Complexity and plasticity in honey bee phototactic behaviour.

The ability to move towards or away from a light source, namely phototaxis, is essential for a number of species to find the right environmental niche and may have driven the appearance of simple visual systems. In this study we ask if the later evolution of more complex visual systems was accompanied by a sophistication of phototactic behaviour. The honey bee is an ideal model organism to tackle this question, as it has an elaborate visual system, demonstrates exquisite abilities for visual learning and performs phototaxis. Our data suggest that in this insect, phototaxis has wavelength specific properties and is a highly dynamical response including multiple decision steps. In addition, we show that previous experience with a light (through exposure or classical aversive conditioning) modulates the phototactic response. This plasticity is dependent on the wavelength used, with blue being more labile than green or ultraviolet. Wavelength, intensity and past experience are integrated into an overall valence for each light that determines phototactic behaviour in honey bees. Thus, our results support the idea that complex visual systems allow sophisticated phototaxis. Future studies could take advantage of these findings to better understand the neuronal circuits underlying this processing of the visual information.

Does acute radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposure affect visual event-related potentials in healthy adults?

OBJECTIVE: To use improved methods to address the question of whether acute exposure to radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) affects early (80-200 ms) sensory and later (180-600 ms) cognitive processes as indexed by event-related potentials (ERPs). METHODS: Thirty-six healthy subjects completed a visual discrimination task during concurrent exposure to a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-like, 920 MHz signal with peak-spatial specific absorption rate for 10 g of tissue of 0 W/kg of body mass (Sham), 1 W/kg (Low RF) and 2 W/kg (High RF). A fully randomised, counterbalanced, double-blind design was used. RESULTS: P1 amplitude was reduced (p = .02) and anterior N1 latency was increased (p = .04) during Exposure compared to Sham. There were no effects on any other ERP latencies or amplitudes. CONCLUSIONS: RF-EMF exposure may affect early perceptual (P1) and preparatory motor (anterior N1) processes. However, only two ERP indices, out of 56 comparisons, were observed to differ between RF-EMF exposure and Sham, suggesting that these observations may be due to chance. SIGNIFICANCE: These observations are consistent with previous findings that RF-EMF exposure has no reliable impact on cognition (e.g., accuracy and response speed).

The effect of Wi-Fi electromagnetic waves in unimodal and multimodal object recognition tasks in male rats.

Wireless internet (Wi-Fi) electromagnetic waves (2.45 GHz) have widespread usage almost everywhere, especially in our homes. Considering the recent reports about some hazardous effects of Wi-Fi signals on the nervous system, this study aimed to investigate the effect of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radiation on multisensory integration in rats. This experimental study was done on 80 male Wistar rats that were allocated into exposure and sham groups. Wi-Fi exposure to 2.4 GHz microwaves [in Service Set Identifier mode (23.6 dBm and 3% for power and duty cycle, respectively)] was done for 30 days (12 h/day). Cross-modal visual-tactile object recognition (CMOR) task was performed by four variations of spontaneous object recognition (SOR) test including standard SOR, tactile SOR, visual SOR, and CMOR tests. A discrimination ratio was calculated to assess the preference of animal to the novel object. The expression levels of M1 and GAT1 mRNA in the hippocampus were assessed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Results demonstrated that rats in Wi-Fi exposure groups could not discriminate significantly between the novel and familiar objects in any of the standard SOR, tactile SOR, visual SOR, and CMOR tests. The expression of M1 receptors increased following Wi-Fi exposure. In conclusion, results of this study showed that chronic exposure to Wi-Fi electromagnetic waves might impair both unimodal and cross-modal encoding of information.

Long-Term Cognitive Functioning in Single-Dose Total-Body Gamma-Irradiated Rhesus Monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ).

