthalmic nerve, behavioral studies and a ZENK-study indicate that the trigeminal system, the nerves innervating the beak, mediate information on magnetic changes, with the electrophysiological study suggesting that these are changes in intensity. Behavioral studies support the involvement of magnetite and the trigeminal system in magnetoreception, but clearly show that the inclination compass normally used by birds represents a separate system. However, if this compass is disrupted by certain light conditions, migrating birds show 'fixed direction' responses to the magnetic field, which originate in the receptors in the beak. Together, these findings point out that there are magnetite-based magnetoreceptors located in the upper beak close to the skin. Their natural function appears to be recording magnetic intensity and thus providing one component of the multi-factorial 'navigational map' of birds.

The lizard celestial compass detects linearly polarized light in the blue.

The present study first examined whether ruin lizards, Podarcis sicula, are able to orientate using plane-polarized light produced by an LCD screen. Ruin lizards were trained and tested indoors, inside a hexagonal Morris water maze positioned under an LCD screen producing white polarized light with a single E-vector, which provided an axial cue. White polarized light did not include wavelengths in the UV. Lizards orientated correctly either when tested with E-vector parallel to the training axis or after 90 deg rotation of the E-vector direction, thus validating the apparatus. Further experiments examined whether there is a preferential region of the light spectrum to perceive the E-vector direction of polarized light. For this purpose, lizards reaching learning criteria under white polarized light were subdivided into four experimental groups. Each group was tested for orientation under a different spectrum of plane-polarized light (red, green, cyan and blue) with equalized photon flux density. Lizards tested under blue polarized light orientated correctly, whereas lizards tested under red polarized light were completely disoriented. Green polarized light was barely discernible by lizards, and thus insufficient for a correct functioning of their compass. When exposed to cyan polarized light, lizard orientation performances were optimal, indistinguishable from lizards detecting blue polarized light. Overall, the present results demonstrate that perception of linear polarization in the blue is necessary - and sufficient - for a proper functioning of the sky polarization compass of ruin lizards. This may be adaptively important, as detection of polarized light in the blue improves functioning of the polarization compass under cloudy skies, i.e. when the alternative celestial compass based on detection of the sun disk is rendered useless because the sun is obscured by clouds.

Edge detection depends on achromatic channel in Drosophila melanogaster.

Edges represent important information in object recognition, and thus edge detection is crucial for animal survival. Various types of edges result from visual contrast, such as luminance contrast and color contrast. So far, the molecular and neural mechanisms underlying edge detection and the relationship between different edge information-processing pathways have been largely undemonstrated. In the present study, using a color light-emitting-diode-based Buridan's paradigm, we demonstrated that a blue/green demarcation is able to generate edge-orientation behavior in the adult fly. There is a blue/green intensity ratio, the so-called point of equal luminance, at which wild-type flies did not show obvious orientation behavior towards edges. This suggests that orientation behavior towards edges is dependent on luminance contrast in Drosophila. The results of mutants ninaE(17) and sev(LY3);rh5(2);rh6(1) demonstrated that achromatic R1-R6 photoreceptor cells, but not chromatic R7/R8 photoreceptor cells, were necessary for orientation behavior towards edges. Moreover, ectopic expression of rhodopsin 4 (Rh4), Rh5 or Rh6 could efficiently restore the edge-orientation defect in the ninaE(17) mutant. Altogether, our results show that R1-R6 photoreceptor cells are both necessary and sufficient for orientation behavior towards edges in Drosophila.

Effects of GSM-Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation on Some Physiological and Biochemical Parameters in Rats.

Single exposure of white outbred rats to electromagnetic radiation with a frequency 905 MHz (GSM frequency) for 2 h increased anxiety, reduced locomotor, orientation, and exploration activities in females and orientation and exploration activities in males. Glucocorticoid levels and antioxidant system activity increased in both males and females. In addition to acute effects, delayed effects of radiation were observed in both males and females 1 day after the exposure. These results demonstrated significant effect of GSM-range radiation on the behavior and activity of stress-realizing and stress-limiting systems of the body.

A systematic review of the neurocognitive effects of magnetic seizure therapy.

Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is a novel neurotherapeutic intervention in development for the treatment of major affective disorders. Like other neurotherapeutic strategies such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a primary interest will be to monitor the associated neurocognitive effects. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the available data on the neurocognitive effects of MST. The authors performed two independent literature searches with the following terms terms: MST, magnetic, magnetic seizure therapy, depression, neurocognition, cognitive, preclinical. We included in this review a total of eleven articles that mentioned MST and neurocognition in the abstract. The articles were divided into three methodological domains that included virtual computer simulations, preclinical studies, and clinical investigations. Collectively, the available evidence suggests MST has little to no adverse cognitive effects. Specifically, virtual computer simulations found the magnetic field was localized to grey matter, and preclinical studies found no neurocortical or neurocognitive sequelae. Clinical investigations found MST to be associated with rapid reorientation and intact anterograde and retrograde memory. Future investigations using translational methods are warranted to confirm these findings and to further determine the effects of MST on neurocognitive functions.

Cryptochrome 1 mediates light-dependent inclination magnetosensing in monarch butterflies.

Many animals use the Earth's geomagnetic field for orientation and navigation. Yet, the molecular and cellular underpinnings of the magnetic sense remain largely unknown. A biophysical model proposed that magnetoreception can be achieved through quantum effects of magnetically-sensitive radical pairs formed by the photoexcitation of cryptochrome (CRY) proteins. Studies in Drosophila are the only ones to date to have provided compelling evidence for the ultraviolet (UV)-A/blue light-sensitive type 1 CRY (CRY1) involvement in animal magnetoreception, and surprisingly extended this discovery to the light-insensitive mammalian-like type 2 CRYs (CRY2s) of both monarchs and humans. Here, we show that monarchs respond to a reversal of the inclination of the Earth's magnetic field in an UV-A/blue light and CRY1, but not CRY2, dependent manner. We further demonstrate that both antennae and eyes, which express CRY1, are magnetosensory organs. Our work argues that only light-sensitive CRYs function in animal light-dependent inclination-based magnetic sensing.

Do spotless starlings place feathers at their nests by ultraviolet color?

A considerable number of bird species carry feathers to their nests. Feathers' presence in the nests has traditionally been explained by their insulating properties. Recently, however, it has been suggested that feathers carried to the nests by females of the spotted starling (Sturnus unicolor L.) could have an ornamental function based on their ultraviolet (300-400 nm) and human-visible longer wavelength (400-700 nm) coloration. In our population, 95.7% of feathers found inside next-boxes occupied by nesting starlings were rock dove fly feathers. Of these feathers, 82.7% were naturally positioned with their reverse side oriented toward the entrance hole and 42.4% of all found feathers were situated within the nest-cup. Here we experimentally assess the signaling function of ultraviolet coloration of feathers in nests of spotless starlings by providing nests with a number of pigeon flight feathers that were respectively treated on their obverse, reverse, both, or neither side with a UV blocker. Starlings placed 42.5% of the experimental feathers in the nest-cup irrespective of the UV block treatment. Orientation of feathers toward the entrance hole was not related with their ultraviolet radiation. However, feathers placed within the nest-cup were more likely found with their reverse side oriented toward the entrance hole confirming our correlative findings. These results suggest a minor role of ultraviolet coloration on feather location by spotless starlings.

Ultraviolet polarization vision and visually guided behavior in fishes.

Teleost fishes are capable of detecting and behaviorally responding to linearly polarized light. Fish exhibit free-swimming spatial orientation to imposed and natural polarized light fields, and the fidelity of this spatial orientation depends heavily on UV and short wavelength content of the polarization field. Fish make fine-scale behavioral discriminations between stimuli that differ in e-vector orientation, independent of brightness. The detection of polarized light by photoreceptors is based on specializations of the disk membrane in the outer segment of cones that permit preferential absorption of axial and transverse polarized light. Differential polarization detectors that have overlapping spectral sensitivity in the UV short wavelength spectrum mediate polarization sensitivity. These differential detectors are based on cone photoreceptors that share spectral sensitivity in the UV short wavelength spectrum: the alpha-band of UV-sensitive cone mechanism as the vertical detector, and the beta-band of mid- and long-wavelength sensitive cone mechanisms as the horizontal detector. Negative feedback of horizontal cells on cones govern opponent interactions between differentially sensitive polarization detectors. Polarization opponency functions to enhance e-vector contrast under conditions that vary in degree of polarization and ambient intensity. Ontogenetic changes in the cone mosaic, resulting from programmed cell death and regeneration of UV-sensitive cones, alter the retinal location of polarization sensitivity. These developmental changes greatly influence behavioral responses to polarized light.

