51
|
Wang H, Wang Z, Zhou Y, Tzvetanov T. Moderate Alcohol Intake Changes Visual Perception by Enhancing V1 Inhibitory Surround Interactions. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:682229. [PMID: 34290580 PMCID: PMC8287857 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.682229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Moderate alcohol consumption is considered to enhance the cortical GABA-ergic inhibitory system and it also variously affects visual perception. However, little behavioral evidence indicates changes of visual perception due to V1 modulated by alcohol intoxication. In this study, we investigated this issue by using center-surround tilt illusion (TI) as a probe of V1 inhibitory interactions, by taking into account possible higher-order effects. Participants conducted TI measures under sober, moderate alcohol intoxication, and placebo states. We found alcohol significantly increased repulsive TI effect and weakened orientation discrimination performance, which is consistent with the increase of lateral inhibition between orientation sensitive V1 neurons caused by alcohol intoxication. We also observed no visible changes in the data for global orientation processing but a presence of global attentional modulation. Thus, our results provide psychophysics evidence that alcohol changed V1 processing, which affects visual perception of contextual stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Huan Wang
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Zhengchun Wang
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Yifeng Zhou
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.,State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tzvetomir Tzvetanov
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.,Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Affective Computing and Advanced Intelligent Machine, School of Computer and Information, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China.,NEUROPSYPHY Tzvetomir TZVETANOV EIRL, Horbourg-Wihr, France
| |
Collapse
|
52
|
Schielke A, Krekelberg B. N-methyl d-aspartate receptor hypofunction reduces visual contextual integration. J Vis 2021; 21:9. [PMID: 34128974 PMCID: PMC8212430 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.6.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual cognition is finely tuned to the elements in a scene but also relies on contextual integration to improve visual detection and discrimination. This integration is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. Studying impairments in contextual integration may lead to biomarkers of schizophrenia, tools to monitor disease progression, and, in animal models, insight into the underlying neural deficits. We developed a nonhuman primate model to test the hypothesis that hypofunction of the N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) impairs contextual integration. Two male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were trained to indicate which of two patterns on the screen had the highest contrast. One of these patterns appeared in isolation, and the other was surrounded by a high-contrast pattern. In humans, this high-contrast context is known to lead to an underestimation of contrast. This so-called Chubb illusion is thought to result from surround suppression, a key contextual integration mechanism. To test the involvement of NMDAR in this process, we compared animals' perceptual bias with and without intramuscular injections of a subanesthetic dose of the NMDAR antagonist ketamine. In the absence of ketamine, the animals reported a Chubb illusion - matching reports in healthy humans. Hence, monkeys - just like humans - perform visual contextual integration. This reaffirms the importance of nonhuman primates to help understand visual cognition. Injection of ketamine significantly reduced the strength of the illusion and thus impaired contextual integration. This supports the hypothesis that NMDAR hypofunction plays a causal role in specific behavioral impairments observed in schizophrenia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Schielke
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA.,Behavioral and Neural Sciences Graduate Program, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA.,
| | - Bart Krekelberg
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA.,
| |
Collapse
|
53
|
Festa D, Aschner A, Davila A, Kohn A, Coen-Cagli R. Neuronal variability reflects probabilistic inference tuned to natural image statistics. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3635. [PMID: 34131142 PMCID: PMC8206154 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23838-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuronal activity in sensory cortex fluctuates over time and across repetitions of the same input. This variability is often considered detrimental to neural coding. The theory of neural sampling proposes instead that variability encodes the uncertainty of perceptual inferences. In primary visual cortex (V1), modulation of variability by sensory and non-sensory factors supports this view. However, it is unknown whether V1 variability reflects the statistical structure of visual inputs, as would be required for inferences correctly tuned to the statistics of the natural environment. Here we combine analysis of image statistics and recordings in macaque V1 to show that probabilistic inference tuned to natural image statistics explains the widely observed dependence between spike count variance and mean, and the modulation of V1 activity and variability by spatial context in images. Our results show that the properties of a basic aspect of cortical responses-their variability-can be explained by a probabilistic representation tuned to naturalistic inputs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dylan Festa
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Amir Aschner
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Aida Davila
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Adam Kohn
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Ruben Coen-Cagli
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
54
|
Correia ARA, Amorim AKJ, Soares JGM, Lima B, Fiorani M, Gattass R. The role of feedback projections in feature tuning and neuronal excitability in the early primate visual system. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2881-2895. [PMID: 34089102 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02311-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
A general assumption in visual neuroscience is that basic receptive field properties such as orientation and direction selectivity are constructed within intrinsic neuronal circuits and feedforward projections. In addition, it is assumed that general neuronal excitability and responsiveness in early visual areas is to a great extent independent of feedback input originating in areas higher in the stream. Here, we review the contribution of feedback projections from MT, V4 and pulvinar to the receptive field properties of V2 neurons in the anesthetized and paralyzed monkey. Importantly, our results contradict both of these assumptions. We separately inactivated each of these three brain regions using GABA pressure injections, while simultaneously recording V2 single unit activity before and hours after inactivation. Recordings and GABA injections were carried out in topographically corresponding regions of the visual field. We outline the changes in V2 activity, responsiveness and receptive field properties for early, mid and late post-injection phases. Immediately after injection, V2 activity is globally suppressed. Subsequently, there is an increase in stimulus-driven relative to spontaneous neuronal activity, which improves the signal-to-noise coding for the oriented moving bars. Notably, V2 tuning properties change substantially relative to its pre-injection selectivity profile. The resulting increase or decrease in selectivity could not be readily predicted based on the selectivity profile of the inactivated site. Finally, V2 activity rebounds before returning to it pre-injection profile Our results show that feedback projections profoundly impact neuronal circuits in early visual areas, and may have been heretofore largely underestimated in their physiological role.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A R A Correia
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Cirúrgicas, Faculdade de Medicina, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - A K J Amorim
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Pará, Belém, PA, Brasil
| | - J G M Soares
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - B Lima
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - M Fiorani
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - R Gattass
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
| |
Collapse
|
55
|
Abbatecola C, Gerardin P, Beneyton K, Kennedy H, Knoblauch K. The Role of Unimodal Feedback Pathways in Gender Perception During Activation of Voice and Face Areas. Front Syst Neurosci 2021; 15:669256. [PMID: 34122023 PMCID: PMC8194406 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.669256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cross-modal effects provide a model framework for investigating hierarchical inter-areal processing, particularly, under conditions where unimodal cortical areas receive contextual feedback from other modalities. Here, using complementary behavioral and brain imaging techniques, we investigated the functional networks participating in face and voice processing during gender perception, a high-level feature of voice and face perception. Within the framework of a signal detection decision model, Maximum likelihood conjoint measurement (MLCM) was used to estimate the contributions of the face and voice to gender comparisons between pairs of audio-visual stimuli in which the face and voice were independently modulated. Top–down contributions were varied by instructing participants to make judgments based on the gender of either the face, the voice or both modalities (N = 12 for each task). Estimated face and voice contributions to the judgments of the stimulus pairs were not independent; both contributed to all tasks, but their respective weights varied over a 40-fold range due to top–down influences. Models that best described the modal contributions required the inclusion of two different top–down interactions: (i) an interaction that depended on gender congruence across modalities (i.e., difference between face and voice modalities for each stimulus); (ii) an interaction that depended on the within modalities’ gender magnitude. The significance of these interactions was task dependent. Specifically, gender congruence interaction was significant for the face and voice tasks while the gender magnitude interaction was significant for the face and stimulus tasks. Subsequently, we used the same stimuli and related tasks in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm (N = 12) to explore the neural correlates of these perceptual processes, analyzed with Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) and Bayesian Model Selection. Results revealed changes in effective connectivity between the unimodal Fusiform Face Area (FFA) and Temporal Voice Area (TVA) in a fashion that paralleled the face and voice behavioral interactions observed in the psychophysical data. These findings explore the role in perception of multiple unimodal parallel feedback pathways.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clement Abbatecola
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France.,Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Peggy Gerardin
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
| | - Kim Beneyton
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
| | - Henry Kennedy
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France.,Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai, China
| | - Kenneth Knoblauch
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France.,National Centre for Optics, Vision and Eye Care, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Kongsberg, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
56
|
Antolik J, Sabatier Q, Galle C, Frégnac Y, Benosman R. Assessment of optogenetically-driven strategies for prosthetic restoration of cortical vision in large-scale neural simulation of V1. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10783. [PMID: 34031442 PMCID: PMC8144184 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88960-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural encoding of visual features in primary visual cortex (V1) is well understood, with strong correlates to low-level perception, making V1 a strong candidate for vision restoration through neuroprosthetics. However, the functional relevance of neural dynamics evoked through external stimulation directly imposed at the cortical level is poorly understood. Furthermore, protocols for designing cortical stimulation patterns that would induce a naturalistic perception of the encoded stimuli have not yet been established. Here, we demonstrate a proof of concept by solving these issues through a computational model, combining (1) a large-scale spiking neural network model of cat V1 and (2) a virtual prosthetic system transcoding the visual input into tailored light-stimulation patterns which drive in situ the optogenetically modified cortical tissue. Using such virtual experiments, we design a protocol for translating simple Fourier contrasted stimuli (gratings) into activation patterns of the optogenetic matrix stimulator. We then quantify the relationship between spatial configuration of the imposed light pattern and the induced cortical activity. Our simulations in the absence of visual drive (simulated blindness) show that optogenetic stimulation with a spatial resolution as low as 100 [Formula: see text]m, and light intensity as weak as [Formula: see text] photons/s/cm[Formula: see text] is sufficient to evoke activity patterns in V1 close to those evoked by normal vision.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Antolik
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Malostranské nám. 25, 118 00, Prague 1, Czechia.
