The physiological characteristics of the marmoset second visual area(V2) are poorly understood compared with those of the primary visual area(V1). In this study, we observed the physiological response characteristics ...The physiological characteristics of the marmoset second visual area(V2) are poorly understood compared with those of the primary visual area(V1). In this study, we observed the physiological response characteristics of V2 neurons in four healthy adult marmosets using intracortical tungsten microelectrodes. We recorded 110 neurons in area V2, with receptive fields located between 8° and 15° eccentricity. Most(88.2%) of these neurons were orientation selective, with half-bandwidths typically ranging between 10° and 30°. A significant proportion of neurons(28.2%) with direction selectivity had a direction index greater than 0.5. The vast majority of V2 neurons had separable spatial frequency and temporal frequency curves and, according to this criterion, they were not speed selective. The basic functional response characteristics of neurons in area V2 resemble those found in area V1. Our findings show that area V2 together with V1 are important in primate visual processing, especially in locating objects in space and in detecting an object's direction of motion. The methods used in this study were approved by the Monash University Animal Ethics Committee, Australia(MARP 2009-2011) in 2009.展开更多
It is well known that auditory cortical areas are activated by visual stimulation in the deaf. However, it is not known whether the information enters from the primary visual area or high-level visual areas. In this s...It is well known that auditory cortical areas are activated by visual stimulation in the deaf. However, it is not known whether the information enters from the primary visual area or high-level visual areas. In this study, we used visual language stimulation to examine visual-auditory functional connectivity. For this, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a congenitally deaf subject to localize areas in the auditory cortex that showed cross-modal reorganization for the processing of visual language inputs and estimate areas in the visual ventral stream, from which language signal inputs enter the auditory areas in the congenitally deaf. We found that the anterior region of the secondary auditory cortex in the superior temporal gyrus showed language-specific activation and that the visual inputs into the area were from the fusiform gyrus, which is a high-level visual area.展开更多
Psychophysical studies suggest that lateral extrastriate visual cortical areas in cats may mediate the sparing of vision largely by network reorganization following lesions of early visual cortical areas. To date, how...Psychophysical studies suggest that lateral extrastriate visual cortical areas in cats may mediate the sparing of vision largely by network reorganization following lesions of early visual cortical areas. To date, however, there is little direct physiological evidence to support this hypothesis. Using in vivo single-anit recording techniques, we examined the response of neurons in areas 19, 21, and 20 to different types of visual stimulation in cats with or without acute bilateral lesions in areas 17 and 18. Our results showed that, relative to the controls, acute lesions inactivated the response of 99.3% of neurons to moving gratings and 93% of neurons to flickering square stimuli＇in areas 19, 21, and 20. These results indicated that acute lesions of primary visual areas in adult eats may impair most visual abilities. Sparing of vision in cats with neonatal lesions in early visual cortical areas may result largely from a postoperative reorganization of visual pathways from subcortical nucleus to extrastriate visual cortical areas.展开更多
A practical method for visualizing flood area and evaluating damage is presented,which consists of two technical approaches:self-programming and adapting commercial GIS platforms.The low-cost and easy-to-use GIS-Based...A practical method for visualizing flood area and evaluating damage is presented,which consists of two technical approaches:self-programming and adapting commercial GIS platforms.The low-cost and easy-to-use GIS-Based model developed by self-programming can meet current requirements of most local authorities,especially in developing countries.In this model,two cases,non-source flood and source flood,are distinguished and the Seed-spread algorithm suitable for source-flood is discussed;The flood damage is assessed by overlaying the flood area range with thematic maps and other related social and economic data.and all thematic maps are converted to raster format before overlay analysis.Two measures are taken to improve the operation efficiency of speed seed-spread algorithm.The accuracy of the model mainly depends on the resolution and precision of the DEM data,and the accuracy of registering all raster layers and the quality of attribute data.展开更多
Nitric oxide is an important neuromodulator in the brain and is involved in the development of visual system. But it is not clear how nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase （NOS） are involved in the developing visua...Nitric oxide is an important neuromodulator in the brain and is involved in the development of visual system. But it is not clear how nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase （NOS） are involved in the developing visual cortex of rodents. Thus we examined the expression of NOS activity in the postnatal developing visual cortex of the golden hamster by using histochemical technique for NADPH-diaphorase （NADPH-d）. A heavily stained NADPH-d band was observed in the neuropil of the visual cortex. This NADPH-d band initially appeared in the cortical plate from the day of birth （P0） to postnatal day 4 （P4）. From P7 to P21, this band was confined to area 17 and migrated to the deeper layers Ill IV and V VI before it eventually disappeared at P28. Such developmental trends of the band correlated well with the process of formation and establishment of the geniculo-cortical projection patterns. Thus, the areal specific development of the band suggests that NOS is closely related to the cortical differentiation and synaptic formation of the primary visual cortex. On the other hand, monocular eye enucleation on P1 could not alter the appearance of this NADPH-d positive band, indicating a non-activity dependant role of NOS. In addition, differences in the laminar distributions and developmental sequence between the heavily and lightly stained NADPH-d positive neurons during development suggest that they play different roles in the development.展开更多
