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Shah S, Hembrook-Short J, Mock V, Briggs F. Correlated variability and its attentional modulation depend on anatomical connectivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2318841121. [PMID: 39172780 PMCID: PMC11363273 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318841121] [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: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual cortical neurons show variability in their responses to repeated presentations of a stimulus and a portion of this variability is shared across neurons. Attention may enhance visual perception by reducing shared spiking variability. However, shared variability and its attentional modulation are not consistent within or across cortical areas, and depend on additional factors such as neuronal type. A critical factor that has not been tested is actual anatomical connectivity. We measured spike count correlations among pairs of simultaneously recorded neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) for which anatomical connectivity was inferred from spiking cross-correlations. Neurons were recorded in monkeys performing a contrast-change discrimination task requiring covert shifts in visual spatial attention. Accordingly, spike count correlations were compared across trials in which attention was directed toward or away from the visual stimulus overlapping recorded neuronal receptive fields. Consistent with prior findings, attention did not significantly alter spike count correlations among random pairings of unconnected V1 neurons. However, V1 neurons connected via excitatory synapses showed a significant reduction in spike count correlations with attention. Interestingly, V1 neurons connected via inhibitory synapses demonstrated high spike count correlations overall that were not modulated by attention. Correlated variability in excitatory circuits also depended upon neuronal tuning for contrast, the task-relevant stimulus feature. These results indicate that shared variability depends on the type of connectivity in neuronal circuits. Also, attention significantly reduces shared variability in excitatory circuits, even when attention effects on randomly sampled neurons within the same area are weak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shraddha Shah
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY14627
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX77030
| | | | - Vanessa Mock
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY14642
| | - Farran Briggs
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY14642
- Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY14642
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY14627
- Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY14627
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2
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Gavenas J, Rutishauser U, Schurger A, Maoz U. Slow ramping emerges from spontaneous fluctuations in spiking neural networks. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7285. [PMID: 39179554 PMCID: PMC11344096 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51401-x] [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: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/26/2024] Open
Abstract
The capacity to initiate actions endogenously is critical for goal-directed behavior. Spontaneous voluntary actions are typically preceded by slow-ramping activity in medial frontal cortex that begins around two seconds before movement, which may reflect spontaneous fluctuations that influence action timing. However, the mechanisms by which these slow ramping signals emerge from single-neuron and network dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we developed a spiking neural-network model that produces spontaneous slow ramping activity in single neurons and population activity with onsets ~2 s before threshold crossings. A key prediction of our model is that neurons that ramp together have correlated firing patterns before ramping onset. We confirmed this model-derived hypothesis in a dataset of human single neuron recordings from medial frontal cortex. Our results suggest that slow ramping signals reflect bounded spontaneous fluctuations that emerge from quasi-winner-take-all dynamics in clustered networks that are temporally stabilized by slow-acting synapses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake Gavenas
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Ueli Rutishauser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Aaron Schurger
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
- Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
- INSERM U992, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin Center, Gif sur Yvette, 91191, France
- Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, I2BM, NeuroSpin Center, Gif sur Yvette, 91191, France
| | - Uri Maoz
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
- Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Fowler School of Engineering, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.
- Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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3
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Xia J, Jasper A, Kohn A, Miller KD. Circuit-motivated generalized affine models characterize stimulus-dependent visual cortical shared variability. iScience 2024; 27:110512. [PMID: 39156642 PMCID: PMC11328009 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110512] [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] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 04/01/2024] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Correlated variability in the visual cortex is modulated by stimulus properties. The stimulus dependence of correlated variability impacts stimulus coding and is indicative of circuit structure. An affine model combining a multiplicative factor and an additive offset has been proposed to explain how correlated variability in primary visual cortex (V1) depends on stimulus orientations. However, whether the affine model could be extended to explain modulations by other stimulus variables or variability shared between two brain areas is unknown. Motivated by a simple neural circuit mechanism, we modified the affine model to better explain the contrast dependence of neural variability shared within either primary or secondary visual cortex (V1 or V2) as well as the orientation dependence of neural variability shared between V1 and V2. Our results bridge neural circuit mechanisms and statistical models and provide a parsimonious explanation for the stimulus dependence of correlated variability within and between visual areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Xia
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Anna Jasper
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 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
| | - Kenneth D. Miller
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Swartz Program in Theoretical Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Brain Science, College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, USA
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4
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Liu Y, Lao W, Mao H, Zhong Y, Wang J, Ouyang W. Comparison of alterations in local field potentials and neuronal firing in mouse M1 and CA1 associated with central fatigue induced by high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1428901. [PMID: 39211437 PMCID: PMC11357951 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1428901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/31/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The mechanisms underlying central fatigue (CF) induced by high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) are still not fully understood. Methods In order to explore the effects of these exercises on the functioning of cortical and subcortical neural networks, this study investigated the effects of HIIT and MICT on local field potential (LFP) and neuronal firing in the mouse primary motor cortex (M1) and hippocampal CA1 areas. HIIT and MICT were performed on C57BL/6 mice, and simultaneous multichannel recordings were conducted in the M1 motor cortex and CA1 hippocampal region. Results A range of responses were elicited, including a decrease in coherence values of LFP rhythms in both areas, and an increase in slow and a decrease in fast power spectral density (PSD, n = 7-9) respectively. HIIT/MICT also decreased the gravity frequency (GF, n = 7-9) in M1 and CA1. Both exercises decreased overall firing rates, increased time lag of firing, declined burst firing rates and the number of spikes in burst, and reduced burst duration (BD) in M1 and CA1 (n = 7-9). While several neuronal firing properties showed a recovery tendency, the alterations of LFP parameters were more sustained during the 10-min post-HIIT/MICT period. MICT appeared to be more effective than HIIT in affecting LFP parameters, neuronal firing rate, and burst firing properties, particularly in CA1. Both exercises significantly affected neural network activities and local neuronal firing in M1 and CA1, with MICT associated with a more substantial and consistent suppression of functional integration between M1 and CA1. Conclusion Our study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms involved in exercise-induced central fatigue by examining the changes in functional connectivity and coordination between the M1 and CA1 regions. These findings may assist individuals engaged in exercise in optimizing their exercise intensity and timing to enhance performance and prevent excessive fatigue. Additionally, the findings may have clinical implications for the development of interventions aimed at managing conditions related to exercise-induced fatigue.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Wei Ouyang
- College of Physical Education and Health Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
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Yu L, Russ AN, Algamal M, Abedin MJ, Zhao Q, Miller MR, Perle SJ, Kastanenka KV. Slow wave activity disruptions and memory impairments in a mouse model of aging. Neurobiol Aging 2024; 140:12-21. [PMID: 38701647 PMCID: PMC11188680 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.04.006] [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: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
The aging population suffers from memory impairments. Slow-wave activity (SWA) is composed of slow (0.5-1 Hz) and delta (1-4 Hz) oscillations, which play important roles in long-term memory and working memory function respectively. SWA disruptions might lead to memory disturbances often experienced by older adults. We conducted behavioral tests in young and older C57BL/6 J mice. SWA was monitored using wide-field imaging with voltage sensors. Cell-specific calcium imaging was used to monitor the activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in these mice. Older mice exhibited impairments in working memory but not memory consolidation. Voltage-sensor imaging revealed aberrant synchronization of neuronal activity in older mice. Notably, we found older mice exhibited no significant alterations in slow oscillations, whereas there was a significant increase in delta power compared to young mice. Calcium imaging revealed hypoactivity in inhibitory neurons of older mice. Combined, these results suggest that neural activity disruptions might correlate with aberrant memory performance in older mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Yu
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Alyssa N Russ
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Moustafa Algamal
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Md Joynal Abedin
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Qiuchen Zhao
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Morgan R Miller
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Stephen J Perle
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Ksenia V Kastanenka
- Department of Neurology, MassGeneral Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
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Frechou MA, Martin SS, McDermott KD, Huaman EA, Gökhan Ş, Tomé WA, Coen-Cagli R, Gonçalves JT. Adult neurogenesis improves spatial information encoding in the mouse hippocampus. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6410. [PMID: 39080283 PMCID: PMC11289285 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50699-x] [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: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Adult neurogenesis is a unique form of neuronal plasticity in which newly generated neurons are integrated into the adult dentate gyrus in a process that is modulated by environmental stimuli. Adult-born neurons can contribute to spatial memory, but it is unknown whether they alter neural representations of space in the hippocampus. Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, we find that male and female mice previously housed in an enriched environment, which triggers an increase in neurogenesis, have increased spatial information encoding in the dentate gyrus. Ablating adult neurogenesis blocks the effect of enrichment and lowers spatial information, as does the chemogenetic silencing of adult-born neurons. Both ablating neurogenesis and silencing adult-born neurons decreases the calcium activity of dentate gyrus neurons, resulting in a decreased amplitude of place-specific responses. These findings are in contrast with previous studies that suggested a predominantly inhibitory action for adult-born neurons. We propose that adult neurogenesis improves representations of space by increasing the gain of dentate gyrus neurons and thereby improving their ability to tune to spatial features. This mechanism may mediate the beneficial effects of environmental enrichment on spatial learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Agustina Frechou
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Gottesmann Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sunaina S Martin
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Gottesmann Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kelsey D McDermott
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Gottesmann Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Evan A Huaman
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Gottesmann Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Şölen Gökhan
- Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Wolfgang A Tomé
- Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Ruben Coen-Cagli
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - J Tiago Gonçalves
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
- Gottesmann Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
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7
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Horrocks EAB, Rodrigues FR, Saleem AB. Flexible neural population dynamics govern the speed and stability of sensory encoding in mouse visual cortex. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6415. [PMID: 39080254 PMCID: PMC11289260 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50563-y] [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: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Time courses of neural responses underlie real-time sensory processing and perception. How these temporal dynamics change may be fundamental to how sensory systems adapt to different perceptual demands. By simultaneously recording from hundreds of neurons in mouse primary visual cortex, we examined neural population responses to visual stimuli at sub-second timescales, during different behavioural states. We discovered that during active behavioural states characterised by locomotion, single-neurons shift from transient to sustained response modes, facilitating rapid emergence of visual stimulus tuning. Differences in single-neuron response dynamics were associated with changes in temporal dynamics of neural correlations, including faster stabilisation of stimulus-evoked changes in the structure of correlations during locomotion. Using Factor Analysis, we examined temporal dynamics of latent population responses and discovered that trajectories of population activity make more direct transitions between baseline and stimulus-encoding neural states during locomotion. This could be partly explained by dampening of oscillatory dynamics present during stationary behavioural states. Functionally, changes in temporal response dynamics collectively enabled faster, more stable and more efficient encoding of new visual information during locomotion. These findings reveal a principle of how sensory systems adapt to perceptual demands, where flexible neural population dynamics govern the speed and stability of sensory encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward A B Horrocks
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London, WC1V 0AP, UK.
| | - Fabio R Rodrigues
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London, WC1V 0AP, UK
| | - Aman B Saleem
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London, WC1V 0AP, UK.
