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Neural correlates for angular head velocity in the rat dorsal tegmental nucleusMany neurons in the rat lateral mammillary nuclei (LMN) fire selectively in relation to the animal's head direction (HD) in the horizontal plane independent of the rat's location or behavior. One hypothesis of how this representation is generated and updated is via subcortical projections from the dorsal tegmental nucleus (DTN). Here we report the type of activity in DTN neurons. The majority of cells (75%) fired as a function of the rat's angular head velocity (AHV). Cells exhibited one of two types of firing patterns: (1) symmetric, in which the firing rate was positively correlated with AHV during head turns in both directions, and (2) asymmetric, in which the firing rate was positively correlated with head turns in one direction and correlated either negatively or not at all in the opposite direction. In addition to modulation by AHV, some of the AHV cells (40.1%) were weakly modulated by the rat's linear velocity, and a smaller number were modulated by HD (11%) or head pitch (15.9%). Autocorrelation analyses indicated that with the head stationary, AHV cells displayed irregular discharge patterns. Because afferents from the DTN are the major source of information projecting to the LMN, these results suggest that AHV information from the DTN plays a significant role in generating the HD signal in LMN. A model is proposed showing how DTN AHV cells can generate and update the LMN HD cell signal.
Document ID
20040112351
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Bassett, J. P.
(Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States)
Taube, J. S.
Oman, C. M.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 2001
Publication Information
Publication: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Volume: 21
Issue: 15
ISSN: 0270-6474
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: MH48924
CONTRACT_GRANT: MH01286
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Neuroscience

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