BACKGROUND： The role of the left midfusiform gyrus as a target for visual word processing has been a topic of discussion. Numerous studies have utilized alphabetic writing for subject matter. However, few have addres...BACKGROUND： The role of the left midfusiform gyrus as a target for visual word processing has been a topic of discussion. Numerous studies have utilized alphabetic writing for subject matter. However, few have addressed visual processing of Chinese characters in the left midfusiform gyrus. OBJECTIVE： To verify visual processing of Chinese characters and images in the left midfusiform gyrus using functional magnetic resonance imaging. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A blocked design paradigm study. Experiments were performed at the Room of Magnetic Resonance, Guangdong Provincial Second People＇s Hospital, China from May to June 2009. PARTICIPANTS： A total of eight undergraduate students were recruited from Guangzhou University of China, comprising two females and six males, aged 20-23 years. The subjects were right-handed which was determined by a Chinese standard questionnaire. None of the subjects had a history of psychoneurosis, familial disease, color blindness, or color weakness. METHODS： A total of eight undergraduates were enrolled as subjects. Picture-naming and verb generation tasks were employed through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Analysis of Functional Neurolmages software was used to process the data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Visual processing of Chinese characters and images in the left midfusiform gyrus was measured. RESULTS： Picture-naming and verb generation tasks were shown to significantly activate the bilateral midfusiform gyrus. Activation occurred in the visual word form area of the left midfusiform gyrus. CONCLUSION： The left midfusiform gyrus plays a general role in visual processing of Chinese characters and images.展开更多
基金supported by travel grants from Monash University and the University of Sichuan(to YY)Research Grants from the Australian Research Council(No.DP0451206)(to MGPR)National Health and Medical Research Council(No.384115)(to MGPR)。
文摘The physiological characteristics of the marmoset second visual area(V2) are poorly understood compared with those of the primary visual area(V1). In this study, we observed the physiological response characteristics of V2 neurons in four healthy adult marmosets using intracortical tungsten microelectrodes. We recorded 110 neurons in area V2, with receptive fields located between 8° and 15° eccentricity. Most(88.2%) of these neurons were orientation selective, with half-bandwidths typically ranging between 10° and 30°. A significant proportion of neurons(28.2%) with direction selectivity had a direction index greater than 0.5. The vast majority of V2 neurons had separable spatial frequency and temporal frequency curves and, according to this criterion, they were not speed selective. The basic functional response characteristics of neurons in area V2 resemble those found in area V1. Our findings show that area V2 together with V1 are important in primate visual processing, especially in locating objects in space and in detecting an object's direction of motion. The methods used in this study were approved by the Monash University Animal Ethics Committee, Australia(MARP 2009-2011) in 2009.
文摘It is well known that auditory cortical areas are activated by visual stimulation in the deaf. However, it is not known whether the information enters from the primary visual area or high-level visual areas. In this study, we used visual language stimulation to examine visual-auditory functional connectivity. For this, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a congenitally deaf subject to localize areas in the auditory cortex that showed cross-modal reorganization for the processing of visual language inputs and estimate areas in the visual ventral stream, from which language signal inputs enter the auditory areas in the congenitally deaf. We found that the anterior region of the secondary auditory cortex in the superior temporal gyrus showed language-specific activation and that the visual inputs into the area were from the fusiform gyrus, which is a high-level visual area.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (31171082)Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (070413138)Key Research Foundation of Anhui Province Education Department (KJ2009A167)
文摘Psychophysical studies suggest that lateral extrastriate visual cortical areas in cats may mediate the sparing of vision largely by network reorganization following lesions of early visual cortical areas. To date, however, there is little direct physiological evidence to support this hypothesis. Using in vivo single-anit recording techniques, we examined the response of neurons in areas 19, 21, and 20 to different types of visual stimulation in cats with or without acute bilateral lesions in areas 17 and 18. Our results showed that, relative to the controls, acute lesions inactivated the response of 99.3% of neurons to moving gratings and 93% of neurons to flickering square stimuli＇in areas 19, 21, and 20. These results indicated that acute lesions of primary visual areas in adult eats may impair most visual abilities. Sparing of vision in cats with neonatal lesions in early visual cortical areas may result largely from a postoperative reorganization of visual pathways from subcortical nucleus to extrastriate visual cortical areas.
