Retinal pigmentation, visual acuity and brightness levels.

This study investigates the hypothesis that the degree of retinal pigmentation in the human eye is adaptive as it relates to the maintenance of visual acuity in optically stressful environments, deserts and snowfields. Eighty-four subjects were examined, an estimation of their degree of retinal pigmentation made by ophthalmoscopic examination and their binocular visual acuity tested over ten levels of brightness. The general level of retinal pigmentation did not influence mean visual acuity within the levels of brightness used in this study. The hypothesis was, therefore, rejected, but with the proviso that this study should be extended to even higher levels of brightness than were obtained here. There was no difference in mean pupil size at various levels of illumination between individuals grouped by degree of retinal pigmentation.     

Seasonal variation in cone sensitivity and short-wave absorbing visual pigments in the rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus

Summary Microspectrophotometric and electroretinographic investigation of photoreceptor spectral sensitivity in the rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus has revealed four spectral classes of cone with peak sensitivity in the ultra-violet, violet, green and red regions of the spectrum. These peak sensitivities were found to vary seasonally, and in response to artificial illumination, as a result of a change in the ratio of A1 to A2-based visual pigment in the cells. Short daylengths favoured the A2 pigment whereas long daylengths favoured the A1 analogue. Both the ultra-violet and violet-sensitive pigments have not previously been reported for the rudd. Evidence is presented supporting the hypothesis that the ultra-violet class of cells is not present in older fish.Abbreviation rvi response versus intensity (curve)     

Courtship herding in the fiddler crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Uca elegans</Emphasis>

Male and female animals are not always complicit during reproduction, giving rise to coercion. One example of a system that is assumed to involve sexual coercion is the mate herding behaviour of fiddler crabs: males push females towards the home burrow with the goal of forcing copulation at the burrow entrance. We recorded and analysed in detail the courtship behaviour of a North Australian species of fiddler crab Uca elegans. Courtship was composed of four main phases: broadcast waving, outward run, herding and at burrow display. During interactions males produced claw-waving displays which were directed posteriorly towards the female and which varied in timing and structure depending on the courtship phase. We suggest that courtship herding in U. elegans is driven primarily by mate choice for the following reasons, (1) females can evade herding, (2) no other reproductive strategies were observed, (3) males broadcast their presence and accompany courtship with conspicuous claw waves, and (4) the behaviour ends with the female leading the male into the home burrow. As an alternative function for herding in U. elegans we suggest that the behaviour represents a form of courtship guiding, in which males direct complicit females to the correct home burrow.     

An outline of functional self-organization in V1: synchrony, STLR and Hebb rules

A model of self-organization of synapses in the striate cortex is described, and its functional implications discussed. Principal assumptions are: (a) covariance of cell firing declines with distance in cortex, (b) covariance of stimulus characteristics declines with distance in the visual field, and (c) metabolic rates are approximately uniform in all small axonal segments. Under these constraints, Hebbian learning implies a maximally stable synaptic configuration corresponding to anatomically and physiologically realistic ‘‘local maps’’, each of macro-columnar size, and each organized as Möbius projections of a “global map” of retinotopic form. Convergence to the maximally stable configuration is facilitated by the spatio-temporal learning rule. A tiling of V1, constructed of approximately mirror-image reflections of each local map by its neighbors, is formed. The model supplements standard concepts of feed-forward visual processing by introducing a new basis for contextual modulation and neural network identifications of visual signals, as perturbation of the synaptic configuration by rapid stimulus transients. On a long time-scale, synaptic development could overwrite the Möbius configuration, while LTP and LTD could mediate synaptic gain on intermediate time-scales.     

褐菖鲉的视觉器官发育

为研究褐菖鲉（Sebastiscus marmoratus）视觉器官发育与生态习性及摄食行为之间的关系,用组织学方法对人工培育条件下的褐菖鲉仔、稚鱼的视觉器官发育特征进行了详细观察。结果表明,褐菖鲉为卵胎生鱼类,其视觉器官的分化速度较一般鱼类快,从母体产出时,仔鱼视网膜神经细胞层和原始晶状体已形成;1日龄仔鱼的视网膜分化为6层,晶状体出现纤维化,直径约72 μm,仔鱼开始具有一定趋光性;2日龄仔鱼视网膜分化完成,可见10层结构,巩膜出现,与仔鱼开口摄食相适应,游泳能力增强;5 ~ 7日龄晶状体直径达99 μm,晶状囊形成;17日龄,仔鱼角膜结构分化完成,脉络膜趋于完善;37日龄稚鱼的视觉器官各部分已经发育完全。     

