title: The rat accessory optic system: effects of cortical lesions on the directional selectivity of units within the medial terminal nucleus.
abstract: Single units within the medial terminal nucleus of the accessory optic system were recorded and examined for their responses to a moving pattern, in both intact and decorticated urethane-anesthetized rats. The preferred directions of motion in control rats were mainly upward with a temporal component and downward with a nasal component. The responses to upward motion were almost absent after cortical ablation, with most units now preferring temporal or downward-nasal directions. These data suggest that cortical structures modulate the directional selectivity of accessory optic neurons in the rat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiological Sciences, Uberlândia Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Natal
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Britto
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*