Topics in Systems Neuroscience – PHGY 556

COURSE SCHEDULE – WINTER 2018

Thursdays from 2:35 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.
McIntyre Medical Building, Room 1019

Study Week: March 5, 2018 to March 9, 2018 – NO CLASS

Course Coordinators: Erik Cook (EC), McIntyre Medical Building, erik.cook@mcgill.ca; and Dan
Guitton (DG), Montreal Neurological Institute, daniel.guitton@mcgill.ca

Guest Session Leaders:

Curtis Baker (CB, Feb 22); Adrien Peyrache (AP, Mar 15 & 22); Christopher Pack (CP, Mar 29)

AIM:
1) To provide immediate contact with contemporary systems neuroscience literature thereby leading
to insight into: current problems of interest, methodology, and directions for the future.

2) To provide opportunity for extensive discussion on these topics and assigned readings.

3) To promote the capability for critically reading scientific material.

4) To train in presenting orally, materially before others in a coherent fashion.

5) To train in presenting material in written form.

For Whom:

1) Graduate students with background in neurobiology.

2) Honours physiology students and undergraduates with a strong interest in systems neuroscience.

Course consists of:

1) 3 hour session to discuss assigned reading (usually 2 full-length scientific papers). Note that no
one is assigned a specific paper, but all participate.

2) 1 page topic summaries submitted at the beginning of each class.

Marks:

1) Class participation and presentation, depth of understanding, etc (60%)

2) Topic summaries (40%)
1 Page Topic Summary:

1) Due at the start of each class.

2) 12 pt Times font and 1 inch margins.

3) Topic summaries are based on the papers to be discussed in class that day.

4) Topic summaries should have three paragraphs that address: 1) Summary of the body of work (all
papers). 2) What you consider to be the strengths of the scientific approach and analysis in the
body of work. 3) What outstanding problems remain and how should they be addressed?

Preliminary Reading
Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell. Principles of Neural Science, Elsevier. Read sections that relate to class
material.

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of
cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see
www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information).
In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students have the right to submit in English or in French any
written work that is to be graded (except in courses where knowledge of a language is one of the objectives of the course).
In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University’s control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this
course is subject to change.
© Instructor generated course materials (e.g., handouts, notes, summaries, exam questions, etc.) are protected by law
and may not be copied or distributed in any form or in any medium without explicit permission of the instructor. Note that
infringements of copyright can be subject to follow up by the University under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary
Procedures.

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 PHGY 556 (2018) Dates and Topics to be considered

Thursday, January 11 (DG & EC)

Orientation

January 18 (DG)

1. Mechanics of eyeball
Discharge characteristics of ocular motoneruons

THE MECHANICS OF HUMAN SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENT

D.A. Robinson.
J. Physiol. (London), 1964, 174:245-264.

OCULOMOTOR UNIT BEHAVIOR IN THE MONKEY

D.A. Robinson.
J. Neurophysiol., 1970, 33:393-404.

January 25 (DG)

2. Visuo-oculomotor properties of the superior colliculus

ROLE OF THE ROSTRAL SUPERIOR COLLICULUS IN ACTIVE VISUAL FIXATION

AND EXECUTION OF EXPRESS SACCADES.
Douglas P. Munoz and Robert H. Wurtz.
J. Neurophysiol., 1992, 67(4):1000-1002.

SACCADE-RELATED ACTIVITY IN MONKEY SUPERIOR COLLICULUS. II. SPREAD

OF ACTIVITY DURING SACCADES.
Douglas P. Munoz and Robert H. Wurtz.
J. Neurophysiol., 1995, 73(6):2334-2348.

VISUAL FIXATION AS EQUILIBRIUM: EVIDENCE FROM SUPERIOR COLLICULUS

INACTIVATION
Laurent Goffart1, Ziad . Hafed, and Richard J. Krauzlis
The Journal of Neuroscience, 32(31): 10627-10636; 2012.

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February 1 (DG)

3. Role of cortex in eye movement control

INFLUENCE OF THE THALAMUS ON SPATIAL VISUAL PROCESSING IN FRONTAL

CORTEX.
Sommer MA, Wurtz RH.
Nature. 2006 Nov 16;444(7117):374-7.

MICROSTIMULATION OF POSTERIOR PARIETAL CORTEX BIASES THE SELECTION

OF EYE MOVEMENT GOALS DURING SEARCH.
Mirpour K, Ong WS, Bisley JW.
Neurophysiol. 2010 Dec;104(6):3021-8

THETA-ACTIVITY IN ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX PREDICTS TASK RULES AND

THEIR ADJUSTMENTS FOLLOWING ERRORS.
Womelsdorf T, Johnston K, Vinck M, Everling S.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Mar 16;107(11):5248-53.

