SENSORY INTERACTIONS IN THE ANTERIOR ECTOSYLVIAN CORTEX OF CATS

Sensory interactions, namely, the responses of single cells to stimula tions originating from the two sides of the body or from the two visua l fields, or from more than one sensory modality (namely, visual, audi tory and somatosensory), were evaluated within the anterior ectosylvia n cortex (AEC) of cats. Results showed that responses of single neuron s to a stimulus of one modality can be enhanced or inhibited by the pr esentation of another stimulus of either the same or another modality. This facilitatory or inhibitory modulation seems to depend upon tempo ral and/or spatial relationships between the stimuli. These results, t aken together with those previously obtained in our laboratory and by others, suggest that neurons in the AEC may be involved in integrating inputs from various modalities and possibly linking sensory input wit h action.