Synchronization of visual responses in the superior colliculus of awake cats

Multi-unit responses to moving stimuli were recorded simultaneously from several sites in the superior colliculus of awake cats. Correlation analysis revealed that response synchronization was a prominent feature of visually evoked neural activity in both superficial and deep collicular layers. Responses at about half of the recordings separated by < or = 1 mm showed significant correlations. The synchronized responses oscillated in the gamma frequency range (30-70 Hz) which contrasts to conditions in anaesthetized cats where oscillations predominantly occurred in the alpha and beta frequency range (10-20 Hz). Response synchronization was most pronounced with coherent motion stimuli and broke down with incoherent stimuli. These results agree with previous findings on corticotectal synchronization and support the hypothesis that synchronization in the millisecond range serves to group collicular neurons into functionally coherent assemblies.