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Sengupta A, Banerjee S, Ganesh S, Grover S, Sridharan D. The right posterior parietal cortex mediates spatial reorienting of attentional choice bias. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6938. [PMID: 39138185 PMCID: PMC11322534 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51283-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: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Attention facilitates behavior by enhancing perceptual sensitivity (sensory processing) and choice bias (decisional weighting) for attended information. Whether distinct neural substrates mediate these distinct components of attention remains unknown. We investigate the causal role of key nodes of the right posterior parietal cortex (rPPC) in the forebrain attention network in sensitivity versus bias control. Two groups of participants performed a cued attention task while we applied either inhibitory, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (n = 28) or 40 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation (n = 26) to the dorsal rPPC. We show that rPPC stimulation - with either modality - impairs task performance by selectively altering attentional modulation of bias but not sensitivity. Specifically, participants' bias toward the uncued, but not the cued, location reduced significantly following rPPC stimulation - an effect that was consistent across both neurostimulation cohorts. In sum, the dorsal rPPC causally mediates the reorienting of choice bias, one particular component of visual spatial attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankita Sengupta
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
| | - Sanjna Banerjee
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
- Foundation of Art and Health India, Bangalore, 560066, India
| | - Suhas Ganesh
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
- Verily Life Sciences, San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Shrey Grover
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Devarajan Sridharan
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India.
- Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India.
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2
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Kaduk K, Wilke M, Kagan I. Dorsal pulvinar inactivation leads to spatial selection bias without perceptual deficit. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12852. [PMID: 38834578 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62056-5] [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: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The dorsal pulvinar has been implicated in visuospatial attentional and perceptual confidence processing. Pulvinar lesions in humans and monkeys lead to spatial neglect symptoms, including an overt spatial saccade bias during free choices. However, it remains unclear whether disrupting the dorsal pulvinar during target selection that relies on a perceptual decision leads to a perceptual impairment or a more general spatial orienting and choice deficit. To address this question, we reversibly inactivated the unilateral dorsal pulvinar by injecting GABA-A agonist THIP while two macaque monkeys performed a color discrimination saccade task with varying perceptual difficulty. We used Signal Detection Theory and simulations to dissociate perceptual sensitivity (d-prime) and spatial selection bias (response criterion) effects. We expected a decrease in d-prime if dorsal pulvinar affects perceptual discrimination and a shift in response criterion if dorsal pulvinar is mainly involved in spatial orienting. After the inactivation, we observed response criterion shifts away from contralesional stimuli, especially when two competing stimuli in opposite hemifields were present. Notably, the d-prime and overall accuracy remained largely unaffected. Our results underline the critical contribution of the dorsal pulvinar to spatial orienting and action selection while showing it to be less important for visual perceptual discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Kaduk
- Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Melanie Wilke
- Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
- Cognitive Neurology Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Igor Kagan
- Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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3
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Cone JJ, Mitchell AO, Parker RK, Maunsell JHR. Stimulus-dependent differences in cortical versus subcortical contributions to visual detection in mice. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1940-1952.e5. [PMID: 38640924 PMCID: PMC11080572 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.061] [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: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
The primary visual cortex (V1) and the superior colliculus (SC) both occupy stations early in the processing of visual information. They have long been thought to perform distinct functions, with the V1 supporting the perception of visual features and the SC regulating orienting to visual inputs. However, growing evidence suggests that the SC supports the perception of many of the same visual features traditionally associated with the V1. To distinguish V1 and SC contributions to visual processing, it is critical to determine whether both areas causally contribute to the detection of specific visual stimuli. Here, mice reported changes in visual contrast or luminance near their perceptual threshold while white noise patterns of optogenetic stimulation were delivered to V1 or SC inhibitory neurons. We then performed a reverse correlation analysis on the optogenetic stimuli to estimate a neuronal-behavioral kernel (NBK), a moment-to-moment estimate of the impact of V1 or SC inhibition on stimulus detection. We show that the earliest moments of stimulus-evoked activity in the SC are critical for the detection of both luminance and contrast changes. Strikingly, there was a robust stimulus-aligned modulation in the V1 contrast-detection NBK but no sign of a comparable modulation for luminance detection. The data suggest that behavioral detection of visual contrast depends on both V1 and SC spiking, whereas mice preferentially use SC activity to detect changes in luminance. Electrophysiological recordings showed that neurons in both the SC and V1 responded strongly to both visual stimulus types, while the reverse correlation analysis reveals when these neuronal signals actually contribute to visually guided behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jackson J Cone
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, 5812 S. Ellis Ave. MC 0912, Suite P-400, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
| | - Autumn O Mitchell
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, 5812 S. Ellis Ave. MC 0912, Suite P-400, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Rachel K Parker
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, 5812 S. Ellis Ave. MC 0912, Suite P-400, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - John H R Maunsell
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, University of Chicago, 5812 S. Ellis Ave. MC 0912, Suite P-400, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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Chandrasekaran AN, Vermani A, Gupta P, Steinmetz N, Moore T, Sridharan D. Dissociable components of attention exhibit distinct neuronal signatures in primate visual cortex. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadi0645. [PMID: 38306428 PMCID: PMC10836731 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi0645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
Attention can be deployed in multiple forms and facilitates behavior by influencing perceptual sensitivity and choice bias. Attention is also associated with a myriad of changes in sensory neural activity. Yet, the relationship between the behavioral components of attention and the accompanying changes in neural activity remains largely unresolved. We examined this relationship by quantifying sensitivity and bias in monkeys performing a task that dissociated eye movement responses from the focus of covert attention. Unexpectedly, bias, not sensitivity, increased at the focus of covert attention, whereas sensitivity increased at the location of planned eye movements. Furthermore, neuronal activity within visual area V4 varied robustly with bias, but not sensitivity, at the focus of covert attention. In contrast, correlated variability between neuronal pairs was lowest at the location of planned eye movements, and varied with sensitivity, but not bias. Thus, dissociable behavioral components of attention exhibit distinct neuronal signatures within the visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ayesha Vermani
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, KA, India
| | - Priyanka Gupta
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, KA, India
| | - Nicholas Steinmetz
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Tirin Moore
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Devarajan Sridharan
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, KA, India
- Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, KA, India
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Gupta P, Sridharan D. Presaccadic attention does not facilitate the detection of changes in the visual field. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002485. [PMID: 38271460 PMCID: PMC10810526 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002485] [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: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Planning a rapid eye movement (saccade) changes how we perceive our visual world. Even before we move the eyes visual discrimination sensitivity improves at the impending target of eye movements, a phenomenon termed "presaccadic attention." Yet, it is unknown if such presaccadic selection merely affects perceptual sensitivity, or also affects downstream decisional processes, such as choice bias. We report a surprising lack of presaccadic perceptual benefits in a common, everyday setting-detection of changes in the visual field. Despite the lack of sensitivity benefits, choice bias for reporting changes increased reliably for the saccade target. With independent follow-up experiments, we show that presaccadic change detection is rendered more challenging because percepts at the saccade target location are biased toward, and more precise for, only the most recent of two successive stimuli. With a Bayesian model, we show how such perceptual and choice biases are crucial to explain the effects of saccade plans on change detection performance. In sum, visual change detection sensitivity does not improve presaccadically, a result that is readily explained by teasing apart distinct components of presaccadic selection. The findings may have critical implications for real-world scenarios, like driving, that require rapid gaze shifts in dynamically changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priyanka Gupta
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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Esposito M, Palermo S, Nahi YC, Tamietto M, Celeghin A. Implicit Selective Attention: The Role of the Mesencephalic-basal Ganglia System. Curr Neuropharmacol 2024; 22:1497-1512. [PMID: 37653629 PMCID: PMC11097991 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x21666230831163052] [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: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability of the brain to recognize and orient attention to relevant stimuli appearing in the visual field is highlighted by a tuning process, which involves modulating the early visual system by both cortical and subcortical brain areas. Selective attention is coordinated not only by the output of stimulus-based saliency maps but is also influenced by top-down cognitive factors, such as internal states, goals, or previous experiences. The basal ganglia system plays a key role in implicitly modulating the underlying mechanisms of selective attention, favouring the formation and maintenance of implicit sensory-motor memories that are capable of automatically modifying the output of priority maps in sensory-motor structures of the midbrain, such as the superior colliculus. The article presents an overview of the recent literature outlining the crucial contribution of several subcortical structures to the processing of different sources of salient stimuli. In detail, we will focus on how the mesencephalic- basal ganglia closed loops contribute to implicitly addressing and modulating selective attention to prioritized stimuli. We conclude by discussing implicit behavioural responses observed in clinical populations in which awareness is compromised at some level. Implicit (emergent) awareness in clinical conditions that can be accompanied by manifest anosognosic symptomatology (i.e., hemiplegia) or involving abnormal conscious processing of visual information (i.e., unilateral spatial neglect and blindsight) represents interesting neurocognitive "test cases" for inferences about mesencephalicbasal ganglia closed-loops involvement in the formation of implicit sensory-motor memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Esposito
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
| | - Sara Palermo
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
- Neuroradiology Unit, Department of Diagnostic and Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Marco Tamietto
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, and CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands
| | - Alessia Celeghin
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
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Fracasso A, Buonocore A, Hafed ZM. Peri-Saccadic Orientation Identification Performance and Visual Neural Sensitivity Are Higher in the Upper Visual Field. J Neurosci 2023; 43:6884-6897. [PMID: 37640553 PMCID: PMC10573757 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1740-22.2023] [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: 09/11/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual neural processing is distributed among a multitude of sensory and sensory-motor brain areas exhibiting varying degrees of functional specializations and spatial representational anisotropies. Such diversity raises the question of how perceptual performance is determined, at any one moment in time, during natural active visual behavior. Here, exploiting a known dichotomy between the primary visual cortex (V1) and superior colliculus (SC) in representing either the upper or lower visual fields, we asked whether peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is dominated by one or the other spatial anisotropy. Humans (48 participants, 29 females) reported the orientation of peri-saccadic upper visual field stimuli significantly better than lower visual field stimuli, unlike their performance during steady-state gaze fixation, and contrary to expected perceptual superiority in the lower visual field in the absence of saccades. Consistent with this, peri-saccadic superior colliculus visual neural responses in two male rhesus macaque monkeys were also significantly stronger in the upper visual field than in the lower visual field. Thus, peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is more in line with oculomotor, rather than visual, map spatial anisotropies.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Different brain areas respond to visual stimulation, but they differ in the degrees of functional specializations and spatial anisotropies that they exhibit. For example, the superior colliculus (SC) both responds to visual stimulation, like the primary visual cortex (V1), and controls oculomotor behavior. Compared with the primary visual cortex, the superior colliculus exhibits an opposite pattern of upper/lower visual field anisotropy, being more sensitive to the upper visual field. Here, we show that human peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is better in the upper compared with the lower visual field. Consistent with this, monkey superior colliculus visual neural responses to peri-saccadic stimuli follow a similar pattern. Our results indicate that peri-saccadic perceptual performance reflects oculomotor, rather than visual, map spatial anisotropies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Fracasso
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QE, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Antimo Buonocore
- Department of Educational, Psychological and Communication Sciences, Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples 80135, Italy
| | - Ziad M Hafed
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen University, Tübingen 72076, Germany
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen University, Tübingen 72076, Germany
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8
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Cone JJ, Mitchell AO, Parker RK, Maunsell JHR. Temporal weighting of cortical and subcortical spikes reveals stimulus dependent differences in their contributions to behavior. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.23.554473. [PMID: 37662213 PMCID: PMC10473714 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.23.554473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
The primary visual cortex (V1) and the superior colliculus (SC) both occupy stations early in the processing of visual information. They have long been thought to perform distinct functions, with V1 supporting perception of visual features and the SC regulating orienting to visual inputs. However, growing evidence suggests that the SC supports perception of many of the same visual features traditionally associated with V1. To distinguish V1 and SC contributions to visual processing, it is critical to determine whether both areas causally contribute to perception of specific visual stimuli. Here, mice reported changes in visual contrast or luminance near perceptual threshold while we presented white noise patterns of optogenetic stimulation to V1 or SC inhibitory neurons. We then performed a reverse correlation analysis on the optogenetic stimuli to estimate a neuronal-behavioral kernel (NBK), a moment-to-moment estimate of the impact of V1 or SC inhibition on stimulus detection. We show that the earliest moments of stimulus-evoked activity in SC are critical for detection of both luminance or contrast changes. Strikingly, there was a robust stimulus-aligned modulation in the V1 contrast-detection NBK, but no sign of a comparable modulation for luminance detection. The data suggest that perception of visual contrast depends on both V1 and SC spiking, whereas mice preferentially use SC activity to detect changes in luminance. Electrophysiological recordings showed that neurons in both SC and V1 responded strongly to both visual stimulus types, while the reverse correlation analysis reveals when these neuronal signals actually contribute to visually-guided behaviors.
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9
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Benarroch E. What Are the Functions of the Superior Colliculus and Its Involvement in Neurologic Disorders? Neurology 2023; 100:784-790. [PMID: 37068960 PMCID: PMC10115501 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023] Open
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10
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Souto D, Kerzel D. Visual selective attention and the control of tracking eye movements: a critical review. J Neurophysiol 2021; 125:1552-1576. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00145.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
People’s eyes are directed at objects of interest with the aim of acquiring visual information. However, processing this information is constrained in capacity, requiring task-driven and salience-driven attentional mechanisms to select few among the many available objects. A wealth of behavioral and neurophysiological evidence has demonstrated that visual selection and the motor selection of saccade targets rely on shared mechanisms. This coupling supports the premotor theory of visual attention put forth more than 30 years ago, postulating visual selection as a necessary stage in motor selection. In this review, we examine to which extent the coupling of visual and motor selection observed with saccades is replicated during ocular tracking. Ocular tracking combines catch-up saccades and smooth pursuit to foveate a moving object. We find evidence that ocular tracking requires visual selection of the speed and direction of the moving target, but the position of the motion signal may not coincide with the position of the pursuit target. Further, visual and motor selection can be spatially decoupled when pursuit is initiated (open-loop pursuit). We propose that a main function of coupled visual and motor selection is to serve the coordination of catch-up saccades and pursuit eye movements. A simple race-to-threshold model is proposed to explain the variable coupling of visual selection during pursuit, catch-up and regular saccades, while generating testable predictions. We discuss pending issues, such as disentangling visual selection from preattentive visual processing and response selection, and the pinpointing of visual selection mechanisms, which have begun to be addressed in the neurophysiological literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Souto
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Dirk Kerzel
- Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Education, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Herman JP, Arcizet F, Krauzlis RJ. Attention-related modulation of caudate neurons depends on superior colliculus activity. eLife 2020; 9:e53998. [PMID: 32940607 PMCID: PMC7544506 DOI: 10.7554/elife.53998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work has implicated the primate basal ganglia in visual perception and attention, in addition to their traditional role in motor control. The basal ganglia, especially the caudate nucleus 'head' (CDh) of the striatum, receive indirect anatomical connections from the superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure that is known to play a crucial role in the control of visual attention. To test the possible functional relationship between these subcortical structures, we recorded CDh neuronal activity of macaque monkeys before and during unilateral SC inactivation in a spatial attention task. SC inactivation significantly altered the attention-related modulation of CDh neurons and strongly impaired the classification of task-epochs based on CDh activity. Only inactivation of SC on the same side of the brain as recorded CDh neurons, not the opposite side, had these effects. These results demonstrate a novel interaction between SC activity and attention-related visual processing in the basal ganglia.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Herman
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye InstituteBethesdaUnited States
| | | | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye InstituteBethesdaUnited States
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12
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Wang L, McAlonan K, Goldstein S, Gerfen CR, Krauzlis RJ. A Causal Role for Mouse Superior Colliculus in Visual Perceptual Decision-Making. J Neurosci 2020; 40:3768-3782. [PMID: 32253361 PMCID: PMC7204078 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2642-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) is arguably the most important visual structure in the mouse brain and is well known for its involvement in innate responses to visual threats and prey items. In other species, the SC plays a central role in voluntary as well as innate visual functions, including crucial contributions to selective attention and perceptual decision-making. In the mouse, the possible role of the SC in voluntary visual choice behaviors has not been established. Here, we demonstrate that the mouse SC of both sexes plays a causal role in visual perceptual decision-making by transiently inhibiting SC activity during an orientation change detection task. First, unilateral SC inhibition-induced spatially specific deficits in detection. Hit rates were reduced, and reaction times increased for orientation changes in the contralateral but not ipsilateral visual field. Second, the deficits caused by SC inhibition were specific to a temporal epoch coincident with early visual burst responses in the SC. Inhibiting SC during this 100-ms period caused a contralateral detection deficit, whereas inhibition immediately before or after did not. Third, SC inhibition reduced visual detection sensitivity. Psychometric analysis revealed that inhibiting SC visual activity significantly increased detection thresholds for contralateral orientation changes. In addition, effects on detection thresholds and lapse rates caused by SC inhibition were larger in the presence of a competing visual stimulus, indicating a role for the mouse SC in visual target selection. Together, our results demonstrate that the mouse SC is necessary for the normal performance of voluntary visual choice behaviors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The mouse superior colliculus (SC) has become a popular model for studying the circuit organization and development of the visual system. Although the SC is a fundamental component of the visual pathways in mice, its role in visual perceptual decision-making is not clear. By investigating how temporally precise SC inhibition influenced behavioral performance during a visually guided orientation change detection task, we identified a 100-ms temporal epoch of SC visual activity that is crucial for the ability of mice to detect behaviorally relevant visual changes. In addition, we found that SC inhibition also caused deficits in visual target selection. Thus, our findings highlight the importance of the SC for visual perceptual choice behavior in the mouse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lupeng Wang
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Kerry McAlonan
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Sheridan Goldstein
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Charles R Gerfen
- Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
| | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
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13
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Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:26187-26194. [PMID: 31871179 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902286116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention is a common but highly complex term associated with a large number of distinct behavioral and perceptual phenomena. In the brain, attention-related changes in neuronal activity are observed in widespread structures. The many distinct behavioral and neuronal phenomena related to attention suggest that it might be subdivided into components corresponding to distinct biological mechanisms. Recent neurophysiological studies in monkeys have isolated behavioral changes related to attention along the 2 indices of signal detection theory and found that these 2 behavioral changes are associated with distinct neuronal changes in different brain areas. These results support the view that attention is made up of distinct neurobiological mechanisms.
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14
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Lowe KA, Reppert TR, Schall JD. Selective Influence and Sequential Operations: A Research Strategy for Visual Search. VISUAL COGNITION 2019; 27:387-415. [PMID: 32982561 PMCID: PMC7518653 DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2019.1659896] [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: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 08/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
We discuss the problem of elucidating mechanisms of visual search. We begin by considering the history, logic, and methods of relating behavioral or cognitive processes with neural processes. We then survey briefly the cognitive neurophysiology of visual search and essential aspects of the neural circuitry supporting this capacity. We introduce conceptually and empirically a powerful but underutilized experimental approach to dissect the cognitive processes supporting performance of a visual search task with factorial manipulations of singleton-distractor identifiability and stimulus-response cue discriminability. We show that systems factorial technology can distinguish processing architectures from the performance of macaque monkeys. This demonstration offers new opportunities to distinguish neural mechanisms through selective manipulation of visual encoding, search selection, rule encoding, and stimulus-response mapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaleb A Lowe
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center
| | - Thomas R Reppert
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center
| | - Jeffrey D Schall
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center
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15
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Subcortical connectivity correlates selectively with attention's effects on spatial choice bias. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:19711-19716. [PMID: 31492811 PMCID: PMC6765279 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902704116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Forebrain mechanisms of visuospatial attention have been widely studied. Yet, how the midbrain contributes to attention remains comparatively unknown. Here, we examined the role of the superior colliculus (SC), a vertebrate midbrain structure, in attention. Does the SC control sensitivity to attended information, or enable biasing choices toward attended information, or both? We mapped structural connections of the human SC with neocortical regions and found that the strengths of these connections correlated with, and were strongly predictive of, individuals’ choice bias, but not sensitivity. Taken together with previous animal studies, our results suggest that the human SC may play an evolutionarily conserved role in controlling choice bias during visual attention. Neural mechanisms of attention are extensively studied in the neocortex; comparatively little is known about how subcortical regions contribute to attention. The superior colliculus (SC) is an evolutionarily conserved, subcortical (midbrain) structure that has been implicated in controlling visuospatial attention. Yet how the SC contributes mechanistically to attention remains unknown. We investigated the role of the SC in attention, combining model-based psychophysics, diffusion imaging, and tractography in human participants. Specifically, we asked whether the SC contributes to enhancing sensitivity (d′) to attended information, or whether it contributes to biasing choices (criteria) in favor of attended information. We tested human participants on a multialternative change detection task, with endogenous spatial cueing, and quantified sensitivity and bias with a recently developed multidimensional signal detection model (m-ADC model). At baseline, sensitivity and bias exhibited complementary patterns of asymmetries across the visual hemifields: While sensitivity was consistently higher for detecting changes in the left hemifield, bias was higher for reporting changes in the right hemifield. Remarkably, white matter connectivity of the SC with the neocortex mirrored this pattern of asymmetries. Specifically, the asymmetry in SC–cortex connectivity correlated with the asymmetry in choice bias, but not in sensitivity. In addition, SC–cortex connectivity strength could predict cueing-induced modulation of bias, but not of sensitivity, across individuals. In summary, the SC may be a key node in an evolutionarily conserved network for controlling choice bias during visuospatial attention.
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Crapse TB, Lau H, Basso MA. A Role for the Superior Colliculus in Decision Criteria. Neuron 2019; 97:181-194.e6. [PMID: 29301100 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Simple decisions arise from the evaluation of sensory evidence. But decisions are determined by more than just evidence. Individuals establish internal decision criteria that influence how they respond. Where or how decision criteria are established in the brain remains poorly understood. Here, we show that neuronal activity in the superior colliculus (SC) predicts changes in decision criteria. Using a novel "Yes-No" task that isolates changes in decision criterion from changes in decision sensitivity, and computing neuronal measures of sensitivity and criterion, we find that SC neuronal activity correlates with the decision criterion regardless of the location of the choice report. We also show that electrical manipulation of activity within the SC produces changes in decisions consistent with changes in decision criteria and are largely independent of the choice report location. Our correlational and causal results together provide strong evidence that SC activity signals the position of a decision criterion. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trinity B Crapse
- Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurobiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Hakwan Lau
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Michele A Basso
- Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurobiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Banerjee S, Grover S, Ganesh S, Sridharan D. Sensory and decisional components of endogenous attention are dissociable. J Neurophysiol 2019; 122:1538-1554. [PMID: 31268805 PMCID: PMC6843089 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00257.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Endogenous cueing of attention enhances sensory processing of the attended stimulus (perceptual sensitivity) and prioritizes information from the attended location for guiding behavioral decisions (spatial choice bias). Here, we test whether sensitivity and bias effects of endogenous spatial attention are under the control of common or distinct mechanisms. Human observers performed a multialternative visuospatial attention task with probabilistic spatial cues. Observers' behavioral choices were analyzed with a recently developed multidimensional signal detection model (the m-ADC model). The model effectively decoupled the effects of spatial cueing on sensitivity from those on spatial bias and revealed striking dissociations between them. Sensitivity was highest at the cued location and not significantly different among uncued locations, suggesting a spotlight-like allocation of sensory resources at the cued location. On the other hand, bias varied systematically with cue validity, suggesting a graded allocation of decisional priority across locations. Cueing-induced modulations of sensitivity and bias were uncorrelated within and across subjects. Bias, but not sensitivity, correlated with key metrics of prioritized decision-making, including reaction times and decision optimality indices. In addition, we developed a novel metric, differential risk curvature, for distinguishing bias effects of attention from those of signal expectation. Differential risk curvature correlated selectively with m-ADC model estimates of bias but not with estimates of sensitivity. Our results reveal dissociable effects of endogenous attention on perceptual sensitivity and choice bias in a multialternative choice task and motivate the search for the distinct neural correlates of each.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Attention is often studied as a unitary phenomenon. Yet, attention can both enhance the perception of important stimuli (sensitivity) and prioritize such stimuli for decision-making (bias). Employing a multialternative spatial attention task with probabilistic cueing, we show that attention affects sensitivity and bias through dissociable mechanisms. Specifically, the effects on sensitivity alone match the notion of an attentional "spotlight." Our behavioral model enables quantifying component processes of attention, and identifying their respective neural correlates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjna Banerjee
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Shrey Grover
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Suhas Ganesh
- Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
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18
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Martinez-Trujillo J, Gulli RA. Dissecting Modulatory Effects of Visual Attention in Primate Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Using Signal Detection Theory. Neuron 2019; 97:1208-1210. [PMID: 29566790 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In this issue of Neuron, Luo and Maunsell (2018) use signal detection theory to demonstrate that the modulatory effects of attention on neuronal responses in the lateral prefrontal cortex during change detection can be due to changes in an observer's sensitivity or shifts in their response criterion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio Martinez-Trujillo
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6C 0A7, Canada; Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada.
| | - Roberto Adamo Gulli
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
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Herman JP, Katz LN, Krauzlis RJ. Midbrain activity can explain perceptual decisions during an attention task. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21:1651-1655. [PMID: 30482945 PMCID: PMC6324183 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0271-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We introduce a decision model that interprets the relative levels of moment-by-moment spiking activity from the right and left superior colliculus to distinguish relevant from irrelevant stimulus events. The model explains detection performance in a covert attention task, both in intact animals and when performance is perturbed by causal manipulations. This provides a specific example of how midbrain activity could support perceptual judgments during attention tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Herman
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Leor N Katz
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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20
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Bollimunta A, Bogadhi AR, Krauzlis RJ. Comparing frontal eye field and superior colliculus contributions to covert spatial attention. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3553. [PMID: 30177726 PMCID: PMC6120922 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06042-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The causal roles of the frontal eye fields (FEF) and superior colliculus (SC) in spatial selective attention have not been directly compared. Reversible inactivation is an established method for testing causality but comparing results between FEF and SC is complicated by differences in size and morphology of the two brain regions. Here we exploited the fact that inactivation of FEF and SC also changes the metrics of saccadic eye movements, providing an independent benchmark for the strength of the causal manipulation. Using monkeys trained to covertly perform a visual motion-change detection task, we found that inactivation of either FEF or SC could cause deficits in attention task performance. However, SC-induced attention deficits were found with saccade changes half the size needed to get FEF-induced attention deficits. Thus, performance in visual attention tasks is vulnerable to loss of signals from either structure, but suppression of SC activity has a more devastating effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anil Bollimunta
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Amarender R Bogadhi
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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21
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Knudsen EI. Neural Circuits That Mediate Selective Attention: A Comparative Perspective. Trends Neurosci 2018; 41:789-805. [PMID: 30075867 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Selective attention is central to cognition. Dramatic advances have been made in understanding the neural circuits that mediate selective attention. Forebrain networks, most elaborated in primates, control all forms of attention based on task demands and the physical salience of stimuli. These networks contain circuits that distribute top-down signals to sensory processing areas and enhance information processing in those areas. A midbrain network, most elaborated in birds, controls spatial attention. It contains circuits that continuously compute the highest priority stimulus location and route sensory information from the selected location to forebrain networks that make cognitive decisions. The identification of these circuits, their functions and mechanisms represent a major advance in our understanding of how the vertebrate brain mediates selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric I Knudsen
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5125, USA.
