Event Abstract Back to Event Midbrain neurons integrate information from different senses to produce adaptive behaviors Barry E. Stein1* 1 Wake Forest University, School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA , United States Midbrain neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) are able to synthesize information from different senses, thereby dramatically altering their responses to external stimuli (visual, auditory and somatosensory) and the behaviors that depend on them. They are an excellent model for understanding multisensory integration. It is through this process that cross-modal stimuli whose properties make it likely that they are derived from the same event markedly enhance the physiological responses of these neurons. This enhances the salience of the event. As a result, behavioral performance on orientation and localization tasks is also enhanced. Often, these performance benefits are quite striking, substantially increasing the probability of responding appropriately to biologically relevant events. In contrast, cross-modal stimuli that are more likely to be associated with different external events either yield no multisensory integration or degrade physiological responses and, thus, the salience of their signal in the brain. They also degrade behavioral performance. However, contrary to some theories of sensory development, these multisensory integrative abilities are not present in the newborn’s brain. Furthermore, their fundamental characteristics are not pre-specified. Rather, the acquisition of multisensory integration capabilities is a gradual postnatal process that depends heavily on at least two factors: the development of a cooperative interaction between descending projections from different sensory (visual, auditory and somatosensory) subdivisions of association cortex, and the acquisition of extensive postnatal experience with cross-modal cues. These factors are used by the brain to craft the underlying neural circuit and the fundamental principles that guide multisensory integration in order to adapt them to the environment in which they will be used. The anatomical and physiological properties of this circuit, its developmental antecedents, and the likely component that acquires the relevant cross-modal experience will be discussed. This research was supported by NIH grants EY016716 and NS36916. Conference: Bernstein Symposium 2008, Munich, Germany, 8 Oct - 10 Oct, 2008. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: All Abstracts Citation: Stein BE (2008). Midbrain neurons integrate information from different senses to produce adaptive behaviors. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Symposium 2008. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.10.2008.01.003 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 11 Nov 2008; Published Online: 11 Nov 2008. * Correspondence: Barry E Stein, Wake Forest University, School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, North Carolina, United States, bestein@wfubmc.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Barry E Stein Google Barry E Stein Google Scholar Barry E Stein PubMed Barry E Stein Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.