Sannita W G
Department of Motor Sciences, University of Genova, Italy.
Neuropsychobiology. 1995;32(4):208-13. doi: 10.1159/000119237.
Stimulus-dependent cortical and precortical responses to visual stimulation are substantially unaffected by vigilance shifts and reflect functional characteristics (related to the physical properties of stimulus) of information processing in the CNS. These can be independently activated and selectively affected by drug action; stimulus/response functions allow in experimental conditions a control of spontaneous variability. Chemically specified subsystems of the visual system are identified and a functional (micro)-dissection of cortical and precortical (retinal) circuits is possible based on the effects of pharmacological activation/inactivation, with segregation of components of the evoked response. Practicable hypotheses exist about the functional roles of dopaminergic, GABAergic and cholinergic transmission in the visual system. Comparable responses to stimuli conveying similar information can be obtained with limited inter-species differences from animals and man in experimental conditions varying from in vitro basic research to clinical studies, to the use of neuroactive drugs as test condition in man.
对视觉刺激的刺激依赖性皮质和皮质前反应基本上不受警觉性变化的影响，反映了中枢神经系统中信息处理的功能特征（与刺激的物理特性相关）。这些反应可被药物作用独立激活并选择性影响；刺激/反应功能在实验条件下允许对自发变异性进行控制。视觉系统中化学指定的子系统已被识别，基于药理激活/失活的作用，并通过分离诱发反应的成分，对皮质和皮质前（视网膜）回路进行功能（微观）剖析成为可能。关于多巴胺能、GABA能和胆碱能传递在视觉系统中的功能作用，存在可行的假设。在从体外基础研究到临床研究，再到将神经活性药物用作人体测试条件等不同的实验条件下，动物和人类对传达相似信息的刺激的反应具有可比性，且种间差异有限。