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Kothari NB, Wohlgemuth MJ, Moss CF. Dynamic representation of 3D auditory space in the midbrain of the free-flying echolocating bat. eLife 2018; 7:e29053. [PMID: 29633711 PMCID: PMC5896882 DOI: 10.7554/elife.29053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2017] [Accepted: 02/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Essential to spatial orientation in the natural environment is a dynamic representation of direction and distance to objects. Despite the importance of 3D spatial localization to parse objects in the environment and to guide movement, most neurophysiological investigations of sensory mapping have been limited to studies of restrained subjects, tested with 2D, artificial stimuli. Here, we show for the first time that sensory neurons in the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) of the free-flying echolocating bat encode 3D egocentric space, and that the bat's inspection of objects in the physical environment sharpens tuning of single neurons, and shifts peak responses to represent closer distances. These findings emerged from wireless neural recordings in free-flying bats, in combination with an echo model that computes the animal's instantaneous stimulus space. Our research reveals dynamic 3D space coding in a freely moving mammal engaged in a real-world navigation task.
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Attentional Changes in Either Criterion or Sensitivity Are Associated with Robust Modulations in Lateral Prefrontal Cortex. Neuron 2018; 97:1382-1393.e7. [PMID: 29503191 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Revised: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Visual attention is associated with neuronal changes across the brain, and these widespread signals are generally assumed to underlie a unitary mechanism of attention. However, using signal detection theory, attention-related effects on performance can be partitioned into changes in either the subject's criterion or sensitivity. Neuronal modulations associated with only sensitivity changes were previously observed in visual cortex, raising questions about which structures mediate attention-related changes in criterion and whether individual neurons are involved in multiple components of attention. Here, we recorded from monkey lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and found that, in contrast to visual cortex, neurons in LPFC changed their firing rates, pairwise correlation, and Fano factor when subjects changed either their criterion or their sensitivity. These results indicate that attention-related neuronal modulations in separate brain regions are not a monolithic signal and instead can be linked to distinct behavioral changes.
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Wang L, Krauzlis RJ. Visual Selective Attention in Mice. Curr Biol 2018; 28:676-685.e4. [PMID: 29456140 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Revised: 12/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Visual selective attention is a fundamental cognitive ability that allows us to process relevant visual stimuli while ignoring irrelevant distracters and has been extensively studied in human and non-human primate subjects. Mice have emerged as a powerful animal model for studying aspects of the visual system but have not yet been shown to exhibit visual selective attention. Differences in the organization of the visual systems of primates and mice raise the possibility that selective visual attention might not be present in mice, at least not in the forms that are well established in primates. Here, we tested for selective visual attention in mice by using three behavioral paradigms adapted from classic studies of attention. In a Posner-style cueing task, a spatial cue indicated the probable location of the relevant visual event, and we found that accuracy was higher and reaction times were shorter on validly cued trials. In a cue versus no-cue task, an informative spatial cue was provided on half the trials, and mice had higher accuracy and shorter reaction times with spatial cues and also lower detection thresholds measured from psychometric curves. In a filter task, the spatial cue indicated the location of the relevant visual event, and we found that mice could be trained to ignore irrelevant but otherwise identical visual events at uncued locations. Together, these results demonstrate that mice exhibit visual selective attention, paving the way to use classic attention paradigms in mice to study the genetic and neuronal circuit mechanisms of selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lupeng Wang
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892-4435, USA
| | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892-4435, USA.
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