February 8 (DG)

4. Role of cortex in arm movement control

MOTOR CORTICAL ACTIVITY DURING DRAWING MOVEMENTS: POPULATION

REPRESENTATION DURING SINUSOIDAL TRACING.
A.B. Schwartz.
J. Neurophysiol., 1993, 70(1):28-36.

DISSOCIATION BETWEEN HAND MOTION AND POPULATION VECTORS FROM

NEURAL ACTIVITY IN MOTOR CORTEX.
S.H. Scott, P.L. Gribble, K.M. Graham, D.W. Cabel,
Nature 2001 Sep 13;413(6852):161-5.

PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX UNDERLIES MULTI-JOINT INTEGRATION

FOR FAST FEEDBACK CONTROL.
Pruszynski JA, Kurtzer I, Nashed JY, Omrani M, Brouwer B, Scott SH.
Nature. 2011 Sep 28;478(7369):387-90.

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February 15 (EC)

5. Single neuron computation

papers TBD

February 22 (CB)

Background reading:
PRINCIPLES OF NEURAL SCIENCE, Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell. Elsevier.
Chapters 26, 27 (Edition 4) or equivalent in Edition 5

6. Primary visual cortex - receptive field properties

Hubel DH, Wiesel TN (1959) Receptive fields of single neurones in the cat’s visual cortex. J
Physiol 148:574-591.

Movshon JA, Thompson ID, Tolhurst DJ (1978) Spatial summation in the receptive fields of
simple cells in the cat’s striate cortex. J Physiol 283:53-77.

DeAngelis GC, Ohzawa I, Freeman RD (1993) Spatiotemporal organization of simple-cell

receptive fields in the cat’s striate cortex. I. General characteristics and postnatal development.
J Neurophysiol 69:1091-1117.

March 1 (EC)

7. Visual cortex: II. Structure and function.

Feature Mapping and Computations

HIGHLY ORDERED ARRANGEMENT OF SINGLE NEURONS IN ORIENTATION

PINWHEELS.
Ohki K, Chung S, Kara P, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T, Reid RC.
Nature. 2006 Aug 24;442 (7105):925-8. 2006.

DISTAL CONNECTIVITY CAUSES SUMMATION AND DIVISION ACROSS MOUSE

VISUAL CORTEX.
Sato TK, Häusser M, Carandini M.
Nat Neurosci. 2014 Jan;17(1):30-2.

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 INTEGRATION OF VISUAL MOTION AND LOCOMOTION IN MOUSE VISUAL
CORTEX.
Saleem AB, Ayaz A, Jeffery KJ, Harris KD, Carandini M.
Nat Neurosci. 2013 Dec;16(12):1864-9.

March 5 - March 9: Spring Break – NO CLASS!

March 15 (AP)

8. Spatial navigation 1

papers TBD

March 22 (AP)

9. Spatial navigation 2

papers TBD

March 29 (CP)

10. "Higher order" visual processing: interpretation of the visual world

TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF A NEURAL SOLUTION TO THE APERTURE PROBLEM IN

VISUAL AREA MT OF MACAQUE BRAIN
Pack CC, Born RT.
Nature. 2001 Feb 22;409(6823):1040-2.

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF VISUAL SHAPE SELECTIVITY IN POSTERIOR

INFEROTEMPORAL CORTEX.
Brincat SL, Connor CE.
Nat Neurosci. 2004 Aug;7(8):880-6.

A COMPARISON OF PRIMATE PREFRONTAL AND INFERIOR TEMPORAL CORTICES

DURING VISUAL CATEGORIZATION.
Freedman DJ, Riesenhuber M, Poggio T, Miller EK.
J Neurosci. 2003 Jun 15;23(12):5235-46.

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April 5 (EC)

11. "Higher order" visual cortices - area MT

THE ANALYSIS OF VISUAL MOTION: A COMPARISON OF NEURONAL AND

PSYCHOPHYSICAL PERFORMANCE.
Kenneth H. Britten, Michael N. Shadlen, William T. Newsome, and J. Anthony
Movshon. J. Neurosci., 1992, 12(12): 4745-4765.

Students need not read in detail the appendix and mathematical model.

MICROSTIMULATION IN VISUAL AREA MT: EFFECTS ON DIRECTIONAL

DISCRIMINATION PERFORMANCE.
C.D. Salzman , C. M. Murasugi, K.H. Britten, and W.T. Newsome.
J. Neurosci., 1992, 12(6): 2331-2355.

April 12 (EC & DG)

Session 12, last class

Consciousness (papers TBD)