In this study, the effects of a potentially lethal radiation exposure on the brain for long-term cognitive sequelae were investigated using Rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) adopted from other facilities after analysis of acute radiation response via the Centers for Medical Countermeasures against Radiation (CMCR) network. Fifty-nine animals were given the opportunity to participate in cognitive cage-side testing. The animals that received single-dose gamma irradiation were significantly less likely to engage in cognitive testing than the controls, suggesting that irradiated animals may have differences in cognitive ability. Five irradiated (6.75-8.05 Gy) and three naïve control animals self-selected, were extensively trained and administered a simple visual discrimination with reversal (SVD+R) task 2-3 times per week for 11-18 months. Each session consisted of 30 trials in which the animals were required to choose the correct visual stimulus for a food reward. After the initial presentation, the stimulus that signaled the presence of food was twice reversed once the animal reached criterion (90% accuracy across four consecutive sessions). While the limited sample size precluded definitive statistical analysis, irradiated animals took longer to reach the criterion subsequent to reversal than did control animals, suggesting a relative deficiency in cognitive flexibility. These results provide preliminary data supporting the potential use of a nonhuman primate model to study radiation-induced, late-delayed cognitive deficits.

The Verriest Lecture: Short-wave-sensitive cone pathways across the life span.

Structurally and functionally, the short-wave-sensitive (S) cone pathways are thought to decline more rapidly with normal aging than the middle- and long-wave-sensitive cone pathways. This would explain the celebrated results by Verriest and others demonstrating that the largest age-related color discrimination losses occur for stimuli on a tritan axis. Here, we challenge convention, arguing from psychophysical data that selective S-cone pathway losses do not cause declines in color discrimination. We show substantial declines in chromatic detection and discrimination, as well as in temporal and spatial vision tasks, that are mediated by S-cone pathways. These functional losses are not, however, unique to S-cone pathways. Finally, despite reduced photon capture by S cones, their postreceptoral pathways provide robust signals for the visual system to renormalize itself to maintain nearly stable color perception across the life span.

Assessing the effects of dynamic luminance contrast noise masking on a color discrimination task.

The aim of this work was to assess the influence of dynamic luminance contrast noise masking (LCNM) on color discrimination for color normal and anomalous trichromats. The stimulus was a colored target on a background presented on a calibrated CRT display. In the static LCNM condition, the background and target consisted of packed circles with variable size and static random luminance. In the dynamic LCNM condition, a 10 Hz square luminance signal was added to each circle. The phase of this signal was randomized across circles. Discrimination thresholds were estimated along 20 hue directions concurrent at the color of the background. Six observers with normal color vision, six deuteranomalous observers, and three protanomalous observers performed the test in both conditions. With dynamic LCNM, thresholds were significantly lower for anomalous observers but not for normal observers, suggesting a facilitation effect of the masking for anomalous trichromats.

An analytical model of the influence of cone sensitivity and numerosity on the Rayleigh match.

The Rayleigh match is defined by the range of mixtures of red and green lights that appear the same as an intensity-adjustable monochromatic yellow light. The perceptual match indicates that the red-green mixture and the yellow light have evoked the same respective cone absorptions in the L- and M-cone pathways. Going beyond the existing models, the Poisson noise in cone absorptions is proposed to make the matching proportion of red-green mixtures span a finite range because any mixture in that range evokes cone absorptions that do not differ from those by a yellow light by more than the variations in the absorption noise. We derive a mathematical formula linking the match midpoint or match range with the sensitivities and numerosities of the two cones. The noise-free, exact, matching point, close to the midpoint of the matching range, depends only on the L- and M-cone sensitivities to each of the red, green, and yellow lights [these sensitivities, in turn, depend on the preferred wavelengths (λmax) and optical densities of the cone pigments and the properties of prereceptoral light filtering]. Meanwhile, the matching range depends on both these cone sensitivities and the relative numerosity of the L and M cones. The model predicts that, in normal trichromats, all other things being equal, the match range is smallest when the ratio r between L and M cone densities is r=R(-1/2) with R as the ratio between the sensitivities of the L and M cones to the yellow light, i.e., when L and M cones are similarly abundant in typical cases, and, as r departs from R(-1/2), the match range increases. For example, when one cone type is 10 times more numerous, the match range increases two- to threefold, depending on the sensitivities of the cones. Testing these model predictions requires either a large data set to identify the effect of one factor (e.g., cone numerosity) while averaging out the effects of the other factors (e.g., cone sensitivities) or for all factors to be known. A corollary of this prediction is that, because they are more likely than usual to have L:M cone ratios skewed, the matching ranges of normal female trichromats who are carriers of dichromacy (but not anomalous trichromacy) are likely to have a larger matching range than usual, particularly for the deutan carriers. In addition, the model predicts that, in strong tetrachromats (whose four dimensions of color are preserved post-receptorally), either the Rayleigh matching is impossible or the matching range is typically smaller than usual.