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8
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Deister CA, Moore AI, Voigts J, Bechek S, Lichtin R, Brown TC, Moore CI. Neocortical inhibitory imbalance predicts successful sensory detection. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114233. [PMID: 38905102 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114233] [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: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Perceptual success depends on fast-spiking, parvalbumin-positive interneurons (FS/PVs). However, competing theories of optimal rate and correlation in pyramidal (PYR) firing make opposing predictions regarding the underlying FS/PV dynamics. We addressed this with population calcium imaging of FS/PVs and putative PYR neurons during threshold detection. In primary somatosensory and visual neocortex, a distinct PYR subset shows increased rate and spike-count correlations on detected trials ("hits"), while most show no rate change and decreased correlations. A larger fraction of FS/PVs predicts hits with either rate increases or decreases. Using computational modeling, we found that inhibitory imbalance, created by excitatory "feedback" and interactions between FS/PV pools, can account for the data. Rate-decreasing FS/PVs increase rate and correlation in a PYR subset, while rate-increasing FS/PVs reduce correlations and offset enhanced excitation in PYR neurons. These findings indicate that selection of informative PYR ensembles, through transient inhibitory imbalance, is a common motif of optimal neocortical processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Deister
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Alexander I Moore
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Jakob Voigts
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA; Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Sophia Bechek
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Rebecca Lichtin
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Tyler C Brown
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Christopher I Moore
- Department of Neuroscience and Carney Institute for Brain Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
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9
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Huang LW, Torelli F, Chen HL, Bartos M. Context and space coding in mossy cell population activity. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114386. [PMID: 38909362 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114386] [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: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The dentate gyrus plays a key role in the discrimination of memories by segregating and storing similar episodes. Whether hilar mossy cells, which constitute a major excitatory principal cell type in the mammalian hippocampus, contribute to this decorrelation function has remained largely unclear. Using two-photon calcium imaging of head-fixed mice performing a spatial virtual reality task, we show that mossy cell populations robustly discriminate between familiar and novel environments. The degree of discrimination depends on the extent of visual cue differences between contexts. A context decoder revealed that successful environmental classification is explained mainly by activity difference scores of mossy cells. By decoding mouse position, we reveal that in addition to place cells, the coordinated activity among active mossy cells markedly contributes to the encoding of space. Thus, by decorrelating context information according to the degree of environmental differences, mossy cell populations support pattern separation processes within the dentate gyrus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Wen Huang
- Institute for Physiology I, University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Federico Torelli
- Institute for Physiology I, University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; University of Freiburg, Faculty of Biology, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Hung-Ling Chen
- Institute for Physiology I, University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; BrainLinks-BrainTools, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Marlene Bartos
- Institute for Physiology I, University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
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10
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Dubanet O, Higley MJ. Retrosplenial inputs drive visual representations in the medial entorhinal cortex. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114470. [PMID: 38985682 PMCID: PMC11300029 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114470] [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: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The importance of visual cues for navigation and goal-directed behavior is well established, although the neural mechanisms supporting sensory representations in navigational circuits are largely unknown. Navigation is fundamentally dependent on the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), which receives direct projections from neocortical visual areas, including the retrosplenial cortex (RSC). Here, we perform high-density recordings of MEC neurons in awake, head-fixed mice presented with simple visual stimuli and assess the dynamics of sensory-evoked activity. We find that a large fraction of neurons exhibit robust responses to visual input. Visually responsive cells are located primarily in layer 3 of the dorsal MEC and can be separated into subgroups based on functional and molecular properties. Furthermore, optogenetic suppression of RSC afferents within the MEC strongly reduces visual responses. Overall, our results demonstrate that the MEC can encode simple visual cues in the environment that may contribute to neural representations of location necessary for accurate navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Dubanet
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Michael J Higley
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
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11
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Tauste Campo A, Zainos A, Vázquez Y, Adell Segarra R, Álvarez M, Deco G, Díaz H, Parra S, Romo R, Rossi-Pool R. Thalamocortical interactions shape hierarchical neural variability during stimulus perception. iScience 2024; 27:110065. [PMID: 38993679 PMCID: PMC11237863 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110065] [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] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The brain is organized hierarchically to process sensory signals. But, how do functional connections within and across areas contribute to this hierarchical order? We addressed this problem in the thalamocortical network, while monkeys detected vibrotactile stimulus. During this task, we quantified neural variability and directed functional connectivity in simultaneously recorded neurons sharing the cutaneous receptive field within and across VPL and areas 3b and 1. Before stimulus onset, VPL and area 3b exhibited similar fast dynamics while area 1 showed slower timescales. During the stimulus presence, inter-trial neural variability increased along the network VPL-3b-1 while VPL established two main feedforward pathways with areas 3b and 1 to process the stimulus. This lower variability of VPL and area 3b was found to regulate feedforward thalamocortical pathways. Instead, intra-cortical interactions were only anticipated by higher intrinsic timescales in area 1. Overall, our results provide evidence of hierarchical functional roles along the thalamocortical network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrià Tauste Campo
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems group, Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Dr. Marañón, 44-50, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Antonio Zainos
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Yuriria Vázquez
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Raul Adell Segarra
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems group, Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avinguda Dr. Marañón, 44-50, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Manuel Álvarez
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Gustavo Deco
- Center for Brain and Cognition (CBC), Department of Information Technologies and Communications (DTIC), Pompeu Fabra University, Edifici Mercè Rodoreda, Carrer Trias I Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Héctor Díaz
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Sergio Parra
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | | | - Román Rossi-Pool
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular–Neurociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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12
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Kissinger ST, O'neil E, Li B, Johnson KW, Krajewski JL, Kato AS. Distinctive Neurophysiological Signatures of Analgesia after Inflammatory Pain in the ACC of Freely Moving Mice. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e2231232024. [PMID: 38755005 PMCID: PMC11255429 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2231-23.2024] [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: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Preclinical assessments of pain have often relied upon behavioral measurements and anesthetized neurophysiological recordings. Current technologies enabling large-scale neural recordings, however, have the potential to unveil quantifiable pain signals in conscious animals for preclinical studies. Although pain processing is distributed across many brain regions, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is of particular interest in isolating these signals given its suggested role in the affective ("unpleasant") component of pain. Here, we explored the utility of the ACC toward preclinical pain research using head-mounted miniaturized microscopes to record calcium transients in freely moving male mice expressing genetically encoded calcium indicator 6f (GCaMP6f) under the Thy1 promoter. We verified the expression of GCaMP6f in excitatory neurons and found no intrinsic behavioral differences in this model. Using a multimodal stimulation paradigm across naive, pain, and analgesic conditions, we found that while ACC population activity roughly scaled with stimulus intensity, single-cell representations were highly flexible. We found only low-magnitude increases in population activity after complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and insufficient evidence for the existence of a robust nociceptive ensemble in the ACC. However, we found a temporal sharpening of response durations and generalized increases in pairwise neural correlations in the presence of the mechanistically distinct analgesics gabapentin or ibuprofen after (but not before) CFA-induced inflammatory pain. This increase was not explainable by changes in locomotion alone. Taken together, these results highlight challenges in isolating distinct pain signals among flexible representations in the ACC but suggest a neurophysiological hallmark of analgesia after pain that generalizes to at least two analgesics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel T Kissinger
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
| | - Estefania O'neil
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
| | - Baolin Li
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
| | - Kirk W Johnson
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
| | - Jeffrey L Krajewski
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
| | - Akihiko S Kato
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Department of Neuroscience, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
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13
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Srinath R, Czarnik MM, Cohen MR. Coordinated Response Modulations Enable Flexible Use of Visual Information. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.10.602774. [PMID: 39071390 PMCID: PMC11275750 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.10.602774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
We use sensory information in remarkably flexible ways. We can generalize by ignoring task-irrelevant features, report different features of a stimulus, and use different actions to report a perceptual judgment. These forms of flexible behavior are associated with small modulations of the responses of sensory neurons. While the existence of these response modulations is indisputable, efforts to understand their function have been largely relegated to theory, where they have been posited to change information coding or enable downstream neurons to read out different visual and cognitive information using flexible weights. Here, we tested these ideas using a rich, flexible behavioral paradigm, multi-neuron, multi-area recordings in primary visual cortex (V1) and mid-level visual area V4. We discovered that those response modulations in V4 (but not V1) contain the ingredients necessary to enable flexible behavior, but not via those previously hypothesized mechanisms. Instead, we demonstrated that these response modulations are precisely coordinated across the population such that downstream neurons have ready access to the correct information to flexibly guide behavior without making changes to information coding or synapses. Our results suggest a novel computational role for task-dependent response modulations: they enable flexible behavior by changing the information that gets out of a sensory area, not by changing information coding within it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramanujan Srinath
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Martyna M. Czarnik
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Current affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Marlene R. Cohen
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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14
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Noel JP, Balzani E, Savin C, Angelaki DE. Context-invariant beliefs are supported by dynamic reconfiguration of single unit functional connectivity in prefrontal cortex of male macaques. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5738. [PMID: 38982106 PMCID: PMC11233555 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50203-5] [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: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Natural behaviors occur in closed action-perception loops and are supported by dynamic and flexible beliefs abstracted away from our immediate sensory milieu. How this real-world flexibility is instantiated in neural circuits remains unknown. Here, we have male macaques navigate in a virtual environment by primarily leveraging sensory (optic flow) signals, or by more heavily relying on acquired internal models. We record single-unit spiking activity simultaneously from the dorsomedial superior temporal area (MSTd), parietal area 7a, and the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Results show that while animals were able to maintain adaptive task-relevant beliefs regardless of sensory context, the fine-grain statistical dependencies between neurons, particularly in 7a and dlPFC, dynamically remapped with the changing computational demands. In dlPFC, but not 7a, destroying these statistical dependencies abolished the area's ability for cross-context decoding. Lastly, correlational analyses suggested that the more unit-to-unit couplings remapped in dlPFC, and the less they did so in MSTd, the less were population codes and behavior impacted by the loss of sensory evidence. We conclude that dynamic functional connectivity between neurons in prefrontal cortex maintain a stable population code and context-invariant beliefs during naturalistic behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Paul Noel
