Spatiotemporal dynamics of the functional architecture for gain fields in inferior parietal lobule of behaving monkey

Motor actions are spatially organized in motor and dorsal premotor cortex

Frontal motor areas are central to controlling voluntary movements. In non-human primates, the motor areas contain independent, somatotopic, representations of the forelimb (i.e., motor maps). But are the neural codes for actions spatially organized within those forelimb representations? Addressing this question would provide insight into the poorly understood structure-function relationships of the cortical motor system. Here, we tackle the problem using high-resolution optical imaging and motor mapping in motor (M1) and dorsal premotor (PMd) cortex. Two macaque monkeys performed an instructed reach-to-grasp task while cortical activity was recorded with intrinsic signal optical imaging (ISOI). The spatial extent of activity in M1 and PMd was then quantified in relation to the forelimb motor maps, which we obtained from the same hemisphere with intracortical microstimulation. ISOI showed that task-related activity was concentrated in patches that collectively overlapped <40% of the M1 and PMd forelimb representations. The spatial organization of the patches was consistent across task conditions despite small variations in forelimb use. Nevertheless, the largest condition differences in forelimb use were reflected in the magnitude of cortical activity. Distinct time course profiles from patches in arm zones and patches in hand zones suggest functional differences within the forelimb representations. The results collectively support an organizational framework wherein the forelimb representations contain subzones enriched with neurons tuned for specific actions. Thus, the often-overlooked spatial dimension of neural activity appears to be an important organizing feature of the neural code in frontal motor areas.

Eye position modulates retinotopic responses in early visual areas: a bias for the straight-ahead direction

Even though the eyes constantly change position, the location of a stimulus can be accurately represented by a population of neurons with retinotopic receptive fields modulated by eye position gain fields. Recent electrophysiological studies, however, indicate that eye position gain fields may serve an additional function since they have a non-uniform spatial distribution that increases the neural response to stimuli in the straight-ahead direction. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a wide-field stimulus display to determine whether gaze modulations in early human visual cortex enhance the blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) response to stimuli that are straight-ahead. Subjects viewed rotating polar angle wedge stimuli centered straight-ahead or vertically displaced by ±20° eccentricity. Gaze position did not affect the topography of polar phase-angle maps, confirming that coding was retinotopic, but did affect the amplitude of the BOLD response, consistent with a gain field. In agreement with recent electrophysiological studies, BOLD responses in V1 and V2 to a wedge stimulus at a fixed retinal locus decreased when the wedge location in head-centered coordinates was farther from the straight-ahead direction. We conclude that stimulus-evoked BOLD signals are modulated by a systematic, non-uniform distribution of eye-position gain fields.

Place cell rate remapping by CA3 recurrent collaterals

Episodic-like memory is thought to be supported by attractor dynamics in the hippocampus. A possible neural substrate for this memory mechanism is rate remapping, in which the spatial map of place cells encodes contextual information through firing rate variability. To test whether memories are stored as multimodal attractors in populations of place cells, recent experiments morphed one familiar context into another while observing the responses of CA3 cell ensembles. Average population activity in CA3 was reported to transition gradually rather than abruptly from one familiar context to the next, suggesting a lack of attractive forces associated with the two stored representations. On the other hand, individual CA3 cells showed a mix of gradual and abrupt transitions at different points along the morph sequence, and some displayed hysteresis which is a signature of attractor dynamics. To understand whether these seemingly conflicting results are commensurate with attractor network theory, we developed a neural network model of the CA3 with attractors for both position and discrete contexts. We found that for memories stored in overlapping neural ensembles within a single spatial map, position-dependent context attractors made transitions at different points along the morph sequence. Smooth transition curves arose from averaging across the population, while a heterogeneous set of responses was observed on the single unit level. In contrast, orthogonal memories led to abrupt and coherent transitions on both population and single unit levels as experimentally observed when remapping between two independent spatial maps. Strong recurrent feedback entailed a hysteretic effect on the network which diminished with the amount of overlap in the stored memories. These results suggest that context-dependent memory can be supported by overlapping local attractors within a spatial map of CA3 place cells. Similar mechanisms for context-dependent memory may also be found in other regions of the cerebral cortex.

The activity of ‘place cells’ in hippocampal area CA3 systematically changes as a function of the animal's position in an arena as well as contextual variables like the color or shape of enclosing walls. Large changes to the local environment, e.g. moving the animal to a different room, can induce a complete reorganization of place-cell firing locations. Such ‘global remapping’ reveals that memory for different environments is encoded as separate spatial maps. Smaller changes to features within an environment can induce a modulation of place cell firing rates without affecting their firing locations. This kind of ‘rate remapping’ is still poorly understood. In this paper we describe a computational model in which discrete memories for contextual features were stored locally within a spatial map of place cells. This network structure supports retrieval of both positional and contextual information from an arbitrary cue, as required by an episodic memory structure. The activity of the network qualitatively matches empirical data from rate remapping experiments, both on the population level and the level of single place cells. The results support the idea that CA3 rate remapping reflects content-addressable memories stored as multimodal attractor states in the hippocampus.