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 rue Moreau, 75012, Paris, France.
| | - Quentin Sabatier
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 rue Moreau, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Charlie Galle
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 rue Moreau, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Yves Frégnac
- Unité de Neurosciences, Information et Complexité (UNIC), NeuroPSI, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Ryad Benosman
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 rue Moreau, 75012, Paris, France
- University of Pittsburgh, McGowan Institute, 3025 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
57
|
Morimoto MM, Uchishiba E, Saleem AB. Organization of feedback projections to mouse primary visual cortex. iScience 2021; 24:102450. [PMID: 34113813 PMCID: PMC8169797 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Top-down, context-dependent modulation of visual processing has been a topic of wide interest, including in mouse primary visual cortex (V1). However, the organization of feedback projections to V1 is relatively unknown. Here, we investigated inputs to mouse V1 by injecting retrograde tracers. We developed a software pipeline that maps labeled cell bodies to corresponding brain areas in the Allen Reference Atlas. We identified more than 24 brain areas that provide inputs to V1 and quantified the relative strength of their projections. We also assessed the organization of the projections, based on either the organization of cell bodies in the source area (topography) or the distribution of projections across V1 (bias). Projections from most higher visual and some nonvisual areas to V1 showed both topography and bias. Such organization of feedback projections to V1 suggests that parts of the visual field are differentially modulated by context, which can be ethologically relevant for a navigating animal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mai M. Morimoto
- UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Emi Uchishiba
- UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Aman B. Saleem
- UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
| |
Collapse
|
58
|
Pavan A. Spatial and Temporal Selectivity of Translational Glass Patterns Assessed With the Tilt After-Effect. Iperception 2021; 12:20416695211017924. [PMID: 34104382 PMCID: PMC8172339 DOI: 10.1177/20416695211017924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Glass patterns (GPs) have been widely employed to investigate the mechanisms underlying processing of global form from locally oriented cues. The current study aimed to psychophysically investigate the level at which global orientation is extracted from translational GPs using the tilt after-effect (TAE) and manipulating the spatiotemporal properties of the adapting pattern. We adapted participants to translational GPs and tested with sinewave gratings. In Experiment 1, we investigated whether orientation-selective units are sensitive to the temporal frequency of the adapting GP. We used static and dynamic translational GPs, with dynamic GPs refreshed at different temporal frequencies. In Experiment 2, we investigated the spatial frequency selectivity of orientation-selective units by manipulating the spatial frequency content of the adapting GPs. The results showed that the TAE peaked at a temporal frequency of ∼30 Hz, suggesting that orientation-selective units responding to translational GPs are sensitive to high temporal frequencies. In addition, TAE from translational GPs peaked at lower spatial frequencies than the dipoles' spatial constant. These effects are consistent with form-motion integration at low and intermediate levels of visual processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Pavan
- Department of Psychology, University of
Bologna, Bologna, Italy; School of Psychology, University of Lincoln,
Lincoln, UK
| |
Collapse
|
59
|
Mihaylova MS, Bocheva NB, Totev TT, Staykova SN. Visual Noise Effect on Contour Integration and Gaze Allocation in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:623663. [PMID: 33633537 PMCID: PMC7900628 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.623663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Contradictory results have been obtained in the studies that compare contour integration abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and typically developing individuals. The present study aimed to explore the limiting factors of contour integration ability in ASD and verify the role of the external visual noise by a combination of psychophysical and eye-tracking approaches. To this aim, 24 children and adolescents with ASD and 32 age-matched participants with typical development had to detect the presence of contour embedded among similar Gabor elements in a Yes/No procedure. The results obtained showed that the responses in the group with ASD were not only less accurate but also were significantly slower compared to the control group at all noise levels. The detection performance depended on the group differences in addition to the effect of the intellectual functioning of the participants from both groups. The comparison of the agreement and accuracy of the responses in the double-pass experiment showed that the results of the participants with ASD are more affected by the increase of the external noise. It turned out that the internal noise depends on the level of the added external noise: the difference between the two groups was non-significant at the low external noise and significant at the high external noise. In accordance with the psychophysical results, the eye-tracking data indicated a larger gaze allocation area in the group with autism. These findings may imply higher positional uncertainty in ASD due to the inability to maintain the information of the contour location from previous presentations and interference from noise elements in the contour vicinity. Psychophysical and eye-tracking data suggest lower efficiency in using stimulus information in the ASD group that could be caused by fixation instability and noisy and unstable perceptual template that affects noise filtering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Milena Slavcheva Mihaylova
- Department of Sensory Neurobiology, Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Nadejda Bogdanova Bocheva
- Department of Sensory Neurobiology, Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Tsvetalin Totev Totev
- Department of Sensory Neurobiology, Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | | |
Collapse
|
60
|
Han C, Wang T, Wu Y, Li Y, Yang Y, Li L, Wang Y, Xing D. The Generation and Modulation of Distinct Gamma Oscillations with Local, Horizontal, and Feedback Connections in the Primary Visual Cortex: A Model Study on Large-Scale Networks. Neural Plast 2021; 2021:8874516. [PMID: 33531893 PMCID: PMC7834828 DOI: 10.1155/2021/8874516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Gamma oscillation (GAMMA) in the local field potential (LFP) is a synchronized activity commonly found in many brain regions, and it has been thought as a functional signature of network connectivity in the brain, which plays important roles in information processing. Studies have shown that the response property of GAMMA is related to neural interaction through local recurrent connections (RC), feed-forward (FF), and feedback (FB) connections. However, the relationship between GAMMA and long-range horizontal connections (HC) in the brain remains unclear. Here, we aimed to understand this question in a large-scale network model for the primary visual cortex (V1). We created a computational model composed of multiple excitatory and inhibitory units with biologically plausible connectivity patterns for RC, FF, FB, and HC in V1; then, we quantitated GAMMA in network models at different strength levels of HC and other connection types. Surprisingly, we found that HC and FB, the two types of large-scale connections, play very different roles in generating and modulating GAMMA. While both FB and HC modulate a fast gamma oscillation (around 50-60 Hz) generated by FF and RC, HC generates a new GAMMA oscillating around 30 Hz, whose power and peak frequency can also be modulated by FB. Furthermore, response properties of the two GAMMAs in a network with both HC and FB are different in a way that is highly consistent with a recent experimental finding for distinct GAMMAs in macaque V1. The results suggest that distinct GAMMAs are signatures for neural connections in different spatial scales and they might be related to different functions for information integration. Our study, for the first time, pinpoints the underlying circuits for distinct GAMMAs in a mechanistic model for macaque V1, which might provide a new framework to study multiple gamma oscillations in other cortical regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chuanliang Han
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Tian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yujie Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yi Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Liang Li
- Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Yizheng Wang
- Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Dajun Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| |
Collapse
|
61
|
Federer F, Ta'afua S, Merlin S, Hassanpour MS, Angelucci A. Stream-specific feedback inputs to the primate primary visual cortex. Nat Commun 2021; 12:228. [PMID: 33431862 PMCID: PMC7801467 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20505-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The sensory neocortex consists of hierarchically-organized areas reciprocally connected via feedforward and feedback circuits. Feedforward connections shape the receptive field properties of neurons in higher areas within parallel streams specialized in processing specific stimulus attributes. Feedback connections have been implicated in top-down modulations, such as attention, prediction and sensory context. However, their computational role remains unknown, partly because we lack knowledge about rules of feedback connectivity to constrain models of feedback function. For example, it is unknown whether feedback connections maintain stream-specific segregation, or integrate information across parallel streams. Using viral-mediated labeling of feedback connections arising from specific cytochrome-oxidase stripes of macaque visual area V2, here we show that feedback to the primary visual cortex (V1) is organized into parallel streams resembling the reciprocal feedforward pathways. This suggests that functionally-specialized V2 feedback channels modulate V1 responses to specific stimulus attributes, an organizational principle potentially extending to feedback pathways in other sensory systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frederick Federer