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
| | - Edoardo Balzani
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY, USA
- Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cristina Savin
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Dora E Angelaki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY, USA
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15
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Park SB, Lur G. Repeated exposure to multiple concurrent stressors alters visual processing in the adult posterior parietal cortex. Neurobiol Stress 2024; 31:100660. [PMID: 39100726 PMCID: PMC11296072 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100660] [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] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic stress is well known to erode cognitive functions. Yet, our understanding of how repeated stress exposure impacts one of the fundamental bases of cognition: sensory processing, remains limited. The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is a high order visual region, known for its role in visually guided decision making, multimodal integration, attention, and working memory. Here, we used functional measures to determine how repeated exposure to multiple concurrent stressors (RMS) affects sensory processing in the PPC in adult male mice. A longitudinal experimental design, repeatedly surveying the same population of neurons using in vivo two-photon imaging, revealed that RMS disrupts the balanced turnover of visually responsive cells in layer 2/3 of the PPC. Across the population, RMS-induced changes in visual responsiveness followed a bimodal distribution suggesting idiosyncratic stress effects. In cells that maintained their responsiveness across recording sessions, we found that stress reduced visual response magnitudes and feature selectivity. While we did not observe stress-induced elimination of excitatory synapses, noise correlation statistics indicated that RMS altered visual input to the neuronal population. The impact of RMS was restricted to visually evoked responses and was not evident in neuronal activity associated with locomotion onset. Together, our results indicate that despite no apparent synaptic reorganization, stress exposure in adulthood can disrupt sensory processing in the PPC, with the effects showing remarkable individual variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soo Bin Park
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA USA, 92697
| | - Gyorgy Lur
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA USA, 92697
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16
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Wang B, Yuan Y, Yang L, Huang Y, Zhang X, Zhang X, Yan W, Li Y, Li D, Xiang J, Yang J, Liu M. Multi-hierarchy Network Configuration Can Predict Brain States and Performance. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:1695-1714. [PMID: 38579269 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
The brain is a hierarchical modular organization that varies across functional states. Network configuration can better reveal network organization patterns. However, the multi-hierarchy network configuration remains unknown. Here, we propose an eigenmodal decomposition approach to detect modules at multi-hierarchy, which can identify higher-layer potential submodules and is consistent with the brain hierarchical structure. We defined three metrics: node configuration matrix, combinability, and separability. Node configuration matrix represents network configuration changes between layers. Separability reflects network configuration from global to local, whereas combinability shows network configuration from local to global. First, we created a random network to verify the feasibility of the method. Results show that separability of real networks is larger than that of random networks, whereas combinability is smaller than random networks. Then, we analyzed a large data set incorporating fMRI data from resting and seven distinct tasking conditions. Experiment results demonstrates the high similarity in node configuration matrices for different task conditions, whereas the tasking states have less separability and greater combinability between modules compared with the resting state. Furthermore, the ability of brain network configuration can predict brain states and cognition performance. Crucially, derived from tasks are highlighted with greater power than resting, showing that task-induced attributes have a greater ability to reveal individual differences. Together, our study provides novel perspectives for analyzing the organization structure of complex brain networks at multi-hierarchy, gives new insights to further unravel the working mechanisms of the brain, and adds new evidence for tasking states to better characterize and predict behavioral traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Wang
- Taiyuan University of Technology
| | | | - Lan Yang
- Taiyuan University of Technology
| | | | - Xi Zhang
- Taiyuan University of Technology
| | | | | | - Ying Li
- Taiyuan University of Technology
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17
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Bardella G, Franchini S, Pan L, Balzan R, Ramawat S, Brunamonti E, Pani P, Ferraina S. Neural Activity in Quarks Language: Lattice Field Theory for a Network of Real Neurons. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 26:495. [PMID: 38920504 PMCID: PMC11203154 DOI: 10.3390/e26060495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
Brain-computer interfaces have seen extraordinary surges in developments in recent years, and a significant discrepancy now exists between the abundance of available data and the limited headway made in achieving a unified theoretical framework. This discrepancy becomes particularly pronounced when examining the collective neural activity at the micro and meso scale, where a coherent formalization that adequately describes neural interactions is still lacking. Here, we introduce a mathematical framework to analyze systems of natural neurons and interpret the related empirical observations in terms of lattice field theory, an established paradigm from theoretical particle physics and statistical mechanics. Our methods are tailored to interpret data from chronic neural interfaces, especially spike rasters from measurements of single neuron activity, and generalize the maximum entropy model for neural networks so that the time evolution of the system is also taken into account. This is obtained by bridging particle physics and neuroscience, paving the way for particle physics-inspired models of the neocortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giampiero Bardella
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Simone Franchini
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Liming Pan
- School of Cyber Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
| | - Riccardo Balzan
- Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques, UMR 8601, UFR Biomédicale et des Sciences de Base, Université Paris Descartes-CNRS, PRES Paris Sorbonne Cité, 75006 Paris, France;
| | - Surabhi Ramawat
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Emiliano Brunamonti
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Pierpaolo Pani
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Stefano Ferraina
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy (E.B.); (P.P.); (S.F.)
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18
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Boundy-Singer ZM, Ziemba CM, Hénaff OJ, Goris RLT. How does V1 population activity inform perceptual certainty? J Vis 2024; 24:12. [PMID: 38884544 PMCID: PMC11185272 DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.6.12] [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: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural population activity in sensory cortex informs our perceptual interpretation of the environment. Oftentimes, this population activity will support multiple alternative interpretations. The larger the spread of probability over different alternatives, the more uncertain the selected perceptual interpretation. We test the hypothesis that the reliability of perceptual interpretations can be revealed through simple transformations of sensory population activity. We recorded V1 population activity in fixating macaques while presenting oriented stimuli under different levels of nuisance variability and signal strength. We developed a decoding procedure to infer from V1 activity the most likely stimulus orientation as well as the certainty of this estimate. Our analysis shows that response magnitude, response dispersion, and variability in response gain all offer useful proxies for orientation certainty. Of these three metrics, the last one has the strongest association with the decoder's uncertainty estimates. These results clarify that the nature of neural population activity in sensory cortex provides downstream circuits with multiple options to assess the reliability of perceptual interpretations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe M Boundy-Singer
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Corey M Ziemba
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - Robbe L T Goris
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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19
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Tardiff N, Kang J, Gold JI. Normative evidence weighting and accumulation in correlated environments. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.29.596489. [PMID: 38854097 PMCID: PMC11160761 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.29.596489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
The brain forms certain deliberative decisions following normative principles related to how sensory observations are weighed and accumulated over time. Previously we showed that these principles can account for how people adapt their decisions to the temporal dynamics of the observations (Glaze et al., 2015). Here we show that this adaptability extends to accounting for correlations in the observations, which can have a dramatic impact on the weight of evidence provided by those observations. We tested online human participants on a novel visual-discrimination task with pairwise-correlated observations. With minimal training, the participants adapted to uncued, trial-by-trial changes in the correlations and produced decisions based on an approximately normative weighting and accumulation of evidence. The results highlight the robustness of our brain's ability to process sensory observations with respect to not just their physical features but also the weight of evidence they provide for a given decision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Tardiff
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
- Department of Psychology, New York University, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Jiwon Kang
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Joshua I Gold
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States
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20
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Daume J, Kamiński J, Schjetnan AGP, Salimpour Y, Khan U, Kyzar M, Reed CM, Anderson WS, Valiante TA, Mamelak AN, Rutishauser U. Control of working memory by phase-amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons. Nature 2024; 629:393-401. [PMID: 38632400 PMCID: PMC11078732 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07309-z] [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: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Retaining information in working memory is a demanding process that relies on cognitive control to protect memoranda-specific persistent activity from interference1,2. However, how cognitive control regulates working memory storage is unclear. Here we show that interactions of frontal control and hippocampal persistent activity are coordinated by theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (TG-PAC). We recorded single neurons in the human medial temporal and frontal lobe while patients maintained multiple items in their working memory. In the hippocampus, TG-PAC was indicative of working memory load and quality. We identified cells that selectively spiked during nonlinear interactions of theta phase and gamma amplitude. The spike timing of these PAC neurons was coordinated with frontal theta activity when cognitive control demand was high. By introducing noise correlations with persistently active neurons in the hippocampus, PAC neurons shaped the geometry of the population code. This led to higher-fidelity representations of working memory content that were associated with improved behaviour. Our results support a multicomponent architecture of working memory1,2, with frontal control managing maintenance of working memory content in storage-related areas3-5. Within this framework, hippocampal TG-PAC integrates cognitive control and working memory storage across brain areas, thereby suggesting a potential mechanism for top-down control over sensory-driven processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Daume
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Jan Kamiński
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrea G P Schjetnan
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yousef Salimpour
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Umais Khan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael Kyzar
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chrystal M Reed
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - William S Anderson
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Taufik A Valiante
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Adam N Mamelak
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ueli Rutishauser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
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21
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Johnston R, Smith MA. Brain-wide arousal signals are segregated from movement planning in the superior colliculus. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.26.591284. [PMID: 38746466 PMCID: PMC11092505 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.591284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) is traditionally considered a brain region that functions as an interface between processing visual inputs and generating eye movement outputs. Although its role as a primary reflex center is thought to be conserved across vertebrate species, evidence suggests that the SC has evolved to support higher-order cognitive functions including spatial attention. When it comes to oculomotor areas such as the SC, it is critical that high precision fixation and eye movements are maintained even in the presence of signals related to ongoing changes in cognition and brain state, both of which have the potential to interfere with eye position encoding and movement generation. In this study, we recorded spiking responses of neuronal populations in the SC while monkeys performed a memory-guided saccade task and found that the activity of some of the neurons fluctuated over tens of minutes. By leveraging the statistical power afforded by high-dimensional neuronal recordings, we were able to identify a low-dimensional pattern of activity that was correlated with the subjects' arousal levels. Importantly, we found that the spiking responses of deep-layer SC neurons were less correlated with this brain-wide arousal signal, and that neural activity associated with changes in pupil size and saccade tuning did not overlap in population activity space with movement initiation signals. Taken together, these findings provide a framework for understanding how signals related to cognition and arousal can be embedded in the population activity of oculomotor structures without compromising the fidelity of the motor output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Johnston