Temporally-structured acquisition of multidimensional optical imaging data facilitates visualization of elusive cortical representations in the behaving monkey

Fundamental understanding of higher cognitive functions can greatly benefit from imaging of cortical activity with high spatiotemporal resolution in the behaving non-human primate. To achieve rapid imaging of high-resolution dynamics of cortical representations of spontaneous and evoked activity, we designed a novel data acquisition protocol for sensory stimulation by rapidly interleaving multiple stimuli in continuous sessions of optical imaging with voltage-sensitive dyes. We also tested a new algorithm for the "temporally structured component analysis" (TSCA) of a multidimensional time series that was developed for our new data acquisition protocol, but was tested only on simulated data (Blumenfeld, 2010). In addition to the raw data, the algorithm incorporates prior knowledge about the temporal structure of the data as well as input from other information. Here we showed that TSCA can successfully separate functional signal components from other signals referred to as noise. Imaging of responses to multiple visual stimuli, utilizing voltage-sensitive dyes, was performed on the visual cortex of awake monkeys. Multiple cortical representations, including orientation and ocular dominance maps as well as the hitherto elusive retinotopic representation of orientation stimuli, were extracted in only 10s of imaging, approximately two orders of magnitude faster than accomplished by conventional methods. Since the approach is rather general, other imaging techniques may also benefit from the same stimulation protocol. This methodology can thus facilitate rapid optical imaging explorations in monkeys, rodents and other species with a versatility and speed that were not feasible before.

Spatiotemporal properties of intracellular calcium signaling in osteocytic and osteoblastic cell networks under fluid flow

Mechanical stimuli can trigger intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)) responses in osteocytes and osteoblasts. Successful construction of bone cell networks necessitates more elaborate and systematic analysis for the spatiotemporal properties of Ca(2+) signaling in the networks. In the present study, an unsupervised algorithm based on independent component analysis (ICA) was employed to extract the Ca(2+) signals of bone cells in the network. We demonstrated that the ICA-based technology could yield higher signal fidelity than the manual region of interest (ROI) method. Second, the spatiotemporal properties of Ca(2+) signaling in osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 and osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cell networks under laminar and steady fluid flow stimulation were systematically analyzed and compared. MLO-Y4 cells exhibited much more active Ca(2+) transients than MC3T3-E1 cells, evidenced by more Ca(2+) peaks, less time to the 1st peak and less time between the 1st and 2nd peaks. With respect to temporal properties, MLO-Y4 cells demonstrated higher spike rate and Ca(2+) oscillating frequency. The spatial intercellular synchronous activities of Ca(2+) signaling in MLO-Y4 cell networks were higher than those in MC3T3-E1 cell networks and also negatively correlated with the intercellular distance, revealing faster Ca(2+) wave propagation in MLO-Y4 cell networks. Our findings show that the unsupervised ICA-based technique results in more sensitive and quantitative signal extraction than traditional ROI analysis, with the potential to be widely employed in Ca(2+) signaling extraction in the cell networks. The present study also revealed a dramatic spatiotemporal difference in Ca(2+) signaling for osteocytic and osteoblastic cell networks in processing the mechanical stimulus. The higher intracellular Ca(2+) oscillatory behaviors and intercellular coordination of MLO-Y4 cells provided further evidences that osteocytes may behave as the major mechanical sensor in bone modeling and remodeling processes.

Optical imaging of visually guided reaching in macaque posterior parietal cortex

Sensorimotor transformation for reaching movements in primates requires a large network of visual, parietal, and frontal cortical areas. We performed intrinsic optical imaging over posterior parietal cortex including areas 7a and the dorsal perilunate in macaque monkeys during visually guided hand movements. Reaching was performed while foveating one of nine static reach targets; thus eye-position-varied concurrently with reach position. The hemodynamic reflectance signal was analyzed during specific phases of the task including pre-reach, reach, and touch epochs. The eye position maps changed substantially as the task progressed: First, direction of spatial tuning shifted from a weak preference close to the center to the lower eye positions in both cortical areas. Overall tuning strength was greater in area 7a. Second, strength of spatial tuning increased from the early pre-reach to the later touch epoch. These consistent temporal changes suggest that dynamic properties of the reflectance signal were modulated by task parameters. The peak amplitude and peak delay of the reflectance signal showed considerable differences between eye position but were similar between areas. Compared with a detection task using a lever response, the reach task yielded higher amplitudes and longer delays. These findings demonstrate a spatially tuned topographical representation for reaching in both areas and suggest a strong synergistic combination of various feedback signals that result in a spatially tuned amplification of the hemodynamic response in posterior parietal cortex.