Color constancy of color-deficient observers under illuminations defined by individual color discrimination ellipsoids.

We explored the color constancy mechanisms of color-deficient observers under red, green, blue, and yellow illuminations. The red and green illuminations were defined individually by the longer axis of the color discrimination ellipsoid measured by the Cambridge Colour Test. Four dichromats (3 protanopes and 1 deuteranope), two anomalous trichromats (2 deuteranomalous observers), and five color-normal observers were asked to complete the color constancy task by making a simultaneous paper match under asymmetrical illuminations in haploscopic view on a monitor. The von Kries adaptation model was applied to estimate the cone responses. The model fits showed that for all color-deficient observers under all illuminations, the adjustment of the S-cone response or blue-yellow chromatically opponent responses modeled with the simple assumption of cone deletion in a certain type (S-M, S-L or S-(L+M)) was consistent with the principle of the von Kries model. The degree of adaptation was similar to that of color-normal observers. The results indicate that the color constancy of color-deficient observers is mediated by the simplified blue-yellow color system with a von Kries-type adaptation effect, even in the case of brightness match, as well as by a possible cone-level adaptation to the S-cone when the illumination produces a strong S-cone stimulation, such as blue illumination.

Optogenetics in Mice Performing a Visual Discrimination Task: Measurement and Suppression of Retinal Activation and the Resulting Behavioral Artifact.

Optogenetic techniques are used widely to perturb and interrogate neural circuits in behaving animals, but illumination can have additional effects, such as the activation of endogenous opsins in the retina. We found that illumination, delivered deep into the brain via an optical fiber, evoked a behavioral artifact in mice performing a visually guided discrimination task. Compared with blue (473 nm) and yellow (589 nm) illumination, red (640 nm) illumination evoked a greater behavioral artifact and more activity in the retina, the latter measured with electrical recordings. In the mouse, the sensitivity of retinal opsins declines steeply with wavelength across the visible spectrum, but propagation of light through brain tissue increases with wavelength. Our results suggest that poor retinal sensitivity to red light was overcome by relatively robust propagation of red light through brain tissue and stronger illumination of the retina by red than by blue or yellow light. Light adaptation of the retina, via an external source of illumination, suppressed retinal activation and the behavioral artifact without otherwise impacting behavioral performance. In summary, long wavelength optogenetic stimuli are particularly prone to evoke behavioral artifacts via activation of retinal opsins in the mouse, but light adaptation of the retina can provide a simple and effective mitigation of the artifact.

Influence of the correlated color temperature of a light source on the color discrimination capacity of the observer.

It is well known that there are different preferences in correlated color temperature of light sources for daily living activities or for viewing artistic paintings. There are also data relating the capacity of observers to make judgments on color differences with the spectral power distribution of the light source used. The present work describes a visual color discrimination experiment whose results confirm the existence of a relationship between the correlated color temperature of a light source and the color discrimination capacities of the observers.

Effect of luminosity on color discrimination of dichromatic marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

Psychophysical data have shown that under mesopic conditions cones and rods can interact, improving color vision. Since electrophysiological data have suggested that rods of dichromatic marmosets appear to be active at higher luminance, we aimed to investigate the effect of different levels of sunlight on the foraging abilities of male dichromatic marmosets. Captive marmosets were observed under three different conditions, with respect to their performance in detecting colored food items against a green background. Compared to high and low light intensities, intermediate luminosities significantly increased detection of orange targets by male dichromats, an indication of rod intrusion.

TMS effects on subjective and objective measures of vision: stimulation intensity and pre- versus post-stimulus masking.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used to mask visual stimuli, disrupting visual task performance or preventing visual awareness. While TMS masking studies generally fix stimulation intensity, we hypothesized that varying the intensity of TMS pulses in a masking paradigm might inform several ongoing debates concerning TMS disruption of vision as measured subjectively versus objectively, and pre-stimulus (forward) versus post-stimulus (backward) TMS masking. We here show that both pre-stimulus TMS pulses and post-stimulus TMS pulses could strongly mask visual stimuli. We found no dissociations between TMS effects on the subjective and objective measures of vision for any masking window or intensity, ruling out the option that TMS intensity levels determine whether dissociations between subjective and objective vision are obtained. For the post-stimulus time window particularly, we suggest that these data provide new constraints for (e.g. recurrent) models of vision and visual awareness. Finally, our data are in line with the idea that pre-stimulus masking operates differently from conventional post-stimulus masking.