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Matthew A. Smith
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
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22
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Kay K, Prince JS, Gebhart T, Tuckute G, Zhou J, Naselaris T, Schutt H. Disentangling signal and noise in neural responses through generative modeling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.22.590510. [PMID: 38712051 PMCID: PMC11071385 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.22.590510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Measurements of neural responses to identically repeated experimental events often exhibit large amounts of variability. This noise is distinct from signal , operationally defined as the average expected response across repeated trials for each given event. Accurately distinguishing signal from noise is important, as each is a target that is worthy of study (many believe noise reflects important aspects of brain function) and it is important not to confuse one for the other. Here, we introduce a principled modeling approach in which response measurements are explicitly modeled as the sum of samples from multivariate signal and noise distributions. In our proposed method-termed Generative Modeling of Signal and Noise (GSN)-the signal distribution is estimated by subtracting the estimated noise distribution from the estimated data distribution. We validate GSN using ground-truth simulations and demonstrate the application of GSN to empirical fMRI data. In doing so, we illustrate a simple consequence of GSN: by disentangling signal and noise components in neural responses, GSN denoises principal components analysis and improves estimates of dimensionality. We end by discussing other situations that may benefit from GSN's characterization of signal and noise, such as estimation of noise ceilings for computational models of neural activity. A code toolbox for GSN is provided with both MATLAB and Python implementations.
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23
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Papadopouli M, Smyrnakis I, Koniotakis E, Savaglio MA, Brozi C, Psilou E, Palagina G, Smirnakis SM. Brain orchestra under spontaneous conditions: Identifying communication modules from the functional architecture of area V1. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.29.582364. [PMID: 38496414 PMCID: PMC10942267 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.29.582364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
We used two-photon imaging to record from granular and supragranular layers in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) under spontaneous conditions and applied an extension of the spike time tiling coefficient (STTC; introduced by Cutts and Eglen) to map functional connectivity architecture within and across layers. We made several observations: Approximately, 19-34% of neuronal pairs within 300 μm of each other exhibit statistically significant functional connections, compared to ~10% at distances of 1mm or more. As expected, neuronal pairs with similar tuning functions exhibit a significant, though relatively small, increase in the fraction of functional inter-neuronal correlations. In contrast, internal state as reflected by pupillary diameter or aggregate neuronal activity appears to play a much stronger role in determining inter-neuronal correlation distributions and topography. Overall, inter-neuronal correlations appear to be slightly more prominent in L4. The first-order functionally connected (i.e., direct) neighbors of neurons determine the hub structure of the V1 microcircuit. L4 exhibits a nearly flat degree of connectivity distribution, extending to higher values than seen in supragranular layers, whose distribution drops exponentially. In all layers, functional connectivity exhibits small-world characteristics and network robustness. The probability of firing of L2/3 pyramidal neurons can be predicted as a function of the aggregate activity in their first-order functionally connected partners within L4, which represent their putative input group. The functional form of this prediction conforms well to a ReLU function, reaching up to firing probability one in some neurons. Interestingly, the properties of L2/3 pyramidal neurons differ based on the size of their L4 functional connectivity group. Specifically, L2/3 neurons with small layer-4 degrees of connectivity appear to be more sensitive to the firing of their L4 functional connectivity partners, suggesting they may be more effective at transmitting synchronous activity downstream from L4. They also appear to fire largely independently from each other, compared to neurons with high layer-4 degrees of connectivity, and are less modulated by changes in pupil size and aggregate population dynamics. Information transmission is best viewed as occurring from neuronal ensembles in L4 to neuronal ensembles in L2/3. Under spontaneous conditions, we were able to identify such candidate neuronal ensembles, which exhibit high sensitivity, precision, and specificity for L4 to L2/3 information transmission. In sum, functional connectivity analysis under spontaneous activity conditions reveals a modular neuronal ensemble architecture within and across granular and supragranular layers of mouse primary visual cortex. Furthermore, modules with different degrees of connectivity appear to obey different rules of engagement and communication across the V1 columnar circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Papadopouli
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | | | - Emmanouil Koniotakis
- Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Mario-Alexios Savaglio
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Christina Brozi
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Eleftheria Psilou
- Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
- Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Ganna Palagina
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
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24
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Sharma D, Lupkin SM, McGinty VB. Orbitofrontal high-gamma reflects spike-dissociable value and decision mechanisms. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.02.587758. [PMID: 38617349 PMCID: PMC11014579 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.02.587758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a crucial role in value-based decision-making. While previous research has focused on spiking activity in OFC neurons, the role of OFC local field potentials (LFPs) in decision-making remains unclear. LFPs are important because they can reflect synaptic and subthreshold activity not directly coupled to spiking, and because they are potential targets for less invasive forms of brain-machine interface (BMI). We recorded LFPs and spiking activity using multi-channel vertical probes while monkeys performed a two-option value-based decision-making task. We compared the value- and decision-coding properties of high-gamma range LFPs (HG, 50-150 Hz) to the coding properties of spiking multi-unit activity (MUA) recorded concurrently on the same electrodes. Results show that HG and MUA both represent the values of decision targets, and that their representations have similar temporal profiles in a trial. However, we also identified value-coding properties of HG that were dissociable from the concurrently-measured MUA. On average across channels, HG amplitude increased monotonically with value, whereas the average value encoding in MUA was net neutral. HG also encoded a signal consistent with a comparison between the values of the two targets, a signal which was much weaker in MUA. In individual channels, HG was better able to predict choice outcomes than MUA; however, when simultaneously recorded channels were combined in population-based decoder, MUA provided more accurate predictions than HG. Interestingly, HG value representations were accentuated in channels in or near shallow cortical layers, suggesting a dissociation between neuronal sources of HG and MUA. In summary, we find that HG signals are dissociable from MUA with respect to cognitive variables encoded in prefrontal cortex, evident in the monotonic encoding of value, stronger encoding of value comparisons, and more accurate predictions about behavior. High-frequency LFPs may therefore be a viable - or even preferable - target for BMIs to assist cognitive function, opening the possibility for less invasive access to mental contents that would otherwise be observable only with spike-based measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dixit Sharma
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University – Newark
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Rutgers University – Newark
| | - Shira M. Lupkin
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University – Newark
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Rutgers University – Newark
| | - Vincent B. McGinty
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University – Newark
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25
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Mohammadi M, Carriot J, Mackrous I, Cullen KE, Chacron MJ. Neural populations within macaque early vestibular pathways are adapted to encode natural self-motion. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002623. [PMID: 38687807 PMCID: PMC11086886 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
How the activities of large neural populations are integrated in the brain to ensure accurate perception and behavior remains a central problem in systems neuroscience. Here, we investigated population coding of naturalistic self-motion by neurons within early vestibular pathways in rhesus macaques (Macacca mulatta). While vestibular neurons displayed similar dynamic tuning to self-motion, inspection of their spike trains revealed significant heterogeneity. Further analysis revealed that, during natural but not artificial stimulation, heterogeneity resulted primarily from variability across neurons as opposed to trial-to-trial variability. Interestingly, vestibular neurons displayed different correlation structures during naturalistic and artificial self-motion. Specifically, while correlations due to the stimulus (i.e., signal correlations) did not differ, correlations between the trial-to-trial variabilities of neural responses (i.e., noise correlations) were instead significantly positive during naturalistic but not artificial stimulation. Using computational modeling, we show that positive noise correlations during naturalistic stimulation benefits information transmission by heterogeneous vestibular neural populations. Taken together, our results provide evidence that neurons within early vestibular pathways are adapted to the statistics of natural self-motion stimuli at the population level. We suggest that similar adaptations will be found in other systems and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Mohammadi
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Jerome Carriot
- Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | | | - Kathleen E. Cullen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
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26
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Goris RLT, Coen-Cagli R, Miller KD, Priebe NJ, Lengyel M. Response sub-additivity and variability quenching in visual cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci 2024; 25:237-252. [PMID: 38374462 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00795-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Sub-additivity and variability are ubiquitous response motifs in the primary visual cortex (V1). Response sub-additivity enables the construction of useful interpretations of the visual environment, whereas response variability indicates the factors that limit the precision with which the brain can do this. There is increasing evidence that experimental manipulations that elicit response sub-additivity often also quench response variability. Here, we provide an overview of these phenomena and suggest that they may have common origins. We discuss empirical findings and recent model-based insights into the functional operations, computational objectives and circuit mechanisms underlying V1 activity. These different modelling approaches all predict that response sub-additivity and variability quenching often co-occur. The phenomenology of these two response motifs, as well as many of the insights obtained about them in V1, generalize to other cortical areas. Thus, the connection between response sub-additivity and variability quenching may be a canonical motif across the cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robbe L T Goris
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Ruben Coen-Cagli
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Dominick P. 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
| | - Kenneth D Miller
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Dept. of Neuroscience, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Morton B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Swartz Program in Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nicholas J Priebe
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Máté Lengyel
- Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Center for Cognitive Computation, Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
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27
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Pan X, Coen-Cagli R, Schwartz O. Probing the Structure and Functional Properties of the Dropout-Induced Correlated Variability in Convolutional Neural Networks. Neural Comput 2024; 36:621-644. [PMID: 38457752 PMCID: PMC11164410 DOI: 10.1162/neco_a_01652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Computational neuroscience studies have shown that the structure of neural variability to an unchanged stimulus affects the amount of information encoded. Some artificial deep neural networks, such as those with Monte Carlo dropout layers, also have variable responses when the input is fixed. However, the structure of the trial-by-trial neural covariance in neural networks with dropout has not been studied, and its role in decoding accuracy is unknown. We studied the above questions in a convolutional neural network model with dropout in both the training and testing phases. We found that trial-by-trial correlation between neurons (i.e., noise correlation) is positive and low dimensional. Neurons that are close in a feature map have larger noise correlation. These properties are surprisingly similar to the findings in the visual cortex. We further analyzed the alignment of the main axes of the covariance matrix. We found that different images share a common trial-by-trial noise covariance subspace, and they are aligned with the global signal covariance. This evidence that the noise covariance is aligned with signal covariance suggests that noise covariance in dropout neural networks reduces network accuracy, which we further verified directly with a trial-shuffling procedure commonly used in neuroscience. These findings highlight a previously overlooked aspect of dropout layers that can affect network performance. Such dropout networks could also potentially be a computational model of neural variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Pan
- Department of Computer Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, U.S.A.
