| Abstract: | Evaluated the influence of physical properties of sensory stimuli (visual intensity, direction, and velocity; auditory intensity and location) on sensory activity and multisensory integration of superior colliculus (SC) neurons in awake, behaving primates. Two male monkeys were trained to fixate a central visual fixation point while visual and/or auditory stimuli were presented in the periphery. Visual stimuli were always presented within the contralateral receptive field of the neuron whereas auditory stimuli were presented at either ipsi- or contralateral locations. 66 of the 84 SC neurons responsive to these sensory stimuli had stronger responses when the visual and auditory stimuli were combined at contralateral locations than when the auditory stimulus was located on the ipsilateral side. This trend was significant across the population of auditory-responsive neurons. In addition, 31 SC neurons were presented a battery of tests in which the quality of one stimulus of a pair was systematically manipulated. Eight of these neurons showed preferential responses to stimuli with specific physical properties, and these preferences were not significantly altered when multisensory stimulus combinations were presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
