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Papale P, Wang F, Morgan AT, Chen X, Gilhuis A, Petro LS, Muckli L, Roelfsema PR, Self MW. The representation of occluded image regions in area V1 of monkeys and humans. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3865-3871.e3. [PMID: 37643620 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) is driven by feedforward input from within the neurons' receptive fields (RFs) and modulated by contextual information in regions surrounding the RF. The effect of contextual information on spiking activity occurs rapidly and is therefore challenging to dissociate from feedforward input. To address this challenge, we recorded the spiking activity of V1 neurons in monkeys viewing either natural scenes or scenes where the information in the RF was occluded, effectively removing the feedforward input. We found that V1 neurons responded rapidly and selectively to occluded scenes. V1 responses elicited by occluded stimuli could be used to decode individual scenes and could be predicted from those elicited by non-occluded images, indicating that there is an overlap between visually driven and contextual responses. We used representational similarity analysis to show that the structure of V1 representations of occluded scenes measured with electrophysiology in monkeys correlates strongly with the representations of the same scenes in humans measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our results reveal that contextual influences rapidly alter V1 spiking activity in monkeys over distances of several degrees in the visual field, carry information about individual scenes, and resemble those in human V1. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Papale
- Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Feng Wang
- Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - A Tyler Morgan
- Centre for Cognitive NeuroImaging, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 62 Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Imaging Centre for Excellence (ICE), College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G51 4LB, UK
| | - Xing Chen
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 203 Lothrop St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Amparo Gilhuis
- Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Lucy S Petro
- Centre for Cognitive NeuroImaging, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 62 Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Imaging Centre for Excellence (ICE), College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G51 4LB, UK
| | - Lars Muckli
- Centre for Cognitive NeuroImaging, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 62 Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Imaging Centre for Excellence (ICE), College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G51 4LB, UK
| | - Pieter R Roelfsema
- Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Neurosurgery, Academic Medical Centre, Postbus 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Laboratory of Visual Brain Therapy, Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 rue Moreau, 75012 Paris, France.
| | - Matthew W Self
- Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Fakheir Y, Khalil R. The effects of abnormal visual experience on neurodevelopmental disorders. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22408. [PMID: 37607893 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Normal visual development is supported by intrinsic neurobiological mechanisms and by appropriate stimulation from the environment, both of which facilitate the maturation of visual functions. However, an offset of this balance can give rise to visual disorders. Therefore, understanding the factors that support normal vision during development and in the mature brain is important, as vision guides movement, enables social interaction, and allows children to recognize and understand their environment. In this paper, we review fundamental mechanisms that support the maturation of visual functions and discuss and draw links between the perceptual and neurobiological impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. We aim to explore how this is evident in the case of ASD, and how perceptual and neurobiological deficits further degrade social ability. Furthermore, we describe the altered perceptual experience of those with schizophrenia and evaluate theories of the underlying neural deficits that alter perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yara Fakheir
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
| | - Reem Khalil
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
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Aggius-Vella E, Chebat DR, Maidenbaum S, Amedi A. Activation of human visual area V6 during egocentric navigation with and without visual experience. Curr Biol 2023; 33:1211-1219.e5. [PMID: 36863342 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.025] [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: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023]
Abstract
V6 is a retinotopic area located in the dorsal visual stream that integrates eye movements with retinal and visuo-motor signals. Despite the known role of V6 in visual motion, it is unknown whether it is involved in navigation and how sensory experiences shape its functional properties. We explored the involvement of V6 in egocentric navigation in sighted and in congenitally blind (CB) participants navigating via an in-house distance-to-sound sensory substitution device (SSD), the EyeCane. We performed two fMRI experiments on two independent datasets. In the first experiment, CB and sighted participants navigated the same mazes. The sighted performed the mazes via vision, while the CB performed them via audition. The CB performed the mazes before and after a training session, using the EyeCane SSD. In the second experiment, a group of sighted participants performed a motor topography task. Our results show that right V6 (rhV6) is selectively involved in egocentric navigation independently of the sensory modality used. Indeed, after training, rhV6 of CB is selectively recruited for auditory navigation, similarly to rhV6 in the sighted. Moreover, we found activation for body movement in area V6, which can putatively contribute to its involvement in egocentric navigation. Taken together, our findings suggest that area rhV6 is a unique hub that transforms spatially relevant sensory information into an egocentric representation for navigation. While vision is clearly the dominant modality, rhV6 is in fact a supramodal area that can develop its selectivity for navigation in the absence of visual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Aggius-Vella
- The Baruch Ivcher Institute for Brain, Cognition & Technology, Reichman University, 4610101 Herzliya, Israel.
| | - Daniel-Robert Chebat
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ariel University, 4076414 Ariel, Israel; Navigation and Accessibility Research Center of Ariel University (NARCA), Ariel University, 4076414 Ariel, Israel.
| | - Shachar Maidenbaum
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8410501 Beersheba, Israel; Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8410501 Beersheba, Israel.
| | - Amir Amedi
- The Baruch Ivcher Institute for Brain, Cognition & Technology, Reichman University, 4610101 Herzliya, Israel.