| | - Ruben Coen-Cagli
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, U.S.A.
| | - Odelia Schwartz
- Department of Computer Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, U.S.A.
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28
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Manley J, Vaziri A. Whole-brain neural substrates of behavioral variability in the larval zebrafish. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.03.583208. [PMID: 38496592 PMCID: PMC10942351 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.03.583208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Animals engaged in naturalistic behavior can exhibit a large degree of behavioral variability even under sensory invariant conditions. Such behavioral variability can include not only variations of the same behavior, but also variability across qualitatively different behaviors driven by divergent cognitive states, such as fight-or-flight decisions. However, the neural circuit mechanisms that generate such divergent behaviors across trials are not well understood. To investigate this question, here we studied the visual-evoked responses of larval zebrafish to moving objects of various sizes, which we found exhibited highly variable and divergent responses across repetitions of the same stimulus. Given that the neuronal circuits underlying such behaviors span sensory, motor, and other brain areas, we built a novel Fourier light field microscope which enables high-resolution, whole-brain imaging of larval zebrafish during behavior. This enabled us to screen for neural loci which exhibited activity patterns correlated with behavioral variability. We found that despite the highly variable activity of single neurons, visual stimuli were robustly encoded at the population level, and the visual-encoding dimensions of neural activity did not explain behavioral variability. This robustness despite apparent single neuron variability was due to the multi-dimensional geometry of the neuronal population dynamics: almost all neural dimensions that were variable across individual trials, i.e. the "noise" modes, were orthogonal to those encoding for sensory information. Investigating this neuronal variability further, we identified two sparsely-distributed, brain-wide neuronal populations whose pre-motor activity predicted whether the larva would respond to a stimulus and, if so, which direction it would turn on a single-trial level. These populations predicted single-trial behavior seconds before stimulus onset, indicating they encoded time-varying internal modulating behavior, perhaps organizing behavior over longer timescales or enabling flexible behavior routines dependent on the animal's internal state. Our results provide the first whole-brain confirmation that sensory, motor, and internal variables are encoded in a highly mixed fashion throughout the brain and demonstrate that de-mixing each of these components at the neuronal population level is critical to understanding the mechanisms underlying the brain's remarkable flexibility and robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Manley
- Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
- The Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Alipasha Vaziri
- Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
- The Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
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29
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Kalelkar A, Sipe G, Castro E Costa AR, Lorenzo IM, Nguyen M, Linares-Garcia I, Vazey E, Huda R. A paradigm for ethanol consumption in head-fixed mice during prefrontal cortical two-photon calcium imaging. Neuropharmacology 2024; 245:109800. [PMID: 38056524 PMCID: PMC11292593 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109800] [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: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a hub for cognitive behaviors and is a key target for neuroadaptations in alcohol use disorders. Recent advances in genetically encoded sensors and functional microscopy allow multimodal in vivo PFC activity recordings at subcellular and cellular scales. While these methods could enable a deeper understanding of the relationship between alcohol and PFC function/dysfunction, they typically require animals to be head-fixed. Here, we present a method in mice for binge-like ethanol consumption during head-fixation. Male and female mice were first acclimated to ethanol by providing home cage access to 20% ethanol (v/v) for 4 or 8 days. After home cage drinking, mice consumed ethanol from a lick spout during head-fixation. We used two-photon calcium imaging during the head-fixed drinking paradigm to record from a large population of PFC neurons (>1000) to explore how acute ethanol affects their activity. Drinking exerted temporally heterogeneous effects on PFC activity at single neuron and population levels. Intoxication modulated the tonic activity of some neurons while others showed phasic responses around ethanol receipt. Population level activity did not show tonic or phasic modulation but tracked ethanol consumption over the minute-timescale. Network level interactions assessed through between-neuron pairwise correlations were largely resilient to intoxication at the population level while neurons with increased tonic activity showed higher synchrony by the end of the drinking period. By establishing a method for binge-like drinking in head-fixed mice, we lay the groundwork for leveraging advanced microscopy technologies to study alcohol-induced neuroadaptations in PFC and other brain circuits. This article is part of the Special Issue on "PFC circuit function in psychiatric disease and relevant models".
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Affiliation(s)
- Anagha Kalelkar
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA
| | - Grayson Sipe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Ana Raquel Castro E Costa
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA
| | - Ilka M Lorenzo
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA
| | - My Nguyen
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA
| | - Ivan Linares-Garcia
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA
| | - Elena Vazey
- Department of Biology, The University of Massachusetts Amherst, 611 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Rafiq Huda
- WM Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, 604 Allison Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08904, USA.
