The superficial layers of the superior colliculus (sSC) appear to function as a subcortical visual pathway that bypasses the striate cortex for the rapid processing of coarse facial information. We investigated the responses of neurons in the monkey sSC during a delayed non-matching-to-sample (DNMS) task in which monkeys were required to discriminate among five categories of visual stimuli [photos of faces with different gaze directions, line drawings of faces, face-like patterns (three dark blobs on a bright oval), eye-like patterns, and simple geometric patterns]. Of the 605 sSC neurons recorded, 216 neurons responded to the visual stimuli. Among the stimuli, face-like patterns elicited responses with the shortest latencies. Low-pass filtering of the images did not influence the responses. However, scrambling of the images increased the responses in the late phase, and this was consistent with a feedback influence from upstream areas. A multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of the population data indicated that the sSC neurons could separately encode face-like patterns during the first 25-ms period after stimulus onset, and stimulus categorization developed in the next three 25-ms periods. The amount of stimulus information conveyed by the sSC neurons and the number of stimulus-differentiating neurons were consistently higher during the 2nd to 4th 25-ms periods than during the first 25-ms period. These results suggested that population activity of the sSC neurons preferentially filtered face-like patterns with short latencies to allow for the rapid processing of coarse facial information and developed categorization of the stimuli in later phases through feedback from upstream areas.

It has been suggested that septal nuclei are important in the control of behavior during various reward and non-reward situations. In the present study, neuronal activity was recorded from rat septal nuclei during discrimination of conditioned sensory stimuli (CSs) of the medial forebrain bundle associated with or without a reward (sucrose solution or intracranial self-stimulation, ICSS). Rats were trained to lick a spout protruding close to the mouth just after a CS to obtain a reward stimulus. The CSs included both elemental and configural stimuli. In the configural condition, the reward contingency of the stimuli presented together was opposite to that of each elemental stimulus presented alone, although the same sensory stimuli were involved. Of the 72 responsive septal neurons, 18 responded selectively to the CSs predicting reward (CS⁺-related), four to the CSs predicting non-reward (CS⁰-related), nine to some CSs predicting reward or non-reward, and 15 non-differentially to all CSs. The remaining 26 neurons responded mainly during the ingestion/ICSS phase. A multivariate analysis of the septal neuronal responses to elemental and configural stimuli indicated that septal neurons encoded the CSs based on reward contingency, regardless of the stimulus physical properties and were categorized into three groups; CSs predicting the sucrose solution, CSs predicting a non-reward, and CSs predicting ICSS. The results suggest that septal nuclei are deeply involved in discriminating the reward contingency of environmental stimuli to manifest appropriate behaviors in response to changing stimuli.

Previous neurophysiological and behavioral studies relate hippocampal functions to place learning and memory, and encoding of task (or context)-specific information. Encoding of both task-specific information and own location is essential for episodic memory and for animals to navigate to reward-related places. It is suggested that different neural circuits with different assemblies of different hippocampal neurons are created in different environments or behavioral contexts for the hippocampal formation (HF) to encode and retrieve episodic memory. To investigate whether synchronous activity of hippocampal neurons, suggesting functional connectivity between those neurons, is task and position dependent, multiple single unit activities were recorded during performance of real and virtual translocation (VT) tasks. The monkey moved to one of four reward areas by driving a cab (real translocation) or by moving a pointer on a monitor. Of 163 neuron pairs, significant peaks in cross-correlograms (CCGs) were observed in 98 pairs. Most CCGs had positive peaks within 50 ms. Task-dependent cross-correlations (CCRs) were observed in 44% of the neuron pairs, and similarly observed in both the real and VT tasks. These CCRs were frequently observed in pyramidal vs. pyramidal neuron pairs with positive peak and peak shift. However, no consistent patterns of peak polarity, peak shift, and neuronal types were seen in task-independent CCRs. There was no significant difference in frequency of CCG peaks between real and VT tasks. These results suggest that the task-dependent information may be encoded by interaction among pyramidal neurons, and the common information across tasks may be encoded by interaction among pyramidal neurons and interneurons in the HF. These neuronal populations could provide a neural basis for episodic memory to disambiguously guide animals to places associated with reward in different situations.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to objectively assess fatigue levels using facial expressions. Methods: This study included 25 female nurses aged between 30 and 50 years. We compared their subjective and objective fatigue levels after a night shift, when accumulated fatigue was assumed, with those after a day off, when recovery was expected. Fatigue levels were subjectively assessed using questionnaires and were also quantified by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Objective evaluations included (1) the degree of eye-opening, (2) the maximum distance and speed of facial skin movement by tracking changes in coordinate values of facial markers on the skin during intentional smiling, and (3) analysis of high-frequency (HF) components and the low frequency-to-high frequency (LF/HF) ratio in heart rate variability (HRV). Results: After a night shift, compared to after a day off, subjective assessments of mental and physical fatigue in the questionnaires and VAS values of own fatigue were significantly elevated. Concurrently, objective evaluations revealed that the degree of eye-opening, along with the maximum movement distance and speed of the lower eyelid, cheek, and mouth corners during intentional smiling, were significantly reduced. Furthermore, the HF component, an index of parasympathetic activity, significantly decreased, whereas the LF/HF ratio, an index of sympathetic activity, significantly increased. Additionally, significant correlations were observed between subjective VAS estimation of fatigue levels and each objective parameter examined. Conclusions: Measuring facial parameters is an effective method for objectively assessing facial expressions of fatigue, and these changes are mediated through reduced parasympathetic nervous activity and increased sympathetic nervous activity during fatigue.