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
| | - Seminare Ta'afua
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
| | - Sam Merlin
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
- Medical Science, School of Science, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Sydney, NSW, 2560, Australia
| | - Mahlega S Hassanpour
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
| | - Alessandra Angelucci
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, 65 Mario Capecchi Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
62
|
Chen Y, Ko H, Zemelman BV, Seidemann E, Nauhaus I. Uniform spatial pooling explains topographic organization and deviation from receptive-field scale invariance in primate V1. Nat Commun 2020; 11:6390. [PMID: 33319775 PMCID: PMC7738493 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19954-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Receptive field (RF) size and preferred spatial frequency (SF) vary greatly across the primary visual cortex (V1), increasing in a scale invariant fashion with eccentricity. Recent studies reveal that preferred SF also forms a fine-scale periodic map. A fundamental open question is how local variability in preferred SF is tied to the overall spatial RF. Here, we use two-photon imaging to simultaneously measure maps of RF size, phase selectivity, SF bandwidth, and orientation bandwidth—all of which were found to be topographically organized and correlate with preferred SF. Each of these newly characterized inter-map relationships strongly deviate from scale invariance, yet reveal a common motif—they are all accounted for by a model with uniform spatial pooling from scale invariant inputs. Our results and model provide novel and quantitative understanding of the output from V1 to downstream circuits. Two-photon imaging in macaque V1 captured maps of tuning selectivity for four spatial parameters, all of which correlated with peak spatial frequency. These inter-map relationships reveal a common motif—they are described by uniform spatial pooling from a family of scale invariant Gabor receptive fields.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Y Chen
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - H Ko
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - B V Zemelman
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - E Seidemann
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - I Nauhaus
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. .,Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
63
|
A brain-inspired network architecture for cost-efficient object recognition in shallow hierarchical neural networks. Neural Netw 2020; 134:76-85. [PMID: 33291018 DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2020.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The brain successfully performs visual object recognition with a limited number of hierarchical networks that are much shallower than artificial deep neural networks (DNNs) that perform similar tasks. Here, we show that long-range horizontal connections (LRCs), often observed in the visual cortex of mammalian species, enable such a cost-efficient visual object recognition in shallow neural networks. Using simulations of a model hierarchical network with convergent feedforward connections and LRCs, we found that the addition of LRCs to the shallow feedforward network significantly enhances the performance of networks for image classification, to a degree that is comparable to much deeper networks. We found that a combination of sparse LRCs and dense local connections dramatically increases performance per wiring cost. From network pruning with gradient-based optimization, we also confirmed that LRCs could emerge spontaneously by minimizing the total connection length while maintaining performance. Ablation of emerged LRCs led to a significant reduction of classification performance, which implies these LRCs are crucial for performing image classification. Taken together, our findings suggest a brain-inspired strategy for constructing a cost-efficient network architecture to implement parsimonious object recognition under physical constraints such as shallow hierarchical depth.
Collapse
|
64
|
Çatal O, Wauthier S, De Boom C, Verbelen T, Dhoedt B. Learning Generative State Space Models for Active Inference. Front Comput Neurosci 2020; 14:574372. [PMID: 33304260 PMCID: PMC7701292 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2020.574372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we investigate the active inference framework as a means to enable autonomous behavior in artificial agents. Active inference is a theoretical framework underpinning the way organisms act and observe in the real world. In active inference, agents act in order to minimize their so called free energy, or prediction error. Besides being biologically plausible, active inference has been shown to solve hard exploration problems in various simulated environments. However, these simulations typically require handcrafting a generative model for the agent. Therefore we propose to use recent advances in deep artificial neural networks to learn generative state space models from scratch, using only observation-action sequences. This way we are able to scale active inference to new and challenging problem domains, whilst still building on the theoretical backing of the free energy principle. We validate our approach on the mountain car problem to illustrate that our learnt models can indeed trade-off instrumental value and ambiguity. Furthermore, we show that generative models can also be learnt using high-dimensional pixel observations, both in the OpenAI Gym car racing environment and a real-world robotic navigation task. Finally we show that active inference based policies are an order of magnitude more sample efficient than Deep Q Networks on RL tasks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ozan Çatal
- IDLab, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University - imec, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
65
|
Khalil R, Saint Louis MRJ, Alsuwaidi S, Levitt JB. Visual Corticocortical Inputs to Ferret Area 18. Front Neuroanat 2020; 14:581478. [PMID: 33117134 PMCID: PMC7574738 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2020.581478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual cortical areas in the adult mammalian brain are linked by a network of interareal feedforward and feedback circuits. We investigated the topography of feedback projections to ferret (Mustela putorius furo) area 18 from extrastriate areas 19, 21, and Ssy. Our objective was to characterize the anatomical organization of the extrastriate feedback pool to area 18. We also wished to determine if feedback projections to area 18 share similar features as feedback projections to area 17. We injected the tracer cholera toxin B subunit (CTb) into area 18 of adult ferrets to visualize the distribution and pattern of retrogradely labeled cells in extrastriate cortex. We find several similarities to the feedback projection to area 17: (i) Multiple visual cortical areas provide feedback to area 18: areas 19, 21, Ssy, and weaker inputs from posterior parietal and lateral temporal visual areas. Within each area a greater proportion of feedback projections arises from the infragranular than from the supragranular layers. (ii) The cortical area immediately rostral to area 18 provides the greatest proportion of total cortical feedback, and has the greatest peak density of cells providing feedback to area 18. (iii) The spacing (peak cell density and nearest neighbor distances) of cells in extrastriate cortex providing feedback to areas 17 and 18 are similar. However, peak density of feedback cells to area 18 is comparable in the supra- and infragranular layers, whereas peak density of feedback cells to area 17 is higher in the infragranular layers. Another prominent difference is that dorsal area 18 receives a cortical input that area 17 does not: from ventral cortex representing the upper visual field; this appears to be roughly 25% of the feedback input to area 18. Lastly, area 17 receives a greater proportion of cortical feedback from area 21 than from Ssy, whereas area 18 receives more feedback from Ssy than from area 21. While the organization of feedback projections from extrastriate cortex to areas 17 and 18 is broadly similar, the main difference in input topography might arise due to differences in visual field representations of the two areas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Reem Khalil
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Shaima Alsuwaidi
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,The Neuro, Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Jonathan B Levitt
- Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY, United States.,Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, United States
| |
Collapse
|
66
|
Discriminating Global Orientation of Two Element Sets. J Cogn 2020; 3:39. [PMID: 33117959 PMCID: PMC7566507 DOI: 10.5334/joc.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceived global organization of visual patterns is based upon the aggregate contribution of constituent components. Patterns constructed from multiple sources cooperate or compete for global organization. An investigation was made here of interactions between two interspersed element sets on global orientation. It was hypothesized that each set would operate as an integrated unit, and contribute independently to global orientation. Participants viewed a 10 × 10 array of Gabor patches, and indicated the predominant orientation of the array. In Experiment 1 all elements were rotated. Rotation up to 23° had little effect, whereas greater rotation produced a progressive shift on global orientation. In Experiment 2 a proportion of elements remained aligned while remaining elements were rotated. Embedding a proportion of aligned elements stabilized global orientation, which was dependent upon the proportion of aligned elements. Specifically, with 20% alignment, global orientation was similar to rotating all elements, whereas 80% alignment strongly biased perception towards aligned elements. The stabilizing effect varied with rotation of the second element set. Across levels of rotation, alignment effects rose to a peak then declined as element sets became orthogonal. In Experiment 3, each element set was rotated independently. Independent rotation of both sets altered global orientation, compressing the psychometric function for the single-element condition. Together, for interspersed element sets with explicit orientations, each set does not contribute independently to global orientation. Instead, element sets interact, where the contribution of one set, presented at a fixed rotation and fixed proportion, varies with the change to the second set.