Visual deprivation modifies oscillatory activity in visual and auditory centers

Loss of vision may enhance the capabilities of auditory perception, but the mechanisms mediating these changes remain elusive. Here, visual deprivation in rats resulted in altered oscillatory activities, which appeared to be the result of a common mechanism underlying neuronal assembly formation in visual and auditory centers. The power of high-frequency β and γ oscillations in V1 (the primary visual cortex) and β oscillations in the LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus) was increased after one week of visual deprivation. Meanwhile, the power of β oscillations in A1 (the primary auditory cortex) and the power of β and γ oscillations in the MGB (medial geniculate body) were also enhanced in the absence of visual input. Furthermore, nerve tracing revealed a bidirectional nerve fiber connection between V1 and A1 cortices, which might be involved in transmitting auditory information to the visual cortex, contributing to enhanced auditory perception after visual deprivation. These results may facilitate the better understanding of multisensory cross-modal plasticity.     

视觉信号在中枢的整合：同步振荡产生的机理和功能

神经系统内各信息通道的信号间如何整合？一个可能的途径就是通过同步振荡来协调。本文对同怕研究进展作了回顾,侧重介绍了视皮怪内同步振荡的提出、实验依据、产生的机理和功能意义,并对可能的进展作了展望。     

Discrimination of macaques by macaques: the case of Sulawesi species

A series of work by the first author have demonstrated that many macaque species show a visual preference for the pictures of their own species when the monkeys actively press a lever to see the pictures. We expanded this study to Sulawesi macaques kept as a pet by local people with slight modification. All seven species of Sulawesi macaques were passively exposed to a variety of colored slides of Sulawesi macaques. The experimenter recorded the duration of visual fixation onto the pictures. Male monkeys of all the seven species clearly watched the pictures of their own species for longer duration than those of the other species. Such visual preference suggested that the seven Sulawesi macaques discriminate each other species and, thus, they may not be integrated into fewer number of species. This visual preference may work to prevent overall intergradation of the Sulawesi macaques who sometimes have hybrid zones only in limited areas. This preference was in general weaker in female monkeys. In one species,Macaca ochreata, females actively avoided to see the pictures of conspecifics. These results may be related to how female monkeys interact with other individuals.     

异色瓢虫视觉系统中5-HT阳性神经元的分布

本文运用树脂石蜡（Colophony-Paraffin,CP;专利号：ZL98125709．7）组织包埋切片技术,结合免疫组织化学链酶菌抗生物素蛋白一过氧化物酶（Streptavidin-Peroxidase,SP）双染法,对异色瓢虫视觉系统中5-羟色胺（5-HT）能神经元的分布进行了初步研究。结果显示,异色瓢虫视觉系统的结构及5-HT免疫反应系统相对比较特殊。5-HT阳性神经元胞体数目较少,染色显著,并聚集成群。根据胞体定位、细胞形态及轴突走向,可大体分为5群,其中包括1群呈弱反应的光感细胞。5-HT阳性膨大纤维支配所有的视神经纤维网,并呈柱状或分层排列模式。结果表明5-HT作为经典的神经递质在昆虫的视觉信息处理过程中可能发挥重要的调节作用,且主要以远距离的广域神经调节模式为主,并在特定区域和GABA有伴随现象。此外,昆虫视觉系统中5-HT的含量还可能与其明暗适应的生理调节方式具有相关性[动物学报51（5）：912—918,2005]。     

How many for dinner? Recruitment and monitoring by glances in capuchins

Group members present physical and physiological differences according to their age, sex or social status, which could generate motivation differences among individuals during travel. In spite of these divergences of interest among individuals, the group succeeds more often than not in making a collective decision about departure time and which direction to take. To reach a consensus decision, animals should exchange information relating to characteristics of group movement through different communication channels. The main purpose of this study is to understand the function of behaviour patterns displayed during movements of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus). We designed experiments in which we provoked collective movements involving a binary choice. During experiments, a video camera recorded the behaviour of each capuchin, which enabled us to determine which individuals displayed a behavioural pattern during travel and how this behaviour influenced the other group members. We found that looking backwards seemed to permit the recruitment of group mates during collective movement. This behaviour also seemed to allow the quantification of the number of followers, since the emitter modified its locomotion speed according to this number. In this preliminary study, we showed that visual behaviour was used to recruit and monitor group mates during collective movements and provided information on mechanisms involved in maintaining cohesion and coordination among group members during travel.