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Gori M, Bertonati G, Campus C, Amadeo MB. Multisensory representations of space and time in sensory cortices. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:656-667. [PMID: 36169038 PMCID: PMC9842891 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Clear evidence demonstrated a supramodal organization of sensory cortices with multisensory processing occurring even at early stages of information encoding. Within this context, early recruitment of sensory areas is necessary for the development of fine domain-specific (i.e., spatial or temporal) skills regardless of the sensory modality involved, with auditory areas playing a crucial role in temporal processing and visual areas in spatial processing. Given the domain-specificity and the multisensory nature of sensory areas, in this study, we hypothesized that preferential domains of representation (i.e., space and time) of visual and auditory cortices are also evident in the early processing of multisensory information. Thus, we measured the event-related potential (ERP) responses of 16 participants while performing multisensory spatial and temporal bisection tasks. Audiovisual stimuli occurred at three different spatial positions and time lags and participants had to evaluate whether the second stimulus was spatially (spatial bisection task) or temporally (temporal bisection task) farther from the first or third audiovisual stimulus. As predicted, the second audiovisual stimulus of both spatial and temporal bisection tasks elicited an early ERP response (time window 50-90 ms) in visual and auditory regions. However, this early ERP component was more substantial in the occipital areas during the spatial bisection task, and in the temporal regions during the temporal bisection task. Overall, these results confirmed the domain specificity of visual and auditory cortices and revealed that this aspect selectively modulates also the cortical activity in response to multisensory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U‐VIP)Istituto Italiano di TecnologiaGenoaItaly
| | - Giorgia Bertonati
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U‐VIP)Istituto Italiano di TecnologiaGenoaItaly,Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS)Università degli Studi di GenovaGenoaItaly
| | - Claudio Campus
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U‐VIP)Istituto Italiano di TecnologiaGenoaItaly
| | - Maria Bianca Amadeo
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U‐VIP)Istituto Italiano di TecnologiaGenoaItaly
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Topologic Reorganization of White Matter Connectivity Networks in Early-Blind Adolescents. Neural Plast 2022; 2022:8034757. [PMID: 35529452 PMCID: PMC9072039 DOI: 10.1155/2022/8034757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Blindness studies are important models for the comprehension of human brain development and reorganization, after visual deprivation early in life. To investigate the global and local topologic alterations and to identify specific reorganized neural patterns in early-blind adolescents (EBAs), we applied diffusion tensor tractography and graph theory to establish and analyze the white matter connectivity networks in 21 EBAs and 22 age- and sex-matched normal-sighted controls (NSCs). The network profiles were compared between the groups using a linear regression model, and the associations between clinical variables and network profiles were analyzed. Graph theory analysis revealed “small-world” attributes in the structural connection networks of both EBA and NSC cohorts. The EBA cohort exhibited significant lower network density and global and local efficiency, as well as significantly elevated shortest path length, compared to the NSC group. The network efficiencies were markedly reduced in the EBA cohort, with the largest alterations in the default-mode, visual, and limbic areas. Moreover, decreased regional efficiency and increased nodal path length in some visual and default-mode areas were strongly associated with the period of blindness in EBA cohort, suggesting that the function of these areas would gradually weaken in the early-blind brains. Additionally, the differences in hub distribution between the two groups were mainly within the occipital and frontal areas, suggesting that neural reorganization occurred in these brain regions after early visual deprivation during adolescence. This study revealed that the EBA brain structural network undergoes both convergent and divergent topologic reorganizations to circumvent early visual deprivation. Our research will add to the growing knowledge of underlying neural mechanisms that govern brain reorganization and development, under conditions of early visual deprivation.
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Arioli M, Ricciardi E, Cattaneo Z. Social cognition in the blind brain: A coordinate-based meta-analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 42:1243-1256. [PMID: 33320395 PMCID: PMC7927293 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Social cognition skills are typically acquired on the basis of visual information (e.g., the observation of gaze, facial expressions, gestures). In light of this, a critical issue is whether and how the lack of visual experience affects neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social skills. This issue has been largely neglected in the literature on blindness, despite difficulties in social interactions may be particular salient in the life of blind individuals (especially children). Here we provide a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies reporting brain activations associated to the representation of self and others' in early blind individuals and in sighted controls. Our results indicate that early blindness does not critically impact on the development of the "social brain," with social tasks performed on the basis of auditory or tactile information driving consistent activations in nodes of the action observation network, typically active during actual observation of others in sighted individuals. Interestingly though, activations along this network appeared more left-lateralized in the blind than in sighted participants. These results may have important implications for the development of specific training programs to improve social skills in blind children and young adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Arioli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Zaira Cattaneo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.,IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
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