Collapse
|
67
|
Hipp D, Olsen S, Gerhardstein P. Mind-Craft: Exploring the Effect of Digital Visual Experience on Changes to Orientation Sensitivity in Visual Contour Perception. Perception 2020; 49:1005-1025. [PMID: 32962552 DOI: 10.1177/0301006620950989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Visual perception depends fundamentally on statistical regularities in the environment to make sense of the world. One such regularity is the orientation anisotropy typical of natural scenes; most natural scenes contain slightly more canonical (horizontal and vertical) information than oblique information. This property is likely a primary cause of the oblique effect in which subjects experience greater perceptual fluency with horizontally and vertically oriented content than oblique. Recent changes in the visual environment, including the "carpentered" content in urban scenes and the framed, caricatured content in digital screen media presentations, may have altered the typical (natural) level of orientation anisotropy. The current work evaluated whether digital visual experience, or visual experience with framed digital content, has the potential to alter the magnitude of the oblique effect in visual perception. Experiment 1 successfully established a novel eye-tracking method capable of indexing the visual oblique effect quickly and reliably and demonstrated the oblique effect. Experiment 2 used this method and found that one session of exposure to a specific video game altered visual orientation perception. Taken together, these results indicate that exposure to the realistic, but caricatured scene statistics of digital screen media, can alter visual contour perception in one session.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D Hipp
- VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, United States.,Binghamton University, United States
| | - S Olsen
- Binghamton University, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
68
|
Gowen E, Jachim S, Subri S, Dickinson C, Hamblin-Pyke B, Warren PA. Collinear facilitation and contour integration in autistic adults: Examining lateral and feedback connectivity. Vision Res 2020; 177:56-67. [PMID: 32977182 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 07/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Alongside difficulties with communication and social interaction, autism is often accompanied by unusual sensory and perceptual experiences including enhanced visual performance on tasks that involve separating local parts from global context. This superiority may be the result of atypical integrative processing, involving feedback and lateral connections between visual neurons. The current study investigated the integrity of these connections in autistic adults by examining two psychophysics tasks that rely on these processes - collinear facilitation and contour integration. The relative contribution of feedback and lateral connectivity was studied by altering the timing of the target relative to the flankers in the collinear facilitation task, in 16 autistic and 16 non-autistic adults. There were no significant differences in facilitation between the autistic and non-autistic groups, indicating that for this task and participant sample, lateral and feedback connectivity appear relatively intact in autistic individuals. Contour integration was examined in a different group of 20 autistic and 18 non-autistic individuals, for open and closed contours to assess the closure effect (improved detection of closed compared to open contours). Autistic individuals showed a reduced closure effect at both short (150 ms) and longer (500 ms) stimulus presentation durations that was driven by better performance of the autistic group for the open contours. These results suggest that reduced closure in a simple contour detection paradigm is unlikely to be due to slower global processing. Reduced closure has implications for understanding sensory overload by contributing to reduced figure-ground segregation of salient visual features.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Gowen
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
| | - Stephen Jachim
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Sabrina Subri
- Center of Optometry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Cawangan Selangor, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Christine Dickinson
- Division of Optometry, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Benjamin Hamblin-Pyke
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Paul A Warren
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| |
Collapse
|
69
|
Abstract
The physiological response properties of neurons in the visual system are inherited mainly from feedforward inputs. Interestingly, feedback inputs often outnumber feedforward inputs. Although they are numerous, feedback connections are weaker, slower, and considered to be modulatory, in contrast to fast, high-efficacy feedforward connections. Accordingly, the functional role of feedback in visual processing has remained a fundamental mystery in vision science. At the core of this mystery are questions about whether feedback circuits regulate spatial receptive field properties versus temporal responses among target neurons, or whether feedback serves a more global role in arousal or attention. These proposed functions are not mutually exclusive, and there is compelling evidence to support multiple functional roles for feedback. In this review, the role of feedback in vision will be explored mainly from the perspective of corticothalamic feedback. Further generalized principles of feedback applicable to corticocortical connections will also be considered.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Farran Briggs
- Departments of Neuroscience and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
70
|
Baldwin AS, Kenwood M, Hess RF. Integration of contours defined by second-order contrast-modulation of texture. Vision Res 2020; 176:1-15. [PMID: 32750557 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Boundaries in the visual world can be defined by changes in luminance and texture in the input image. A "contour integration" process joins together local changes into percepts of lines or edges. A previous study tested the integration of contours defined by second-order contrast-modulation. Their contours were placed in a background of random wavelets. Participants performed near chance. We re-visited second-order contour integration with a different task. Participants distinguished contours with "good continuation" from distractors. We measured thresholds in different amounts of external orientation or position noise. This gave two noise-masking functions. We also measured thresholds for contours with a baseline curvature to assess performance with more curvy targets. Our participants were able to discriminate the good continuation of second-order contours. Thresholds were higher than for first-order contours. In our modelling, we found this was due to multiple factors. There was a doubling of equivalent internal noise between first- and second-order contour integration. There was also a reduction in efficiency. The efficiency difference was only significant in our orientation noise condition. For both first- and second-order stimuli, participants were also able to perform our task with more curved contours. We conclude that humans can integrate second-order contours, even when they are curved. There is however reduced performance compared to first-order contours. We find both an impaired input to the integrating mechanism, and reduced efficiency seem responsible. Second-order contour integration may be more affected by the noise background used in the previous study. Difficulty segregating that background may explain their result.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alex S Baldwin
- McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Madeleine Kenwood
- McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Robert F Hess
- McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
71
|
Krug K. Coding Perceptual Decisions: From Single Units to Emergent Signaling Properties in Cortical Circuits. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2020; 6:387-409. [PMID: 32600168 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-030320-041223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Spiking activity in single neurons of the primate visual cortex has been tightly linked to perceptual decisions. Any mechanism that reads out these perceptual signals to support behavior must respect the underlying neuroanatomy that shapes the functional properties of sensory neurons. Spatial distribution and timing of inputs to the next processing levels are critical, as conjoint activity of precursor neurons increases the spiking rate of downstream neurons and ultimately drives behavior. I set out how correlated activity might coalesce into a micropool of task-sensitive neurons signaling a particular percept to determine perceptual decision signals locally and for flexible interarea transmission depending on the task context. As data from more and more neurons and their complex interactions are analyzed, the space of computational mechanisms must be constrained based on what is plausible within neurobiological limits. This review outlines experiments to test the new perspectives offered by these extended methods.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristine Krug
- Lehrstuhl für Sensorische Physiologie, Institut für Biologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany; .,Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany.,Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PT, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
72
|
Zagha E. Shaping the Cortical Landscape: Functions and Mechanisms of Top-Down Cortical Feedback Pathways. Front Syst Neurosci 2020; 14:33. [PMID: 32587506 PMCID: PMC7299084 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2020.00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical feedback pathways are proposed to guide cognition and behavior according to context and goal-direction. At the cellular level, cortical feedback pathways target multiple excitatory and inhibitory populations. However, we currently lack frameworks that link how the cellular mechanisms of cortical feedback pathways underlie their cognitive/behavioral functions. To establish this link, we expand on the framework of signal routing, the ability of cortical feedback pathways to proactively modulate how feedforward signals are propagated throughout the cortex. We propose that cortical feedback modulates routing through multiple mechanisms: preparing intended motor representations, setting the trigger conditions for evoking cortical outputs, altering coupling strengths between cortical regions, and suppressing expected sensory representations. In developing this framework, we first define the anatomy of cortical feedback pathways and identify recent advances in studying their functions at high specificity and resolution. Second, we review the diverse functions of cortical feedback pathways throughout the cortical hierarchy and evaluate these functions from the framework of signal routing. Third, we review the conserved cellular targets and circuit impacts of cortical feedback. Fourth, we introduce the concept of the “cortical landscape,” a graphical depiction of the routes through cortex that are favored at a specific moment in time. We propose that the cortical landscape, analogous to energy landscapes in physics and chemistry, can capture important features of signal routing including coupling strength, trigger conditions, and preparatory states. By resolving the cortical landscape, we may be able to quantify how the cellular processes of cortical feedback ultimately shape cognition and behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edward Zagha
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
73
|
Layer-dependent functional connectivity methods. Prog Neurobiol 2020; 207:101835. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
|
74
|