The effect of TMS on visual motion sensitivity: an increase in neural noise or a decrease in signal strength?

The underlying mechanisms of action of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are still a matter of debate. TMS may impair a subject's performance by increasing neural noise, suppressing the neural signal, or both. Here, we delivered a single pulse of TMS (spTMS) to V5/MT during a motion direction discrimination task while concurrently manipulating the level of noise in the motion stimulus. Our results indicate that spTMS essentially acts by suppressing the strength of the relevant visual signal. We suggest that TMS may induce a pattern of neural activity that complements the ongoing activation elicited by the sensory signal in a manner that partially impoverishes that signal.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation of early visual cortex interferes with subjective visual awareness and objective forced-choice performance.

In order to study whether there exist a period of activity in the human early visual cortex that contributes exclusively to visual awareness, we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the early visual cortex and measured subjective visual awareness during visual forced-choice symbol or orientation discrimination tasks. TMS produced one dip in awareness 60-120 ms after stimulus onset, while forced-choice orientation discrimination was suppressed between 60 and 90 ms and symbol discrimination between 60 and 120 ms. Thus, a time window specific to visual awareness was found only in the orientation condition at 120 ms. The results imply that both conscious and unconscious perception depend on activity in early visual areas. On the basis of previous estimates of neural processing speed, we suggest that the late part of the activity period most likely involve local extrastriate-striate interactions which provide the contents for visual awareness but are not themselves sufficient for awareness to arise.

Near infrared light reduces oxidative stress and preserves function in CNS tissue vulnerable to secondary degeneration following partial transection of the optic nerve.

Traumatic injury to the central nervous system (CNS) is accompanied by the spreading damage of secondary degeneration, resulting in further loss of neurons and function. Partial transection of the optic nerve (ON) has been used as a model of secondary degeneration, in which axons of retinal ganglion cells in the ventral ON are spared from initial dorsal injury, but are vulnerable to secondary degeneration. We have recently demonstrated that early after partial ON injury, oxidative stress spreads through the ventral ON vulnerable to secondary degeneration via astrocytes, and persists in the nerve in aggregates of cellular debris. In this study, we show that diffuse transcranial irradiation of the injury site with far red to near infrared (NIR) light (WARP 10 LED array, center wavelength 670 nm, irradiance 252 W/m(-2), 30 min exposure), as opposed to perception of light at this wavelength, reduced oxidative stress in areas of the ON vulnerable to secondary degeneration following partial injury. The WARP 10 NIR light treatment also prevented increases in NG-2-immunopositive oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) that occurred in ventral ON as a result of partial ON transection. Importantly, normal visual function was restored by NIR light treatment with the WARP 10 LED array, as assessed using optokinetic nystagmus and the Y-maze pattern discrimination task. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that 670-nm NIR light can reduce oxidative stress and improve function in the CNS following traumatic injury in vivo.

Fetal irradiation interferes with adult cognition in the nonhuman primate.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to x-irradiation in early gestation has been shown to disrupt normal thalamocortical development in the monkey and thereby model one key feature of the neuropathology of schizophrenia. However, the effect of fetal irradiation on cognitive functions that are vulnerable in schizophrenia (e.g., working memory) has not been examined. METHODS: Four fetally irradiated macaque monkeys (FIMs) and four age-matched controls (CONs) were tested as juveniles (12-30 months) and again as adults ( approximately 5 years) on delayed spatial response (DR), a working memory task that is dependent on intact prefrontal cortical circuitry. RESULTS: As juveniles, seven of eight monkeys learned DR; one FIM refused to test. Performance in the two groups was not different. As adults, only one FIM achieved criterion on DR. Three of four FIMs did not reach criterion at the 0-sec delay interval of the DR task, whereas all four CONs mastered DR at the maximum tested delay of 10 sec. FIMs completed fewer DR test sessions compared with CONs. In contrast, all FIMs and three of four CONs learned an associative memory task, visual pattern discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: Fetal exposure to irradiation resulted in an adult-onset cognitive impairment in the working memory domain that is relevant to understanding the developmental etiology of schizophrenia.

Pharmacological characterization of the discriminative stimulus of inhaled 1,1,1-trichloroethane.