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30
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Kunz L, Staresina BP, Reinacher PC, Brandt A, Guth TA, Schulze-Bonhage A, Jacobs J. Ripple-locked coactivity of stimulus-specific neurons and human associative memory. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:587-599. [PMID: 38366143 PMCID: PMC10917673 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01550-x] [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: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Associative memory enables the encoding and retrieval of relations between different stimuli. To better understand its neural basis, we investigated whether associative memory involves temporally correlated spiking of medial temporal lobe (MTL) neurons that exhibit stimulus-specific tuning. Using single-neuron recordings from patients with epilepsy performing an associative object-location memory task, we identified the object-specific and place-specific neurons that represented the separate elements of each memory. When patients encoded and retrieved particular memories, the relevant object-specific and place-specific neurons activated together during hippocampal ripples. This ripple-locked coactivity of stimulus-specific neurons emerged over time as the patients' associative learning progressed. Between encoding and retrieval, the ripple-locked timing of coactivity shifted, suggesting flexibility in the interaction between MTL neurons and hippocampal ripples according to behavioral demands. Our results are consistent with a cellular account of associative memory, in which hippocampal ripples coordinate the activity of specialized cellular populations to facilitate links between stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Kunz
- Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Bernhard P Staresina
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Peter C Reinacher
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, Aachen, Germany
| | - Armin Brandt
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Tim A Guth
- Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Schulze-Bonhage
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Joshua Jacobs
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
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31
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Ribeiro TL, Jendrichovsky P, Yu S, Martin DA, Kanold PO, Chialvo DR, Plenz D. Trial-by-trial variability in cortical responses exhibits scaling of spatial correlations predicted from critical dynamics. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113762. [PMID: 38341856 PMCID: PMC10956720 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113762] [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: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024] Open
Abstract
In the mammalian cortex, even simple sensory inputs or movements activate many neurons, with each neuron responding variably to repeated stimuli-a phenomenon known as trial-by-trial variability. Understanding the spatial patterns and dynamics of this variability is challenging. Using cellular 2-photon imaging, we study visual and auditory responses in the primary cortices of awake mice. We focus on how individual neurons' responses differed from the overall population. We find consistent spatial correlations in these differences that are unique to each trial and linearly scale with the cortical area observed, a characteristic of critical dynamics as confirmed in our neuronal simulations. Using chronic multi-electrode recordings, we observe similar scaling in the prefrontal and premotor cortex of non-human primates during self-initiated and visually cued motor tasks. These results suggest that trial-by-trial variability, rather than being random noise, reflects a critical, fluctuation-dominated state in the cortex, supporting the brain's efficiency in processing information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago L Ribeiro
- Section on Critical Brain Dynamics, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Peter Jendrichovsky
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Shan Yu
- Section on Critical Brain Dynamics, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Daniel A Martin
- Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences (CEMSC3), Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, (ICIFI) Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM), San Martín 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Patrick O Kanold
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Dante R Chialvo
- Center for Complex Systems & Brain Sciences (CEMSC3), Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, (ICIFI) Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM), San Martín 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Dietmar Plenz
- Section on Critical Brain Dynamics, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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32
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Rankin G, Chirila AM, Emanuel AJ, Zhang Z, Woolf CJ, Drugowitsch J, Ginty DD. Nerve injury disrupts temporal processing in the spinal cord dorsal horn through alterations in PV + interneurons. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113718. [PMID: 38294904 PMCID: PMC11101906 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113718] [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: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
How mechanical allodynia following nerve injury is encoded in patterns of neural activity in the spinal cord dorsal horn (DH) remains incompletely understood. We address this in mice using the spared nerve injury model of neuropathic pain and in vivo electrophysiological recordings. Surprisingly, despite dramatic behavioral over-reactivity to mechanical stimuli following nerve injury, an overall increase in sensitivity or reactivity of DH neurons is not observed. We do, however, observe a marked decrease in correlated neural firing patterns, including the synchrony of mechanical stimulus-evoked firing, across the DH. Alterations in DH temporal firing patterns are recapitulated by silencing DH parvalbumin+ (PV+) interneurons, previously implicated in mechanical allodynia, as are allodynic pain-like behaviors. These findings reveal decorrelated DH network activity, driven by alterations in PV+ interneurons, as a prominent feature of neuropathic pain and suggest restoration of proper temporal activity as a potential therapeutic strategy to treat chronic neuropathic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genelle Rankin
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Anda M Chirila
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alan J Emanuel
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Zihe Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Clifford J Woolf
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jan Drugowitsch
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - David D Ginty
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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33
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Ging-Jehli NR, Painter QA, Kraemer HA, Roley-Roberts ME, Panchyshyn C, deBeus R, Arnold LE. A diffusion decision model analysis of the cognitive effects of neurofeedback for ADHD. Neuropsychology 2024; 38:146-156. [PMID: 37971859 PMCID: PMC10842533 DOI: 10.1037/neu0000932] [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] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine cognitive effects of neurofeedback (NF) for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a secondary outcome of a randomized clinical trial. METHOD In a double-blind randomized clinical trial (NCT02251743), 133 7-10-year olds with ADHD received either 38 sessions of NF (n = 78) or control treatment (n = 55) and performed an integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test at baseline, mid- and end-treatment. We used the diffusion decision model to decompose integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test performance at each assessment into cognitive components: efficiency of integrating stimulus information (v), context sensitivity (cv), response cautiousness (a), response bias (z/a), and nondecision time for perceptual encoding and response execution (Ter). Based on prior findings, we tested whether the components known to be deficient improved with NF and explored whether other cognitive components improved using linear mixed modeling. RESULTS Before NF, children with ADHD showed main deficits in integrating stimulus information (v), which led to less accurate and slower responses than healthy controls (p = .008). The NF group showed significantly more improvement in integrating auditory stimulus information (v) than control treatment (significant group-by-time-by-modality effect: p = .044). CONCLUSIONS NF seems to improve v, deficient in ADHD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadja R. Ging-Jehli
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI
| | | | - Helena A. Kraemer
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA
| | | | | | - Roger deBeus
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Asheville
| | - L. Eugene Arnold
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Nisonger Center UCEDD, The Ohio State University
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34
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Sharma H, Azouz R. Global and local neuronal coding of tactile information in the barrel cortex. Front Neurosci 2024; 17:1291864. [PMID: 38249584 PMCID: PMC10796699 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1291864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
During tactile sensation in rodents, the whisker movements across surfaces give rise to intricate whisker motions that encompass discrete and transient stick-slip events, effectively conveying valuable information regarding surface properties. These surface characteristics are transformed into cortical neuronal responses. This study examined the coding strategies underlying these transformations in rat whiskers. We found that changes in surface coarseness modified the number and magnitude of stick-slip events, which in turn both modulated properties of neuronal responses. Global changes in the number of stick-slip events primarily affected neuronal discharge rates and the degree of neuronal synchronization. In contrast, local changes in the magnitude of stick-slip events affected the transformation of these kinematic and kinetic characteristics into neuronal discharges. Most cortical neurons exhibited surface coarseness selectivity through global and local stick-slip event properties. However, this selectivity varied across coding strategies in the same neurons, given that each coding strategy reflected different aspects of changes in whisker-surface interactions. The degree of spatial similarity in surface coarseness preference in adjacently recorded neurons differed among these coding strategies. Adjacently recorded neurons exhibited the same surface coarseness preference in their firing rates but not through other coding strategies. Through these results, we were able to show that local stick-slip event properties contribute to texture discrimination, complementing and surpassing global coding in this context. These findings suggest that the representation of surface coarseness in the cortex may rely on concurrent coding strategies that integrate tactile information across different spatiotemporal scales.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rony Azouz
- Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Southern District, Israel
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35
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Bai X, Yu C, Zhai J. Topological data analysis of the firings of a network of stochastic spiking neurons. Front Neural Circuits 2024; 17:1308629. [PMID: 38239606 PMCID: PMC10794443 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1308629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Topological data analysis is becoming more and more popular in recent years. It has found various applications in many different fields, for its convenience in analyzing and understanding the structure and dynamic of complex systems. We used topological data analysis to analyze the firings of a network of stochastic spiking neurons, which can be in a sub-critical, critical, or super-critical state depending on the value of the control parameter. We calculated several topological features regarding Betti curves and then analyzed the behaviors of these features, using them as inputs for machine learning to discriminate the three states of the network.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chaojun Yu
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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36
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Linn S, Lawley SD, Karamched BR, Kilpatrick ZP, Josić K. Fast decisions reflect biases, slow decisions do not. ARXIV 2024:arXiv:2401.00306v2. [PMID: 38259347 PMCID: PMC10802676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Decisions are often made by heterogeneous groups of individuals, each with distinct initial biases and access to information of different quality. We show that in large groups of independent agents who accumulate evidence the first to decide are those with the strongest initial biases. Their decisions align with their initial bias, regardless of the underlying truth. In contrast, agents who decide last make decisions as if they were initially unbiased, and hence make better choices. We obtain asymptotic expressions in the large population limit that quantify how agents' initial inclinations shape early decisions. Our analysis shows how bias, information quality, and decision order interact in non-trivial ways to determine the reliability of decisions in a group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Linn
- Department of Mathematics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Sean D. Lawley
- Department of Mathematics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Bhargav R. Karamched
- Department of Mathematics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
- Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
| | - Zachary P. Kilpatrick
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
| | - Krešimir Josić
- Department of Mathematics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004, USA
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004, USA
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37