Henry CA, Jazayeri M, Shapley RM, Hawken MJ. Distinct spatiotemporal mechanisms underlie extra-classical receptive field modulation in macaque V1 microcircuits. eLife 2020; 9:54264. [PMID: 32458798 PMCID: PMC7253173 DOI: 10.7554/elife.54264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Complex scene perception depends upon the interaction between signals from the classical receptive field (CRF) and the extra-classical receptive field (eCRF) in primary visual cortex (V1) neurons. Although much is known about V1 eCRF properties, we do not yet know how the underlying mechanisms map onto the cortical microcircuit. We probed the spatio-temporal dynamics of eCRF modulation using a reverse correlation paradigm, and found three principal eCRF mechanisms: tuned-facilitation, untuned-suppression, and tuned-suppression. Each mechanism had a distinct timing and spatial profile. Laminar analysis showed that the timing, orientation-tuning, and strength of eCRF mechanisms had distinct signatures within magnocellular and parvocellular processing streams in the V1 microcircuit. The existence of multiple eCRF mechanisms provides new insights into how V1 responds to spatial context. Modeling revealed that the differences in timing and scale of these mechanisms predicted distinct patterns of net modulation, reconciling many previous disparate physiological and psychophysical findings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Henry
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, United States.,Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United States
| | - Mehrdad Jazayeri
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
| | - Robert M Shapley
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, United States
| | - Michael J Hawken
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, United States
| |
Collapse
|
75
|
Vanni S, Hokkanen H, Werner F, Angelucci A. Anatomy and Physiology of Macaque Visual Cortical Areas V1, V2, and V5/MT: Bases for Biologically Realistic Models. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:3483-3517. [PMID: 31897474 PMCID: PMC7233004 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The cerebral cortex of primates encompasses multiple anatomically and physiologically distinct areas processing visual information. Areas V1, V2, and V5/MT are conserved across mammals and are central for visual behavior. To facilitate the generation of biologically accurate computational models of primate early visual processing, here we provide an overview of over 350 published studies of these three areas in the genus Macaca, whose visual system provides the closest model for human vision. The literature reports 14 anatomical connection types from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus to V1 having distinct layers of origin or termination, and 194 connection types between V1, V2, and V5, forming multiple parallel and interacting visual processing streams. Moreover, within V1, there are reports of 286 and 120 types of intrinsic excitatory and inhibitory connections, respectively. Physiologically, tuning of neuronal responses to 11 types of visual stimulus parameters has been consistently reported. Overall, the optimal spatial frequency (SF) of constituent neurons decreases with cortical hierarchy. Moreover, V5 neurons are distinct from neurons in other areas for their higher direction selectivity, higher contrast sensitivity, higher temporal frequency tuning, and wider SF bandwidth. We also discuss currently unavailable data that could be useful for biologically accurate models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simo Vanni
- HUS Neurocenter, Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Henri Hokkanen
- HUS Neurocenter, Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Francesca Werner
- HUS Neurocenter, Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessandra Angelucci
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| |
Collapse
|
76
|
A hierarchical model of perceptual multistability involving interocular grouping. J Comput Neurosci 2020; 48:177-192. [PMID: 32338341 DOI: 10.1007/s10827-020-00743-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Ambiguous visual images can generate dynamic and stochastic switches in perceptual interpretation known as perceptual rivalry. Such dynamics have primarily been studied in the context of rivalry between two percepts, but there is growing interest in the neural mechanisms that drive rivalry between more than two percepts. In recent experiments, we showed that split images presented to each eye lead to subjects perceiving four stochastically alternating percepts (Jacot-Guillarmod et al. Vision research, 133, 37-46, 2017): two single eye images and two interocularly grouped images. Here we propose a hierarchical neural network model that exhibits dynamics consistent with our experimental observations. The model consists of two levels, with the first representing monocular activity, and the second representing activity in higher visual areas. The model produces stochastically switching solutions, whose dependence on task parameters is consistent with four generalized Levelt Propositions, and with experiments. Moreover, dynamics restricted to invariant subspaces of the model demonstrate simpler forms of bistable rivalry. Thus, our hierarchical model generalizes past, validated models of binocular rivalry. This neuromechanistic model also allows us to probe the roles of interactions between populations at the network level. Generalized Levelt's Propositions hold as long as feedback from the higher to lower visual areas is weak, and the adaptation and mutual inhibition at the higher level is not too strong. Our results suggest constraints on the architecture of the visual system and show that complex visual stimuli can be used in perceptual rivalry experiments to develop more detailed mechanistic models of perceptual processing.
Collapse
|
77
|
Vinke LN, Yazdanbakhsh A. Lightness induction enhancements and limitations at low frequency modulations across a variety of stimulus contexts. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8918. [PMID: 32351782 PMCID: PMC7183748 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Lightness illusions are often studied under static viewing conditions with figures varying in geometric design, containing different types of perceptual grouping and figure-ground cues. A few studies have explored the perception of lightness induction while modulating lightness illusions continuously in time, where changes in perceived lightness are often linked to the temporal modulation frequency, up to around 2–4 Hz. These findings support the concept of a cut-off frequency for lightness induction. However, another critical change (enhancement) in the magnitude of perceived lightness during slower temporal modulation conditions has not been addressed in previous temporal modulation studies. Moreover, it remains unclear whether this critical change applies to a variety of lightness illusion stimuli, and the degree to which different stimulus configurations can demonstrate enhanced lightness induction in low modulation frequencies. Therefore, we measured lightness induction strength by having participants cancel out any perceived modulation in lightness detected over time within a central target region, while the surrounding context, which ultimately drives the lightness illusion, was viewed in a static state or modulated continuously in time over a low frequency range (0.25–2 Hz). In general, lightness induction decreased as temporal modulation frequency was increased, with the strongest perceived lightness induction occurring at lower modulation frequencies for visual illusions with strong grouping and figure-ground cues. When compared to static viewing conditions, we found that slow continuous surround modulation induces a strong and significant increase in perceived lightness for multiple types of lightness induction stimuli. Stimuli with perceptually ambiguous grouping and figure-ground cues showed weaker effects of slow modulation lightness enhancement. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to the existence of a cut-off frequency, an additional critical temporal modulation frequency of lightness induction exists (0.25–0.5 Hz), which instead maximally enhances lightness induction and seems to be contingent upon the prevalence of figure-ground and grouping organization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Louis Nicholas Vinke
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Systems Neuroscience (CSN), Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Arash Yazdanbakhsh
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Systems Neuroscience (CSN), Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
78
|
Movahedian Attar F, Kirilina E, Haenelt D, Pine KJ, Trampel R, Edwards LJ, Weiskopf N. Mapping Short Association Fibers in the Early Cortical Visual Processing Stream Using In Vivo Diffusion Tractography. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:4496-4514. [PMID: 32297628 PMCID: PMC7325803 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Short association fibers (U-fibers) connect proximal cortical areas and constitute the majority of white matter connections in the human brain. U-fibers play an important role in brain development, function, and pathology but are underrepresented in current descriptions of the human brain connectome, primarily due to methodological challenges in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) of these fibers. High spatial resolution and dedicated fiber and tractography models are required to reliably map the U-fibers. Moreover, limited quantitative knowledge of their geometry and distribution makes validation of U-fiber tractography challenging. Submillimeter resolution diffusion MRI—facilitated by a cutting-edge MRI scanner with 300 mT/m maximum gradient amplitude—was used to map U-fiber connectivity between primary and secondary visual cortical areas (V1 and V2, respectively) in vivo. V1 and V2 retinotopic maps were obtained using functional MRI at 7T. The mapped V1–V2 connectivity was retinotopically organized, demonstrating higher connectivity for retinotopically corresponding areas in V1 and V2 as expected. The results were highly reproducible, as demonstrated by repeated measurements in the same participants and by an independent replication group study. This study demonstrates a robust U-fiber connectivity mapping in vivo and is an important step toward construction of a more complete human brain connectome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fakhereh Movahedian Attar
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Evgeniya Kirilina
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Education and Psychology, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Free University Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel Haenelt
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerrin J Pine
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Trampel
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luke J Edwards
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
79
|
van Dijk JA, Fracasso A, Petridou N, Dumoulin SO. Linear systems analysis for laminar fMRI: Evaluating BOLD amplitude scaling for luminance contrast manipulations. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5462. [PMID: 32214136 PMCID: PMC7096513 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62165-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
A fundamental assumption of nearly all functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses is that the relationship between local neuronal activity and the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal can be described as following linear systems theory. With the advent of ultra-high field (7T and higher) MRI scanners, it has become possible to perform sub-millimeter resolution fMRI in humans. A novel and promising application of sub-millimeter fMRI is measuring responses across cortical depth, i.e. laminar imaging. However, the cortical vasculature and associated directional blood pooling towards the pial surface strongly influence the cortical depth-dependent BOLD signal, particularly for gradient-echo BOLD. This directional pooling may potentially affect BOLD linearity across cortical depth. Here we assess whether the amplitude scaling assumption for linear systems theory holds across cortical depth. For this, we use stimuli with different luminance contrasts to elicit different BOLD response amplitudes. We find that BOLD amplitude across cortical depth scales with luminance contrast, and that this scaling is identical across cortical depth. Although nonlinearities may be present for different stimulus configurations and acquisition protocols, our results suggest that the amplitude scaling assumption for linear systems theory across cortical depth holds for luminance contrast manipulations in sub-millimeter laminar BOLD fMRI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jelle A van Dijk
- Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL, Netherlands.