The puzzle of magnetic resonance effect on the magnetic compass of migratory birds.

Experiments on the effect of radio-frequency (RF) magnetic fields on the magnetic compass orientation of migratory birds are analyzed using the theory of magnetic resonance. The results of these experiments were earlier interpreted within the radical-pair model of magnetoreception. However, the consistent analysis shows that the amplitudes of the RF fields used are far too small to noticeably influence electron spins in organic radicals. Other possible agents that could mediate the birds' response to the RF fields are discussed, but apparently no known physical system can be responsible for this effect.

Role of exchange and dipolar interactions in the radical pair model of the avian magnetic compass.

It is not yet understood how migratory birds sense the Earth's magnetic field as a source of compass information. One suggestion is that the magnetoreceptor involves a photochemical reaction whose product yields are sensitive to external magnetic fields. Specifically, a flavin-tryptophan radical pair is supposedly formed by photoinduced sequential electron transfer along a chain of three tryptophan residues in a cryptochrome flavoprotein immobilized in the retina. The electron Zeeman interaction with the Earth's magnetic field ( approximately 50 microT), modulated by anisotropic magnetic interactions within the radicals, causes the product yields to depend on the orientation of the receptor. According to well-established theory, the radicals would need to be separated by >3.5 nm in order that interradical spin-spin interactions are weak enough to permit a approximately 50 microT field to have a significant effect. Using quantum mechanical simulations, it is shown here that substantial changes in product yields can nevertheless be expected at the much smaller separation of 2.0 +/- 0.2 nm where the effects of exchange and dipolar interactions partially cancel. The terminal flavin-tryptophan radical pair in cryptochrome has a separation of approximately 1.9 nm and is thus ideally placed to act as a magnetoreceptor for the compass mechanism.

Subthalamic stimulation improves orienting gaze movements in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of subthalamic stimulation on visually triggered eye and head movements in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: We compared the gain and latency of visually triggered eye and head movements in 12 patients bilaterally implanted into the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for severe PD and six age-matched control subjects. Visually triggered movements of eye (head restrained), and of eye and head (head unrestrained) were recorded in the absence of dopaminergic medication. Bilateral stimulation was turned OFF and then turned ON with voltage and contact used in chronic setting. The latency was determined from the beginning of initial horizontal eye movements relative to the target onset, and the gain was defined as the ratio of the amplitude of the initial movement to the amplitude of the target movement. RESULTS: Without stimulation, the initiation of the head movement was significantly delayed in patients and the gain of head movement was reduced. Our patients also presented significantly prolonged latencies and hypometry of visually triggered saccades in the head-fixed condition and of gaze in head-free condition. Bilateral STN stimulation with therapeutic parameters improved performance of orienting gaze, eye and head movements towards the controls' level CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that visually triggered saccades and orienting eye-head movements are impaired in the advanced stage of PD. In addition, subthalamic stimulation enhances amplitude and shortens latency of these movements. SIGNIFICANCE: These results are likely explained by alteration of the information processed by the superior colliculus (SC), a pivotal visuomotor structure involved in both voluntary and reflexive saccades. Improvement of movements with stimulation of the STN may be related to its positive input either on the STN-Substantia Nigra-SC pathway or on the parietal cortex-SC pathway.

Lack of polarization optomotor response in the cuttlefish Sepia elongata (d'Orbigny, 1845).

Polarization sensitivity is a characteristic of the visual system of cephalopods. In cuttlefish, it has been particularly well documented in Sepia officinalis. We examined the response of a little studied cuttlefish species, S. elongata, towards a moving, vertically-oriented grating (contrasting and polarized stripes) using an optomotor response apparatus. We also examined the arrangement of the photoreceptors in the retina. Cuttlefish responded to patterns of contrasting stripes but not to a pattern of polarized stripes, although the optical structures that could allow polarization sensitivity were found in their retinas. These results suggest that intensity information and polarization information are perceived differently by cuttlefish.