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Manning TS, Alexander E, Cumming BG, DeAngelis GC, Huang X, Cooper EA. Transformations of sensory information in the brain suggest changing criteria for optimality. PLoS Comput Biol 2024; 20:e1011783. [PMID: 38206969 PMCID: PMC10807827 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Neurons throughout the brain modulate their firing rate lawfully in response to sensory input. Theories of neural computation posit that these modulations reflect the outcome of a constrained optimization in which neurons aim to robustly and efficiently represent sensory information. Our understanding of how this optimization varies across different areas in the brain, however, is still in its infancy. Here, we show that neural sensory responses transform along the dorsal stream of the visual system in a manner consistent with a transition from optimizing for information preservation towards optimizing for perceptual discrimination. Focusing on the representation of binocular disparities-the slight differences in the retinal images of the two eyes-we re-analyze measurements characterizing neuronal tuning curves in brain areas V1, V2, and MT (middle temporal) in the macaque monkey. We compare these to measurements of the statistics of binocular disparity typically encountered during natural behaviors using a Fisher Information framework. The differences in tuning curve characteristics across areas are consistent with a shift in optimization goals: V1 and V2 population-level responses are more consistent with maximizing the information encoded about naturally occurring binocular disparities, while MT responses shift towards maximizing the ability to support disparity discrimination. We find that a change towards tuning curves preferring larger disparities is a key driver of this shift. These results provide new insight into previously-identified differences between disparity-selective areas of cortex and suggest these differences play an important role in supporting visually-guided behavior. Our findings emphasize the need to consider not just information preservation and neural resources, but also relevance to behavior, when assessing the optimality of neural codes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler S. Manning
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Emma Alexander
- Department of Computer Science, Northwestern University, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Bruce G. Cumming
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Gregory C. DeAngelis
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - Xin Huang
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin, Madison
| | - Emily A. Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
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38
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Becker LA, Li B, Priebe NJ, Seidemann E, Taillefumier T. Exact Analysis of the Subthreshold Variability for Conductance-Based Neuronal Models with Synchronous Synaptic Inputs. PHYSICAL REVIEW. X 2024; 14:011021. [PMID: 38911939 PMCID: PMC11194039 DOI: 10.1103/physrevx.14.011021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
The spiking activity of neocortical neurons exhibits a striking level of variability, even when these networks are driven by identical stimuli. The approximately Poisson firing of neurons has led to the hypothesis that these neural networks operate in the asynchronous state. In the asynchronous state, neurons fire independently from one another, so that the probability that a neuron experience synchronous synaptic inputs is exceedingly low. While the models of asynchronous neurons lead to observed spiking variability, it is not clear whether the asynchronous state can also account for the level of subthreshold membrane potential variability. We propose a new analytical framework to rigorously quantify the subthreshold variability of a single conductance-based neuron in response to synaptic inputs with prescribed degrees of synchrony. Technically, we leverage the theory of exchangeability to model input synchrony via jump-process-based synaptic drives; we then perform a moment analysis of the stationary response of a neuronal model with all-or-none conductances that neglects postspiking reset. As a result, we produce exact, interpretable closed forms for the first two stationary moments of the membrane voltage, with explicit dependence on the input synaptic numbers, strengths, and synchrony. For biophysically relevant parameters, we find that the asynchronous regime yields realistic subthreshold variability (voltage variance ≃4-9 mV2) only when driven by a restricted number of large synapses, compatible with strong thalamic drive. By contrast, we find that achieving realistic subthreshold variability with dense cortico-cortical inputs requires including weak but nonzero input synchrony, consistent with measured pairwise spiking correlations. We also show that, without synchrony, the neural variability averages out to zero for all scaling limits with vanishing synaptic weights, independent of any balanced state hypothesis. This result challenges the theoretical basis for mean-field theories of the asynchronous state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan A. Becker
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Baowang Li
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Nicholas J. Priebe
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Eyal Seidemann
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Thibaud Taillefumier
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
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39
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Benisty H, Barson D, Moberly AH, Lohani S, Tang L, Coifman RR, Crair MC, Mishne G, Cardin JA, Higley MJ. Rapid fluctuations in functional connectivity of cortical networks encode spontaneous behavior. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:148-158. [PMID: 38036743 PMCID: PMC11316935 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01498-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Experimental work across species has demonstrated that spontaneously generated behaviors are robustly coupled to variations in neural activity within the cerebral cortex. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data suggest that temporal correlations in cortical networks vary across distinct behavioral states, providing for the dynamic reorganization of patterned activity. However, these data generally lack the temporal resolution to establish links between cortical signals and the continuously varying fluctuations in spontaneous behavior observed in awake animals. Here, we used wide-field mesoscopic calcium imaging to monitor cortical dynamics in awake mice and developed an approach to quantify rapidly time-varying functional connectivity. We show that spontaneous behaviors are represented by fast changes in both the magnitude and correlational structure of cortical network activity. Combining mesoscopic imaging with simultaneous cellular-resolution two-photon microscopy demonstrated that correlations among neighboring neurons and between local and large-scale networks also encode behavior. Finally, the dynamic functional connectivity of mesoscale signals revealed subnetworks not predicted by traditional anatomical atlas-based parcellation of the cortex. These results provide new insights into how behavioral information is represented across the neocortex and demonstrate an analytical framework for investigating time-varying functional connectivity in neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadas Benisty
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Daniel Barson
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Andrew H Moberly
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Sweyta Lohani
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lan Tang
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Ronald R Coifman
- Program in Applied Mathematics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael C Crair
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gal Mishne
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jessica A Cardin
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael J Higley
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
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40
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Becker LA, Li B, Priebe NJ, Seidemann E, Taillefumier T. Exact analysis of the subthreshold variability for conductance-based neuronal models with synchronous synaptic inputs. ARXIV 2023:arXiv:2304.09280v3. [PMID: 37131877 PMCID: PMC10153295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The spiking activity of neocortical neurons exhibits a striking level of variability, even when these networks are driven by identical stimuli. The approximately Poisson firing of neurons has led to the hypothesis that these neural networks operate in the asynchronous state. In the asynchronous state neurons fire independently from one another, so that the probability that a neuron experience synchronous synaptic inputs is exceedingly low. While the models of asynchronous neurons lead to observed spiking variability, it is not clear whether the asynchronous state can also account for the level of subthreshold membrane potential variability. We propose a new analytical framework to rigorously quantify the subthreshold variability of a single conductance-based neuron in response to synaptic inputs with prescribed degrees of synchrony. Technically we leverage the theory of exchangeability to model input synchrony via jump-process-based synaptic drives; we then perform a moment analysis of the stationary response of a neuronal model with all-or-none conductances that neglects post-spiking reset. As a result, we produce exact, interpretable closed forms for the first two stationary moments of the membrane voltage, with explicit dependence on the input synaptic numbers, strengths, and synchrony. For biophysically relevant parameters, we find that the asynchronous regime only yields realistic subthreshold variability (voltage variance ≃ 4 - 9 m V 2 ) when driven by a restricted number of large synapses, compatible with strong thalamic drive. By contrast, we find that achieving realistic subthreshold variability with dense cortico-cortical inputs requires including weak but nonzero input synchrony, consistent with measured pairwise spiking correlations. We also show that without synchrony, the neural variability averages out to zero for all scaling limits with vanishing synaptic weights, independent of any balanced state hypothesis. This result challenges the theoretical basis for mean-field theories of the asynchronous state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan A. Becker
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
| | - Baowang Li
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
| | - Nicholas J. Priebe
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin
| | - Eyal Seidemann
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
| | - Thibaud Taillefumier
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas at Austin
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41
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Rukhsar S, Tiwari AK. Lightweight convolution transformer for cross-patient seizure detection in multi-channel EEG signals. COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE 2023; 242:107856. [PMID: 37857026 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2023.107856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epilepsy is a neurological illness affecting the brain that makes people more likely to experience frequent, spontaneous seizures. There has to be an accurate automated method for measuring seizures frequency and severity to assess the efficacy of pharmacological therapy for epilepsy. The drug quantities are often derived from patient reports which may cause significant issues owing to inadequate or inaccurate descriptions of seizures and their frequencies. METHODS AND MATERIALS This study proposes a novel deep learning architecture-based Lightweight Convolution Transformer (LCT). The Transformer model is able to learn spatial and temporal correlated information simultaneously from the multi-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) signal to detect seizures at smaller segment lengths. In the proposed work, the lack of translation equivariance and localization of ViT is reduced using convolution tokenization, and rich information from the Transformer encoder is extracted by sequence pooling instead of the learnable class token. RESULTS Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model on cross-patient learning can effectively detect seizures from the raw EEG signals. The accuracy and F1-score of seizure detection in the cross-patient case on the CHB-MIT dataset are 96.31% and 96.32%, respectively, at 0.5 sec segment length. In addition, the performance metrics show that the inclusion of inductive biases and attention-based pooling in the model enhances the performance and reduces the number of Transformer encoder layers, which significantly reduces the computational complexity. In this research, we provide a novel approach to enhance efficiency and simplify the architecture for multi-channel automated seizure detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salim Rukhsar
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342030, India.
| | - Anil Kumar Tiwari
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342030, India
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42
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Haimerl C, Ruff DA, Cohen MR, Savin C, Simoncelli EP. Targeted V1 comodulation supports task-adaptive sensory decisions. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7879. [PMID: 38036519 PMCID: PMC10689451 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43432-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory-guided behavior requires reliable encoding of stimulus information in neural populations, and flexible, task-specific readout. The former has been studied extensively, but the latter remains poorly understood. We introduce a theory for adaptive sensory processing based on functionally-targeted stochastic modulation. We show that responses of neurons in area V1 of monkeys performing a visual discrimination task exhibit low-dimensional, rapidly fluctuating gain modulation, which is stronger in task-informative neurons and can be used to decode from neural activity after few training trials, consistent with observed behavior. In a simulated hierarchical neural network model, such labels are learned quickly and can be used to adapt downstream readout, even after several intervening processing stages. Consistently, we find the modulatory signal estimated in V1 is also present in the activity of simultaneously recorded MT units, and is again strongest in task-informative neurons. These results support the idea that co-modulation facilitates task-adaptive hierarchical information routing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Haimerl
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
- Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal.