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, NL, Netherlands.
| | - Alessio Fracasso
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, NL, Netherlands
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK
- Radiology Department, Imaging Division, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, NL, Netherlands
| | - Natalia Petridou
- Radiology Department, Imaging Division, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, NL, Netherlands
| | - Serge O Dumoulin
- Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL, Netherlands
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, NL, Netherlands
- Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, NL, Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
80
|
Neurophysiological basis of contrast dependent BOLD orientation tuning. Neuroimage 2020; 206:116323. [PMID: 31678228 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work in early visual cortex of humans has shown that the BOLD signal exhibits contrast dependent orientation tuning, with an inverse oblique effect (oblique > cardinal) at high contrast and a horizontal effect (vertical > horizontal) at low contrast. This finding is at odds with decades of neurophysiological research demonstrating contrast invariant orientation tuning in primate visual cortex, yet the source of this discrepancy is unclear. We hypothesized that contrast dependent BOLD orientation tuning may arise due to contrast dependent influences of feedforward (FF) and feedback (FB) synaptic activity, indexed through gamma and alpha rhythms, respectively. To quantify this, we acquired EEG and BOLD in healthy humans to generate and compare orientation tuning curves across all neural frequency bands with BOLD. As expected, BOLD orientation selectivity in V1 was contrast dependent, preferring oblique orientations at high contrast and vertical at low contrast. On the other hand, EEG orientation tuning was contrast invariant, though frequency-specific, with an inverse-oblique effect in the gamma band (FF) and a horizontal effect in the alpha band (FB). Therefore, high-contrast BOLD orientation tuning closely matched FF activity, while at low contrast, BOLD best resembled FB orientation tuning. These results suggest that contrast dependent BOLD orientation tuning arises due to the reduced contribution of FF input to overall neurophysiological activity at low contrast, shifting BOLD orientation tuning towards the orientation preferences of FB at low contrast.
Collapse
|
81
|
Abstract
Visual perception is systematically biased towards input from the recent past: perceived orientation, numerosity, and face identity are pulled towards previously seen stimuli. To better understand the brain level at which serial dependence occurs, the present study examined its spatial tuning. In three experiments, serial dependence occurred between stimuli occupying the same retinal position. Serial dependence between stimuli at distant retinal locations was smaller, even when the stimuli occupied the same location in external space. The spatial window over which serial dependence occurs is thus retinotopic, but wide, suggesting that serial dependence occurs at late stages of visual processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thérèse Collins
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, Université de Paris & CNRS, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006, Paris, France.
| |
Collapse
|
82
|
Chan YM, Brooks CJ, McKendrick AM. Impacts of older age on the temporal properties of collinear facilitation. J Vis 2019; 19:5. [PMID: 31826250 DOI: 10.1167/19.14.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Collinear facilitation is a visual phenomenon by which the contrast detection threshold of a central target is reduced (facilitation) when placed equidistant between two high-contrast flankers. The neural mechanisms underpinning this phenomenon originate from feed-forward lateral facilitation between cell layers in V1 (slower) and feedback facilitation from extrastriate visual areas to V1 (faster). The strength of these contributions has been explored in younger adults by presenting the central target and flankers at varying timing offsets. Here, we investigated the effects of older age on collinear facilitation with flankers presented in sync, before, and after target onset, to allow the inference of any characteristic effect of older age on feed-forward and feedback facilitatory mechanisms. Seventeen older and 19 younger observers participated. Our data confirms previous findings of an age-related reduction in facilitation when flankers and target occur at synchrony, but no age difference was found at other timings. Marked interindividual variability in facilitation for the different flanker onset timings was present, which was repeatable within individuals. Further research is required to ascertain the mechanistic underpinnings for different facilitation profiles between individuals. Longitudinal study across an individual's life span is needed to determine whether an individual's facilitation profile changes with age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Man Chan
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Cassandra J Brooks
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Allison M McKendrick
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
83
|
Capparelli F, Pawelzik K, Ernst U. Constrained inference in sparse coding reproduces contextual effects and predicts laminar neural dynamics. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1007370. [PMID: 31581240 PMCID: PMC6793885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
When probed with complex stimuli that extend beyond their classical receptive field, neurons in primary visual cortex display complex and non-linear response characteristics. Sparse coding models reproduce some of the observed contextual effects, but still fail to provide a satisfactory explanation in terms of realistic neural structures and cortical mechanisms, since the connection scheme they propose consists only of interactions among neurons with overlapping input fields. Here we propose an extended generative model for visual scenes that includes spatial dependencies among different features. We derive a neurophysiologically realistic inference scheme under the constraint that neurons have direct access only to local image information. The scheme can be interpreted as a network in primary visual cortex where two neural populations are organized in different layers within orientation hypercolumns that are connected by local, short-range and long-range recurrent interactions. When trained with natural images, the model predicts a connectivity structure linking neurons with similar orientation preferences matching the typical patterns found for long-ranging horizontal axons and feedback projections in visual cortex. Subjected to contextual stimuli typically used in empirical studies, our model replicates several hallmark effects of contextual processing and predicts characteristic differences for surround modulation between the two model populations. In summary, our model provides a novel framework for contextual processing in the visual system proposing a well-defined functional role for horizontal axons and feedback projections.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Federica Capparelli
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Klaus Pawelzik
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Udo Ernst
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
84
|
Maróthi R, Csigó K, Kéri S. Early-Stage Vision and Perceptual Imagery in Autism Spectrum Conditions. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:337. [PMID: 31632255 PMCID: PMC6781947 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are characterized by multifaceted alterations in visual perception and mental imagery. However, the interaction between early-stage visual perception and imagery has not been explored. We recruited 40 individuals with ASC and 20 neurotypical control volunteers to participate in a lateral masking task. Participants detected a luminance-contrast target pattern (Gabor patch) flanked by two collinear masks. The flanking masks inhibit target detection at small target-mask distances and facilitate target detection at intermediate target-mask distances. In the perceptual task, the masks appeared adjacent to the target. In the imagery task, participants imagined the masks immediately after seeing them. Results revealed that individuals with ASC characterized by exceptional visuoconstructional abilities (enhanced Block Design performance; n = 20) showed weaker inhibition at small target-mask distances and stronger facilitation at intermediate target-mask distances relative to the controls. Visual imagery was markedly dampened in ASC regardless of the visuoconstructional abilities. At the behavioral level, these results indicate increased facilitation via lateral connections in the primary visual cortex (V1) of individuals with ASC who exhibit exceptional visuoconstructional abilities, together with less efficient mental imagery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebeka Maróthi
- Nyírö Gyula National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Katalin Csigó
- Nyírö Gyula National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Szabolcs Kéri
- Nyírö Gyula National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Physiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
85
|
Development of Center-Surround Suppression in Infant Motion Processing. Curr Biol 2019; 29:3059-3064.e2. [PMID: 31495583 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Motion direction of a large high-contrast pattern is more difficult to perceive than that of a small one [1]. This counterintuitive perceptual phenomenon is considered to reflect surround suppression, a receptive field property observed in the visual cortex [2-5]. Here, we demonstrate that this phenomenon can be observed in human infants. Infants at 7 to 8 months of age showed higher sensitivity for a small motion stimulus than for a large one. However, infants under 6 months showed the opposite result; motion sensitivity was higher for a large stimulus. These results suggest that suppressive surround regions beyond classical receptive fields develop in the second half of the first year. Moreover, we examined the size of spatial summation in infants and found that the spatial summation area shrinks from 3 to 8 months of age. Our findings suggest that the summation area for motion is broad with no surround suppression in early infancy and that it narrows and acquires suppressive surround regions in the first year of life, which might reflect the developmental changes in the receptive field structure.