文摘A practical method for visualizing flood area and evaluating damage is presented,which consists of two technical approaches:self-programming and adapting commercial GIS platforms.The low-cost and easy-to-use GIS-Based model developed by self-programming can meet current requirements of most local authorities,especially in developing countries.In this model,two cases,non-source flood and source flood,are distinguished and the Seed-spread algorithm suitable for source-flood is discussed;The flood damage is assessed by overlaying the flood area range with thematic maps and other related social and economic data.and all thematic maps are converted to raster format before overlay analysis.Two measures are taken to improve the operation efficiency of speed seed-spread algorithm.The accuracy of the model mainly depends on the resolution and precision of the DEM data,and the accuracy of registering all raster layers and the quality of attribute data.
基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,No.21609101the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program),No.2011CB707501
文摘Nitric oxide is an important neuromodulator in the brain and is involved in the development of visual system. But it is not clear how nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase （NOS） are involved in the developing visual cortex of rodents. Thus we examined the expression of NOS activity in the postnatal developing visual cortex of the golden hamster by using histochemical technique for NADPH-diaphorase （NADPH-d）. A heavily stained NADPH-d band was observed in the neuropil of the visual cortex. This NADPH-d band initially appeared in the cortical plate from the day of birth （P0） to postnatal day 4 （P4）. From P7 to P21, this band was confined to area 17 and migrated to the deeper layers Ill IV and V VI before it eventually disappeared at P28. Such developmental trends of the band correlated well with the process of formation and establishment of the geniculo-cortical projection patterns. Thus, the areal specific development of the band suggests that NOS is closely related to the cortical differentiation and synaptic formation of the primary visual cortex. On the other hand, monocular eye enucleation on P1 could not alter the appearance of this NADPH-d positive band, indicating a non-activity dependant role of NOS. In addition, differences in the laminar distributions and developmental sequence between the heavily and lightly stained NADPH-d positive neurons during development suggest that they play different roles in the development.
基金the Key Programming Research Project of Education Science During the 11~(th) Five-Year Plan Period of Guangdong Province, No. 06TJZ014the Programming Project of Education Science During the 11~(th) Five-Year Plan Period of Guangzhou City, No. 07B290
文摘BACKGROUND： The role of the left midfusiform gyrus as a target for visual word processing has been a topic of discussion. Numerous studies have utilized alphabetic writing for subject matter. However, few have addressed visual processing of Chinese characters in the left midfusiform gyrus. OBJECTIVE： To verify visual processing of Chinese characters and images in the left midfusiform gyrus using functional magnetic resonance imaging. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A blocked design paradigm study. Experiments were performed at the Room of Magnetic Resonance, Guangdong Provincial Second People＇s Hospital, China from May to June 2009. PARTICIPANTS： A total of eight undergraduate students were recruited from Guangzhou University of China, comprising two females and six males, aged 20-23 years. The subjects were right-handed which was determined by a Chinese standard questionnaire. None of the subjects had a history of psychoneurosis, familial disease, color blindness, or color weakness. METHODS： A total of eight undergraduates were enrolled as subjects. Picture-naming and verb generation tasks were employed through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Analysis of Functional Neurolmages software was used to process the data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Visual processing of Chinese characters and images in the left midfusiform gyrus was measured. RESULTS： Picture-naming and verb generation tasks were shown to significantly activate the bilateral midfusiform gyrus. Activation occurred in the visual word form area of the left midfusiform gyrus. CONCLUSION： The left midfusiform gyrus plays a general role in visual processing of Chinese characters and images.