| | - Douglas A Ruff
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, US
| | - Marlene R Cohen
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, US
| | - Cristina Savin
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Data Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10011, USA
| | - Eero P Simoncelli
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Data Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10011, USA
- Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation, New York, NY, 10010, USA
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43
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Reppert TR, Heitz RP, Schall JD. Neural mechanisms for executive control of speed-accuracy trade-off. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113422. [PMID: 37950871 PMCID: PMC10833473 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113422] [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: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The medial frontal cortex (MFC) plays an important but disputed role in speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT). In samples of neural spiking in the supplementary eye field (SEF) in the MFC simultaneous with the visuomotor frontal eye field and superior colliculus in macaques performing a visual search with instructed SAT, during accuracy emphasis, most SEF neurons discharge less from before stimulus presentation until response generation. Discharge rates adjust immediately and simultaneously across structures upon SAT cue changes. SEF neurons signal choice errors with stronger and earlier activity during accuracy emphasis. Other neurons signal timing errors, covarying with adjusting response time. Spike correlations between neurons in the SEF and visuomotor areas did not appear, disappear, or change sign across SAT conditions or trial outcomes. These results clarify findings with noninvasive measures, complement previous neurophysiological findings, and endorse the role of the MFC as a critic for the actor instantiated in visuomotor structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R Reppert
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA; Department of Psychology, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA
| | - Richard P Heitz
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Schall
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA; Centre for Vision Research, Vision Science to Applications, Department of Biology, York University, Toronto ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
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44
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Gerasimov E, Mitenev A, Pchitskaya E, Chukanov V, Bezprozvanny I. NeuroActivityToolkit-Toolbox for Quantitative Analysis of Miniature Fluorescent Microscopy Data. J Imaging 2023; 9:243. [PMID: 37998090 PMCID: PMC10672520 DOI: 10.3390/jimaging9110243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The visualization of neuronal activity in vivo is an urgent task in modern neuroscience. It allows neurobiologists to obtain a large amount of information about neuronal network architecture and connections between neurons. The miniscope technique might help to determine changes that occurred in the network due to external stimuli and various conditions: processes of learning, stress, epileptic seizures and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, using the miniscope method, functional changes in the early stages of such disorders could be detected. The miniscope has become a modern approach for recording hundreds to thousands of neurons simultaneously in a certain brain area of a freely behaving animal. Nevertheless, the analysis and interpretation of the large recorded data is still a nontrivial task. There are a few well-working algorithms for miniscope data preprocessing and calcium trace extraction. However, software for further high-level quantitative analysis of neuronal calcium signals is not publicly available. NeuroActivityToolkit is a toolbox that provides diverse statistical metrics calculation, reflecting the neuronal network properties such as the number of neuronal activations per minute, amount of simultaneously co-active neurons, etc. In addition, the module for analyzing neuronal pairwise correlations is implemented. Moreover, one can visualize and characterize neuronal network states and detect changes in 2D coordinates using PCA analysis. This toolbox, which is deposited in a public software repository, is accompanied by a detailed tutorial and is highly valuable for the statistical interpretation of miniscope data in a wide range of experimental tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgenii Gerasimov
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Khlopina St. 11, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexander Mitenev
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Khlopina St. 11, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Ekaterina Pchitskaya
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Khlopina St. 11, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Viacheslav Chukanov
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Khlopina St. 11, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Ilya Bezprozvanny
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Khlopina St. 11, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
- Department of Physiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
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45
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Uzun YS, Santos R, Marchetto MC, Padmanabhan K. Network size affects the complexity of activity in human iPSC-derived neuronal populations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.31.564939. [PMID: 37961249 PMCID: PMC10635014 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.31.564939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Multi-electrode recording of neural activity in cultures offer opportunities for understanding how the structure of a network gives rise to function. Although it is hypothesized that network size is critical for determining the dynamics of activity, this relationship in human neural cultures remains largely unexplored. By applying new methods for analyzing neural activity to human iPSC derived cultures at either low-densities or high-densities, we uncovered the significant impacts that neuron number has on the individual neurophysiological properties of cells (such as firing rates), the collective behavior of the networks these cultures formed (as measured by entropy), and the relationship between the two. As a result, simply changing the densities of neurons generated dynamics and network behavior that differed not just in degree, but in kind. Beyond revealing the relationship between network structure and function, our findings provide a novel analytical framework to study diseases where network level activity is affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yavuz Selim Uzun
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester
- Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine
| | - Renata Santos
- Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, Signaling mechanisms in neurological disorders, 102 rue de la Santé, 75014 Paris, France
- Institut Imagine, INSERM U1163, Mechanisms and therapy of genetic brain diseases, Université Paris Cité, 24 Boulevard du Montparnasse, 75015 Paris, France
- Institut des Sciences Biologiques, CNRS, 16 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | | | - Krishnan Padmanabhan
- Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Intellectual Development and Disability Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
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46
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Andrei AR, Akil AE, Kharas N, Rosenbaum R, Josić K, Dragoi V. Rapid compensatory plasticity revealed by dynamic correlated activity in monkeys in vivo. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1960-1969. [PMID: 37828225 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01446-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
To produce adaptive behavior, neural networks must balance between plasticity and stability. Computational work has demonstrated that network stability requires plasticity mechanisms to be counterbalanced by rapid compensatory processes. However, such processes have yet to be experimentally observed. Here we demonstrate that repeated optogenetic activation of excitatory neurons in monkey visual cortex (area V1) induces a population-wide dynamic reduction in the strength of neuronal interactions over the timescale of minutes during the awake state, but not during rest. This new form of rapid plasticity was observed only in the correlation structure, with firing rates remaining stable across trials. A computational network model operating in the balanced regime confirmed experimental findings and revealed that inhibitory plasticity is responsible for the decrease in correlated activity in response to repeated light stimulation. These results provide the first experimental evidence for rapid homeostatic plasticity that primarily operates during wakefulness, which stabilizes neuronal interactions during strong network co-activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariana R Andrei
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Alan E Akil
- Departments of Mathematics, Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Natasha Kharas
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robert Rosenbaum
- Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Krešimir Josić
- Departments of Mathematics, Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Valentin Dragoi
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
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Weiss O, Bounds HA, Adesnik H, Coen-Cagli R. Modeling the diverse effects of divisive normalization on noise correlations. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011667. [PMID: 38033166 PMCID: PMC10715670 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Divisive normalization, a prominent descriptive model of neural activity, is employed by theories of neural coding across many different brain areas. Yet, the relationship between normalization and the statistics of neural responses beyond single neurons remains largely unexplored. Here we focus on noise correlations, a widely studied pairwise statistic, because its stimulus and state dependence plays a central role in neural coding. Existing models of covariability typically ignore normalization despite empirical evidence suggesting it affects correlation structure in neural populations. We therefore propose a pairwise stochastic divisive normalization model that accounts for the effects of normalization and other factors on covariability. We first show that normalization modulates noise correlations in qualitatively different ways depending on whether normalization is shared between neurons, and we discuss how to infer when normalization signals are shared. We then apply our model to calcium imaging data from mouse primary visual cortex (V1), and find that it accurately fits the data, often outperforming a popular alternative model of correlations. Our analysis indicates that normalization signals are often shared between V1 neurons in this dataset. Our model will enable quantifying the relation between normalization and covariability in a broad range of neural systems, which could provide new constraints on circuit mechanisms of normalization and their role in information transmission and representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oren Weiss
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
| | - Hayley A. Bounds
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Hillel Adesnik
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Ruben Coen-Cagli
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
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Dubanet O, Higley MJ. Retrosplenial inputs drive diverse visual representations in the medial entorhinal cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.03.560642. [PMID: 37873152 PMCID: PMC10592898 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.03.560642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
The ability of rodents to use visual cues for successful navigation and goal-directed behavior has been long appreciated, although the neural mechanisms supporting sensory representations in navigational circuits are largely unknown. Navigation is fundamentally dependent on the hippocampus and closely connected entorhinal cortex, whose neurons exhibit characteristic firing patterns corresponding to the animal's location. The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) receives direct projections from sensory areas in the neocortex, suggesting the ability to encode sensory information. To examine this possibility, we performed high-density recordings of MEC neurons in awake, head-fixed mice presented with simple visual stimuli and assessed the dynamics of sensory-evoked activity. We found a large fraction of neurons exhibited robust responses to visual input that shaped activity relative to ongoing network dynamics. Visually responsive cells could be separated into subgroups based on functional and molecular properties within deep layers of the dorsal MEC, suggesting diverse populations within the MEC contribute to sensory encoding. We then showed that optogenetic suppression of retrosplenial cortex afferents within the MEC strongly reduced visual responses. Overall, our results demonstrate the the MEC can encode simple visual cues in the environment that can contribute to neural representations of location necessary for accurate navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Dubanet
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - Michael J Higley
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
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Ayar EC, Heusser MR, Bourrelly C, Gandhi NJ. Distinct context- and content-dependent population codes in superior colliculus during sensation and action. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2303523120. [PMID: 37748075 PMCID: PMC10556644 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303523120] [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: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensorimotor transformation is the process of first sensing an object in the environment and then producing a movement in response to that stimulus. For visually guided saccades, neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) emit a burst of spikes to register the appearance of stimulus, and many of the same neurons discharge another burst to initiate the eye movement. We investigated whether the neural signatures of sensation and action in SC depend on context. Spiking activity along the dorsoventral axis was recorded with a laminar probe as Rhesus monkeys generated saccades to the same stimulus location in tasks that require either executive control to delay saccade onset until permission is granted or the production of an immediate response to a target whose onset is predictable. Using dimensionality reduction and discriminability methods, we show that the subspaces occupied during the visual and motor epochs were both distinct within each task and differentiable across tasks. Single-unit analyses, in contrast, show that the movement-related activity of SC neurons was not different between tasks. These results demonstrate that statistical features in neural activity of simultaneously recorded ensembles provide more insight than single neurons. They also indicate that cognitive processes associated with task requirements are multiplexed in SC population activity during both sensation and action and that downstream structures could use this activity to extract context. Additionally, the entire manifolds associated with sensory and motor responses, respectively, may be larger than the subspaces explored within a certain set of experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eve C. Ayar
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Program in Neural Computation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
| | - Michelle R. Heusser
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
| | - Clara Bourrelly
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
| | - Neeraj J. Gandhi
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Program in Neural Computation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
- Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15213
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50
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Faruqui N, Williams DS, Briones A, Kepiro IE, Ravi J, Kwan TO, Mearns-Spragg A, Ryadnov MG. Extracellular matrix type 0: From ancient collagen lineage to a versatile product pipeline - JellaGel™. Mater Today Bio 2023; 22:100786. [PMID: 37692377 PMCID: PMC10491728 DOI: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Extracellular matrix type 0 is reported. The matrix is developed from a jellyfish collagen predating mammalian forms by over 0.5 billion years. With its ancient lineage, compositional simplicity, and resemblance to multiple collagen types, the matrix is referred to as the extracellular matrix type 0. Here we validate the matrix describing its physicochemical and biological properties and present it as a versatile, minimalist biomaterial underpinning a pipeline of commercialised products under the collective name of JellaGelTM. We describe an extensive body of evidence for folding and assembly of the matrix in comparison to mammalian matrices, such as bovine collagen, and its use to support cell growth and development in comparison to known tissue-derived products, such as Matrigel™. We apply the matrix to co-culture human astrocytes and cortical neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells and visualise neuron firing synchronicity with correlations indicative of a homogenous extracellular material in contrast to the performance of heterogenous commercial matrices. We prove the ability of the matrix to induce spheroid formation and support the 3D culture of human immortalised, primary, and mesenchymal stem cells. We conclude that the matrix offers an optimal solution for systemic evaluations of cell-matrix biology. It effectively combines the exploitable properties of mammalian tissue extracts or top-down matrices, such as biocompatibility, with the advantages of synthetic or bottom-up matrices, such as compositional control, while avoiding the drawbacks of the two types, such as biological and design heterogeneity, thereby providing a unique bridging capability of a stem extracellular matrix.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilofar Faruqui
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
| | | | - Andrea Briones
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
| | - Ibolya E. Kepiro
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
| | - Jascindra Ravi
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
| | - Tristan O.C. Kwan
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
| | | | - Maxim G. Ryadnov
- National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
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