title: Acute alcohol exposure impairs neural representation of visual motion speed in the visual cortex area posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex of cats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychophysical and behavioral studies have demonstrated that perception of motion can be impaired by acute alcohol exposure. The neural activities of posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex (PMLS) of cats are directly linked to the perception of visual motion speed. To date, there have been no studies on the effects of acute alcohol exposure in vivo upon the representation of speed in PMLS neurons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alcohol was administered intravenously as a 20% (v/v) saline solution via a syringe at a dose levels of 0.5, 1, or 2 g/kg to generate a series of blood alcohol concentrations. Using extracellular single-unit recording technique, we recorded the speed-tuning properties of PMLS neurons that responded to random-dot patterns before and after alcohol administration, and simultaneously monitored the concentration of ethanol by detecting the breath alcohol concentration using a breath analyzer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After acute alcohol treatment, PMLS cells preferred lower speeds. A broadened speed-tuning bandwidth of PMLS cells was also observed after acute alcohol administration. Additionally, response modulation and discriminative capacity for speed of visual motion in the PMLS cells were significantly impaired after acute alcohol exposure. Concurrently, PMLS cells after acute alcohol exposure showed decreased spontaneous activity, peak responses, and signal-to-noise ratios.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a significant functional degradation in the neural representation of visual motion speed in PMLS of cats after acute alcohol exposure. These neural changes may contribute to the alcohol-related deficits in visual motion perception observed in behavioral studies.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Life Sciences , University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Zhengchun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guangxing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Nini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Guangwei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Alcohol; Cat; Impairment; Posteromedial Lateral Suprasylvian Cortex; Visual Motion Speed