Collapse
|
86
|
Andrei AR, Pojoga S, Janz R, Dragoi V. Integration of cortical population signals for visual perception. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3832. [PMID: 31444323 PMCID: PMC6707195 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11736-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual stimuli evoke heterogeneous responses across nearby neural populations. These signals must be locally integrated to contribute to perception, but the principles underlying this process are unknown. Here, we exploit the systematic organization of orientation preference in macaque primary visual cortex (V1) and perform causal manipulations to examine the limits of signal integration. Optogenetic stimulation and visual stimuli are used to simultaneously drive two neural populations with overlapping receptive fields. We report that optogenetic stimulation raises firing rates uniformly across conditions, but improves the detection of visual stimuli only when activating cells that are preferentially-tuned to the visual stimulus. Further, we show that changes in correlated variability are exclusively present when the optogenetically and visually-activated populations are functionally-proximal, suggesting that correlation changes represent a hallmark of signal integration. Our results demonstrate that information from functionally-proximal neurons is pooled for perception, but functionally-distal signals remain independent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ariana R Andrei
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas-Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Sorin Pojoga
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas-Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Roger Janz
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas-Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Valentin Dragoi
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas-Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
87
|
Lawrence SJ, Formisano E, Muckli L, de Lange FP. Laminar fMRI: Applications for cognitive neuroscience. Neuroimage 2019; 197:785-791. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Revised: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
|
88
|
Tripp B. Approximating the Architecture of Visual Cortex in a Convolutional Network. Neural Comput 2019; 31:1551-1591. [PMID: 31260392 DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_01211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have certain structural, mechanistic, representational, and functional parallels with primate visual cortex and also many differences. However, perhaps some of the differences can be reconciled. This study develops a cortex-like CNN architecture, via (1) a loss function that quantifies the consistency of a CNN architecture with neural data from tract tracing, cell reconstruction, and electrophysiology studies; (2) a hyperparameter-optimization approach for reducing this loss, and (3) heuristics for organizing units into convolutional-layer grids. The optimized hyperparameters are consistent with neural data. The cortex-like architecture differs from typical CNN architectures. In particular, it has longer skip connections, larger kernels and strides, and qualitatively different connection sparsity. Importantly, layers of the cortex-like network have one-to-one correspondences with cortical neuron populations. This should allow unambiguous comparison of model and brain representations in the future and, consequently, more precise measurement of progress toward more biologically realistic deep networks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Tripp
- Department of Systems Design Engineering and Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
| |
Collapse
|
89
|
Tone frequency representation beyond the tonotopic map: Cross-correlation between ongoing activity in the rat auditory cortex. Neuroscience 2019; 409:35-42. [PMID: 31026562 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.04.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Functional maps play crucial roles in the neural representations of the sensory cortices, although such representations occasionally extend beyond these maps. For example, the auditory cortex exhibits distinct tonotopic activation at the onset of tone, which is followed by rapid decays in the majority of neuronal signals and ongoing activities in only a small number of neurons. Such ongoing activity should be maintained by the cortical states. To better understand maintenance of ongoing activity beyond that triggered directly by stimuli, we used a rat model. Here, we hypothesized that neural correlations between local field potentials (LFPs) within a local area of the auditory cortex may serve as a measure of the cortical state underlying ongoing activity. We densely mapped the auditory cortex of rats and demonstrated that cross-correlation patterns of ongoing activity were highly decodable. Informative features were widely distributed over the auditory cortex and across multiple frequency bands. Furthermore, acoustic trauma disrupted tonotopic representation at the onset but did not affect neural representations by the correlation of ongoing activities. These results suggest that cross-correlations of LFP within the auditory cortex represent frequencies of sustained auditory stimuli, and that these representations are made beyond direct tonotopic activation at stimulus onset.
Collapse
|
90
|
Li M, Song XM, Xu T, Hu D, Roe AW, Li CY. Subdomains within orientation columns of primary visual cortex. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaaw0807. [PMID: 31183405 PMCID: PMC6551190 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw0807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In the mammalian visual system, early stages of visual form processing begin with orientation-selective neurons in primary visual cortex (V1). In many species (including humans, monkeys, tree shrews, cats, and ferrets), these neurons are organized in a beautifully arrayed pinwheel-like orientation columns, which shift in orientation preference across V1. However, to date, the relationship of orientation architecture to the encoding of multiple elemental aspects of visual contours is still unknown. Here, using a novel, highly accurate method of targeting electrode position, we report for the first time the presence of three subdomains within single orientation domains. We suggest that these zones subserve computation of distinct aspects of visual contours and propose a novel tripartite pinwheel-centered view of an orientation hypercolumn.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Li
- College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
| | - Xue Mei Song
- Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Tao Xu
- Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
- School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325027, China
| | - Dewen Hu
- College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
| | - Anna Wang Roe
- Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Chao-Yi Li
- College of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
- Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
| |
Collapse
|
91
|
From receptive profiles to a metric model of V1. J Comput Neurosci 2019; 46:257-277. [PMID: 30980214 DOI: 10.1007/s10827-019-00716-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Revised: 02/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
In this work we show how to construct connectivity kernels induced by the receptive profiles of simple cells of the primary visual cortex (V1). These kernels are directly defined by the shape of such profiles: this provides a metric model for the functional architecture of V1, whose global geometry is determined by the reciprocal interactions between local elements. Our construction adapts to any bank of filters chosen to represent a set of receptive profiles, since it does not require any structure on the parameterization of the family. The connectivity kernel that we define carries a geometrical structure consistent with the well-known properties of long-range horizontal connections in V1, and it is compatible with the perceptual rules synthesized by the concept of association field. These characteristics are still present when the kernel is constructed from a bank of filters arising from an unsupervised learning algorithm.
Collapse
|
92
|
Abstract
Contrast-based early visual processing has largely been considered to involve autonomous processes that do not need the support of cognitive resources. However, as spatial attention is known to modulate early visual perceptual processing, we explored whether cognitive load could similarly impact contrast-based perception. We used a dual-task paradigm to assess the impact of a concurrent working memory task on the performance of three different early visual tasks. The results from Experiment 1 suggest that cognitive load can modulate early visual processing. No effects of cognitive load were seen in Experiments 2 or 3. Together, the findings provide evidence that under some circumstances cognitive load effects can penetrate the early stages of visual processing and that higher cognitive function and early perceptual processing may not be as independent as was once thought.
Collapse
|
93
|
Bressloff PC. Stochastic neural field model of stimulus-dependent variability in cortical neurons. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006755. [PMID: 30883546 PMCID: PMC6438587 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
We use stochastic neural field theory to analyze the stimulus-dependent tuning of neural variability in ring attractor networks. We apply perturbation methods to show how the neural field equations can be reduced to a pair of stochastic nonlinear phase equations describing the stochastic wandering of spontaneously formed tuning curves or bump solutions. These equations are analyzed using a modified version of the bivariate von Mises distribution, which is well-known in the theory of circular statistics. We first consider a single ring network and derive a simple mathematical expression that accounts for the experimentally observed bimodal (or M-shaped) tuning of neural variability. We then explore the effects of inter-network coupling on stimulus-dependent variability in a pair of ring networks. These could represent populations of cells in two different layers of a cortical hypercolumn linked via vertical synaptic connections, or two different cortical hypercolumns linked by horizontal patchy connections within the same layer. We find that neural variability can be suppressed or facilitated, depending on whether the inter-network coupling is excitatory or inhibitory, and on the relative strengths and biases of the external stimuli to the two networks. These results are consistent with the general observation that increasing the mean firing rate via external stimuli or modulating drives tends to reduce neural variability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul C. Bressloff
- Department of Mathematics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| |
Collapse
|
94
|
Semedo JD, Zandvakili A, Machens CK, Yu BM, Kohn A. Cortical Areas Interact through a Communication Subspace. Neuron 2019; 102:249-259.e4. [PMID: 30770252 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Revised: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Most brain functions involve interactions among multiple, distinct areas or nuclei. For instance, visual processing in primates requires the appropriate relaying of signals across many distinct cortical areas. Yet our understanding of how populations of neurons in interconnected brain areas communicate is in its infancy. Here we investigate how trial-to-trial fluctuations of population responses in primary visual cortex (V1) are related to simultaneously recorded population responses in area V2. Using dimensionality reduction methods, we find that V1-V2 interactions occur through a communication subspace: V2 fluctuations are related to a small subset of V1 population activity patterns, distinct from the largest fluctuations shared among neurons within V1. In contrast, interactions between subpopulations within V1 are less selective. We propose that the communication subspace may be a general, population-level mechanism by which activity can be selectively routed across brain areas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- João D Semedo
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal.
| | - Amin Zandvakili
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Christian K Machens
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Byron M Yu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Adam Kohn
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
95
|
Li Y, Wang Y, Li S. Recurrent Processing of Contour Integration in the Human Visual Cortex as Revealed By fMRI-Guided TMS. Cereb Cortex 2019; 29:17-26. [PMID: 29161359 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Contour integration is a critical step in visual perception because it groups discretely local elements into perceptually global contours. Previous investigations have suggested that striate and extrastriate visual areas are involved in this mid-level processing of visual perception. However, the temporal dynamics of these areas in the human brain during contour integration is less understood. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to briefly disrupt 1 of 2 visual areas (V1/V2 and V3B) and examined the causal contributions of these areas to contour detection. The results demonstrated that the earliest critical time window at which behavioral detection performance was impaired by TMS pluses differed between V1/V2 and V3B. The first critical window of V3B (90-110 ms after stimulus onset) was earlier than that of V1/V2 (120-140 ms after stimulus onset), thus indicating that feedback connection from higher to lower area was necessary for complete contour integration. These results suggested that the fine processing of contour-related information in V1/V2 follows the generation of a coarse template in the higher visual areas, such as V3B. Our findings provide direct causal evidence that a recurrent mechanism is necessary for the integration of contours from cluttered background in the human brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ya Li
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yonghui Wang
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Sheng Li
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.,PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
96
|
Schmidt M, Bakker R, Shen K, Bezgin G, Diesmann M, van Albada SJ. A multi-scale layer-resolved spiking network model of resting-state dynamics in macaque visual cortical areas. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1006359. [PMID: 30335761 PMCID: PMC6193609 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical activity has distinct features across scales, from the spiking statistics of individual cells to global resting-state networks. We here describe the first full-density multi-area spiking network model of cortex, using macaque visual cortex as a test system. The model represents each area by a microcircuit with area-specific architecture and features layer- and population-resolved connectivity between areas. Simulations reveal a structured asynchronous irregular ground state. In a metastable regime, the network reproduces spiking statistics from electrophysiological recordings and cortico-cortical interaction patterns in fMRI functional connectivity under resting-state conditions. Stable inter-area propagation is supported by cortico-cortical synapses that are moderately strong onto excitatory neurons and stronger onto inhibitory neurons. Causal interactions depend on both cortical structure and the dynamical state of populations. Activity propagates mainly in the feedback direction, similar to experimental results associated with visual imagery and sleep. The model unifies local and large-scale accounts of cortex, and clarifies how the detailed connectivity of cortex shapes its dynamics on multiple scales. Based on our simulations, we hypothesize that in the spontaneous condition the brain operates in a metastable regime where cortico-cortical projections target excitatory and inhibitory populations in a balanced manner that produces substantial inter-area interactions while maintaining global stability. The mammalian cortex fulfills its complex tasks by operating on multiple temporal and spatial scales from single cells to entire areas comprising millions of cells. These multi-scale dynamics are supported by specific network structures at all levels of organization. Since models of cortex hitherto tend to concentrate on a single scale, little is known about how cortical structure shapes the multi-scale dynamics of the network. We here present dynamical simulations of a multi-area network model at neuronal and synaptic resolution with population-specific connectivity based on extensive experimental data which accounts for a wide range of dynamical phenomena. Our model elucidates relationships between local and global scales in cortex and provides a platform for future studies of cortical function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Schmidt
- Laboratory for Neural Coding and Brain Computing, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako-Shi, Saitama, Japan
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Rembrandt Bakker
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Kelly Shen
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gleb Bezgin
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Markus Diesmann
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Sacha Jennifer van Albada
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
97
|
Bijanzadeh M, Nurminen L, Merlin S, Clark AM, Angelucci A. Distinct Laminar Processing of Local and Global Context in Primate Primary Visual Cortex. Neuron 2018; 100:259-274.e4. [PMID: 30220509 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Revised: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 08/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Visual perception is affected by spatial context. In visual cortex, neuronal responses to stimuli inside the receptive field (RF) are suppressed by stimuli in the RF surround. To understand the circuits and cortical layers processing spatial context, we simultaneously recorded across all layers of macaque primary visual cortex while presenting stimuli at increasing distances from the recorded cells' RF. We find that near versus far-surround stimuli activate distinct layers, thus revealing unique laminar contributions to the processing of local and global spatial context. Stimuli in the near-surround evoke the earliest subthreshold responses in superficial and upper-deep layers, and earliest suppression of spiking responses in superficial layers. Conversely, far-surround stimuli evoke the earliest subthreshold responses in feedback-recipient layer 1 and lower-deep layers, and earliest suppression of spiking responses almost simultaneously in all layers, except 4C, where suppression emerges last. Our results suggest distinct circuits for local and global signal integration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Bijanzadeh
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| | - Lauri Nurminen
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| | - Sam Merlin
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| | - Andrew M Clark
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| | - Alessandra Angelucci
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
98
|
Lange G, Lowet E, Roberts MJ, De Weerd P. Within-quadrant position and orientation specificity after extensive orientation discrimination learning is related to performance gains during late learning. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201520. [PMID: 30199523 PMCID: PMC6130862 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The last decade has seen the emergence of new views about the mechanisms underlying specificity (or, conversely, generalization) of visual skill learning. Here, we trained participants at orientation discrimination paradigm at a peripheral position to induce position and orientation specificity and to test its underlying mechanisms. Specifically, we aimed to test whether the within-quadrant spatial gradient of generalization is determined by cortical magnification, which would show that retinotopic plasticity contributes to learning and specificity. Additionally, we aimed to test whether late parts of the learning relate differently to specificity compared to early parts. This is relevant in the context of double training papers, which suggest that rule-based mechanisms of specificity in fast, early learning also would apply to late, slower learning. Our data showed partial but significant position and orientation specificity within quadrants. Interestingly, specificity was greatest for those participants who had continued to show threshold decreases during the last five sessions of training (late, asymptotic learning). Performance gains during early learning were less related to specificity. A trend for skill to spread over larger distances towards periphery than towards central vision suggested contributions to transfer of early visual areas showing cortical magnification of central vision. Control experiments however did not support this hypothesis. In summary, our study demonstrates significant specificity after extensive perceptual learning, and indicates that asymptotic learning recruits specific mechanisms that promote specificity, and that may not be recruited yet in early parts of the learning. The contributions of different mechanisms to early and late learning suggests that following these different learning periods, generalization relies on different principles and is subjected to different limits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gesa Lange
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Eric Lowet
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Mark J. Roberts
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Peter De Weerd
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Maastricht Centre for Systems Biology (MaCSBio), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
99
|
Milleret C, Bui Quoc E. Beyond Rehabilitation of Acuity, Ocular Alignment, and Binocularity in Infantile Strabismus. Front Syst Neurosci 2018; 12:29. [PMID: 30072876 PMCID: PMC6058758 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Infantile strabismus impairs the perception of all attributes of the visual scene. High spatial frequency components are no longer visible, leading to amblyopia. Binocularity is altered, leading to the loss of stereopsis. Spatial perception is impaired as well as detection of vertical orientation, the fastest movements, directions of movement, the highest contrasts and colors. Infantile strabismus also affects other vision-dependent processes such as control of postural stability. But presently, rehabilitative therapies for infantile strabismus by ophthalmologists, orthoptists and optometrists are restricted to preventing or curing amblyopia of the deviated eye, aligning the eyes and, whenever possible, preserving or restoring binocular vision during the critical period of development, i.e., before ~10 years of age. All the other impairments are thus ignored; whether they may recover after strabismus treatment even remains unknown. We argue here that medical and paramedical professionals may extend their present treatments of the perceptual losses associated with infantile strabismus. This hypothesis is based on findings from fundamental research on visual system organization of higher mammals in particular at the cortical level. In strabismic subjects (as in normal-seeing ones), information about all of the visual attributes converge, interact and are thus inter-dependent at multiple levels of encoding ranging from the single neuron to neuronal assemblies in visual cortex. Thus if the perception of one attribute is restored this may help to rehabilitate the perception of other attributes. Concomitantly, vision-dependent processes may also improve. This could occur spontaneously, but still should be assessed and validated. If not, medical and paramedical staff, in collaboration with neuroscientists, will have to break new ground in the field of therapies to help reorganize brain circuitry and promote more comprehensive functional recovery. Findings from fundamental research studies in both young and adult patients already support our hypothesis and are reviewed here. For example, presenting different contrasts to each eye of a strabismic patient during training sessions facilitates recovery of acuity in the amblyopic eye as well as of 3D perception. Recent data also demonstrate that visual recoveries in strabismic subjects improve postural stability. These findings form the basis for a roadmap for future research and clinical development to extend presently applied rehabilitative therapies for infantile strabismus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chantal Milleret
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, College de France, INSERM, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel Bui Quoc
- Department of Ophthalmology, Robert Debré University Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
100
|
Prior object-knowledge sharpens properties of early visual feature-detectors. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10853. [PMID: 30022033 PMCID: PMC6051992 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28845-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Early stages of visual processing are carried out by neural circuits activated by simple and specific features, such as the orientation of an edge. A fundamental question in human vision is how the brain organises such intrinsically local information into meaningful properties of objects. Classic models of visual processing emphasise a one-directional flow of information from early feature-detectors to higher-level information-processing. By contrast to this view, and in line with predictive-coding models of perception, here, we provide evidence from human vision that high-level object representations dynamically interact with the earliest stages of cortical visual processing. In two experiments, we used ambiguous stimuli that, depending on the observer’s prior object-knowledge, can be perceived as either coherent objects or as a collection of meaningless patches. By manipulating object knowledge we were able to determine its impact on processing of low-level features while keeping sensory stimulation identical. Both studies demonstrate that perception of local features is facilitated in a manner consistent with an observer’s high-level object representation (i.e., with no effect on object-inconsistent features). Our results cannot be ascribed to attentional influences. Rather, they suggest that high-level object representations interact with and sharpen early feature-detectors, optimising their performance for the current perceptual context.
Collapse
|