Our visual system enables us to effortlessly navigate and recognize real-world visual environments. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest a network of scene-responsive cortical visual areas, but much less is known about the temporal order in which different scene properties are analyzed by the human visual system. In this study, we selected a set… Continue reading Cortical Encoding of Spatial Structure and Semantic Content in 3D Natural Scenes
Tag: Sensory and Motor Systems
ALS Trials Fail to Meet Key Endpoints…But It’s Still a Win
While main results from a platform study of four experimental drugs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are negative, it shows this novel platform trial model works. Medscape Medical News
Enhanced Somatosensory Inhibition Sharpens Hand Representation and Sensorimotor Skills in Pianists
Dexterous motor skills, like those needed for playing musical instruments and sports, require the somatosensory system to accurately and rapidly process somatosensory information from multiple body parts. This is challenging due to the convergence of afferent inputs from different body parts into a single neuron and the overlapping representation of neighboring body parts in the… Continue reading Enhanced Somatosensory Inhibition Sharpens Hand Representation and Sensorimotor Skills in Pianists
A Singular Theory of Sensorimotor Coordination: On Targeted Motions in Space
Gravity has long been purported to serve a unique role in sensorimotor coordination, but the specific mechanisms underlying gravity-based visuomotor realignment remain elusive. In this study, astronauts (nine males, two females) performed targeted hand movements with eyes open or closed, both on the ground and in weightlessness. Measurements revealed systematic drift in hand-path orientation seen… Continue reading A Singular Theory of Sensorimotor Coordination: On Targeted Motions in Space
Disruption of Extracellular Matrix and Perineuronal Nets Modulates Extracellular Space Volume and Geometry
Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a network of macromolecules which has two forms—perineuronal nets (PNNs) and a diffuse ECM (dECM)—both influence brain development, synapse formation, neuroplasticity, CNS injury and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. ECM remodeling can influence extrasynaptic transmission, mediated by diffusion of neuroactive substances in the extracellular space (ECS). In this study we analyzed how… Continue reading Disruption of Extracellular Matrix and Perineuronal Nets Modulates Extracellular Space Volume and Geometry
Optimal Estimation of Local Motion-in-Depth with Naturalistic Stimuli
Estimating the motion of objects in depth is important for behavior and is strongly supported by binocular visual cues. To understand both how the brain should estimate motion in depth and how natural constraints shape and limit performance in two local 3D motion tasks, we develop image-computable ideal observers from a large number of binocular… Continue reading Optimal Estimation of Local Motion-in-Depth with Naturalistic Stimuli
Loss of MEF2C function by enhancer mutation leads to neuronal mitochondria dysfunction and motor deficits in mice
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of both upper and lower motor neurons, leading to progressive paralysis. Both genetic alterations and epigene…
Convergence of Type 1 Spiral Ganglion Neuron Subtypes onto Principal Neurons of the Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus
The mammalian auditory system encodes sounds with subtypes of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) that differ in sound level sensitivity, permitting discrimination across a wide range of levels. Recent work suggests the physiologically defined SGN subtypes correspond to at least three molecular subtypes. It is not known how information from the different subtypes converges within the… Continue reading Convergence of Type 1 Spiral Ganglion Neuron Subtypes onto Principal Neurons of the Anteroventral Cochlear Nucleus
Differential Impacts of Strabismic and Anisometropic Amblyopia on the Mesoscale Functional Organization of the Human Visual Cortex
We employed high-resolution fMRI to distinguish the impacts of anisometropia and strabismus amblyopia on the evoked ocular dominance (OD) response. Sixteen amblyopic participants (eight females) plus eight individuals with normal vision (one female), participated in this study for whom we measured the difference between the response to stimulation of the two eyes, across areas V1–V4.… Continue reading Differential Impacts of Strabismic and Anisometropic Amblyopia on the Mesoscale Functional Organization of the Human Visual Cortex