Properties of neuronal activity in cortex and subcortical nuclei of the human brain during single-word processing.
Neuronal impulse activity (NIA) in different cortical areas, subcortical nuclei of the thalamus and striopallidum was recorded via depth electrodes in human patients as they performed a visual word recognition task. The properties of neuronal responsiveness were compared across regions. During single-word processing approximately 75-80% of the responsive cortical neurons were characterized by poststimulus inhibition of firing rate; an increased firing rate (i.e., excitatory response) was observed in about 20-25% of the responsive cortical neurons. Among the subcortical nuclei, mainly in the thalamus and striopallidum, more than 90% of the responsive neurons were characterized by poststimulus excitation; less than 10% exhibited poststimulus inhibition of firing rate.
Department of Human Neurophysiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg, Russia.
N P
NP
Bechtereva
Y G
YG
Abdullaev
S V
SV
Medvedev
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology