MULTISENSORY INTEGRATION IN THE SUPERIOR COLLICULUS OF THE ALERT CAT

The modality convergence patterns, sensory response properties, and pr inciples governing multisensory integration in the superior colliculus (SC) of the alert cat were found to have fundamental similarities to those in anesthetized animals. Of particular interest was the observat ion that. in a manner indistinguishable from the anesthetized animal, combinations of two different sensory stimuli significantly enhanced t he responses of SC neurons above those evoked by either unimodal stimu lus. These observations are consistent with the speculation that there is a functional Link among multisensory integration in individual SC neurons and cross-modality attentive and orientation behaviors.