The present study examined the involvement of the GABAA, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), nicotinic acetylcholine, and mu-opioid receptor systems in the transduction of the discriminative stimulus effects of the abused inhalant 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCE). Sixteen B6SJLF1/J mice were trained to discriminate 10 min of exposure to 12,000-ppm inhaled TCE vapor from air. Substitution and antagonism tests and TCE blood concentration analysis were subsequently conducted. TCE blood concentrations decreased rapidly after cessation of exposure, falling by 66% within 5 min. TCE vapor concentration-dependently substituted for the 12,000-ppm training stimulus. The volatile anesthetic halothane concentration-dependently and fully substituted for TCE. The benzodiazepine midazolam partially substituted for TCE, producing a maximum of 68% TCE-lever selection. The benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil attenuated midazolam substitution for TCE, but not the discriminative stimulus effects of TCE itself. The noncompetitive NDMA receptor antagonists phencyclidine and dizocilpine failed to substitute for TCE. Nicotine and the central nicotinic receptor antagonist mecamylamine also failed to produce any TCE-lever selection, nor did they antagonize the discriminative stimulus of TCE. The mu-opioid receptor agonist morphine did not substitute for TCE. The opioid antagonist naltrexone failed to antagonize the discriminative stimulus of TCE. Overall, the present results, combined with previous studies, suggest that the discriminative stimulus effects of TCE are mediated primarily by positive GABAA receptor modulatory effects though a mechanism distinct from the benzodiazepine binding site.

Dissociation of numerosity and duration processing in the left intraparietal sulcus: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

A possible dissociation of duration and numerosity processing was tested in an off-line repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) design. Participants had to compare the numerosity of flashed dot sequences or the duration of single dot displays before and after 15 min of 1 Hz rTMS over one of three sites (the left or right intraparietal sulcus (IPS), or the vertex chosen as a control site). Compared to the control site, performance was only slowed down for the numerosity comparison task after the left IPS stimulation, whereas it was not affected for the duration comparison task for any of the parietal sites. These results show that the parietal area critically involved in numerosity processing is not involved in duration processing, revealing at least one cerebral site where duration and numerosity comparison processes dissociate.

The functional effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation: signal suppression or neural noise generation?

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a popular tool for mapping perceptual and cognitive processes in the human brain. It uses a magnetic field to stimulate the brain, modifying ongoing activity in neural tissue under the stimulating coil, producing an effect that has been likened to a "virtual lesion." However, research into the functional basis of this effect, essential for the interpretation of findings, lags behind its application. Acutely, TMS may disable neuronal function, thereby interrupting ongoing neural processes. Alternatively, the effects of TMS have been attributed to an injection of "neural noise," consistent with its immediate and effectively random depolarization of neurons. Here we apply an added-noise paradigm to test these alternatives. We delivered TMS to the visual cortex and measured its effect on a simple visual discrimination task, while concurrently manipulating the level of image noise in the visual stimulus itself. TMS increased thresholds overall; and increasing the amount of image noise systematically increased discrimination thresholds. However, these two effects were not independent. Rather, TMS interacted multiplicatively with the image noise, consistent with a reduction in the strength of the visual signal. Indeed, in this paradigm, there was no evidence that TMS independently added noise to the visual process. Thus, our findings indicate that the "virtual lesion" produced by TMS can take the form of a loss of signal strength which may reflect a momentary interruption to ongoing neural processing.

Habituation enhances auditory perceptual capacity in adult rats.

We have already demonstrated that pretreatment of adult rats with a 48-h-long "repetitive non-reinforced sound exposure (SE)" improves performance in two-sound discriminative operant conditioning (sound exposure-modulated discrimination [SED]). This three-part study addressed the neural basis of SED by parametrically analyzing SED: effects of the SE using various sound signals were compared during the performance of a sound-discrimination task. Experiment 1 provided evidence that SED was due to the improvement of auditory perceptual capacity rather than due to a change in motivation or attention or interference with association process. Results of Experiment 2 made it likely that SED took place mainly in higher cortical auditory fields, which potentially integrate acoustic information beyond the cochleotopy. Results of Experiment 3 favored the idea that SED was based on a stimulus-specific decrease rather than a stimulus-specific increase in the responsivity of the auditory system. Collectively, it is suggested that auditory habituation plays an important role in SED, i.e., a certain form of auditory perceptual learning.