Validation of independent component analysis for rapid spike sorting of optical recording data

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a technique that can be used to extract the source signals from sets of signal mixtures where the sources themselves are unknown. The analysis of optical recordings of invertebrate neuronal networks with fast voltage-sensitive dyes could benefit greatly from ICA. These experiments can generate hundreds of voltage traces containing both redundant and mixed recordings of action potentials originating from unknown numbers of neurons. ICA can be used as a method for converting such complex data sets into single-neuron traces, but its accuracy for doing so has never been empirically evaluated. Here, we tested the accuracy of ICA for such blind source separation by simultaneously performing sharp electrode intracellular recording and fast voltage-sensitive dye imaging of neurons located in the central ganglia of Tritonia diomedea and Aplysia californica, using a 464-element photodiode array. After running ICA on the optical data sets, we found that in 34 of 34 cases the intracellularly recorded action potentials corresponded 100% to the spiking activity of one of the independent components returned by ICA. We also show that ICA can accurately sort action potentials into single neuron traces from a series of optical data files obtained at different times from the same preparation, allowing one to monitor the network participation of large numbers of individually identifiable neurons over several recording episodes. Our validation of the accuracy of ICA for extracting the neural activity of many individual neurons from noisy, mixed, and redundant optical recording data sets should enable the use of this powerful large-scale imaging approach for studies of invertebrate and suitable vertebrate neuronal networks.

Neural representation during visually guided reaching in macaque posterior parietal cortex

Visually guided hand movements in primates require an interconnected network of various cortical areas. Single unit firing rate from area 7a and dorsal prelunate (DP) neurons of macaque posterior parietal cortex (PPC) was recorded during reaching movements to targets at variable locations and under different eye position conditions. In the eye position-varied task, the reach target was always foveated; thus eye position varied with reach target location. In the retinal-varied task, the monkey reached to targets at variable retinotopic locations while eye position was kept constant in the center. Spatial tuning was examined with respect to temporal (task epoch) and contextual (task condition) aspects, and response fields were compared. The analysis showed distinct tuning types. The majority of neurons changed their gain field tuning and retinotopic tuning between different phases of the task. Between the onset of visual stimulation and the preparatory phase (before the go signal), about one half the neurons altered their firing rate significantly. Spatial response fields during preparation and initiation epochs were strongly influenced by the task condition (eye position varied vs. retinal varied), supporting a strong role of eye position during visually guided reaching. DP neurons, classically considered visual, showed reach related modulation similar to 7a neurons. This study shows that both area 7a and DP are modulated during reaching behavior in primates. The various tuning types in both areas suggest distinct populations recruiting different circuits during visually guided reaching.

Automated analysis of cellular signals from large-scale calcium imaging data

Recent advances in fluorescence imaging permit studies of Ca(2+) dynamics in large numbers of cells, in anesthetized and awake behaving animals. However, unlike for electrophysiological signals, standardized algorithms for assigning optically recorded signals to individual cells have not yet emerged. Here, we describe an automated sorting procedure that combines independent component analysis and image segmentation for extracting cells' locations and their dynamics with minimal human supervision. In validation studies using simulated data, automated sorting significantly improved estimation of cellular signals compared to conventional analysis based on image regions of interest. We used automated procedures to analyze data recorded by two-photon Ca(2+) imaging in the cerebellar vermis of awake behaving mice. Our analysis yielded simultaneous Ca(2+) activity traces for up to >100 Purkinje cells and Bergmann glia from single recordings. Using this approach, we found microzones of Purkinje cells that were stable across behavioral states and in which synchronous Ca(2+) spiking rose significantly during locomotion.

Principles of neural ensemble physiology underlying the operation of brain-machine interfaces

Research on brain-machine interfaces has been ongoing for at least a decade. During this period, simultaneous recordings of the extracellular electrical activity of hundreds of individual neurons have been used for direct, real-time control of various artificial devices. Brain-machine interfaces have also added greatly to our knowledge of the fundamental physiological principles governing the operation of large neural ensembles. Further understanding of these principles is likely to have a key role in the future development of neuroprosthetics for restoring mobility in severely paralysed patients.

A functional architecture of optic flow in the inferior parietal lobule of the behaving monkey

The representation of navigational optic flow across the inferior parietal lobule was assessed using optical imaging of intrinsic signals in behaving monkeys. The exposed cortex, corresponding to the dorsal-most portion of areas 7a and dorsal prelunate (DP), was imaged in two hemispheres of two rhesus monkeys. The monkeys actively attended to changes in motion stimuli while fixating. Radial expansion and contraction, and rotation clockwise and counter-clockwise optic flow stimuli were presented concentric to the fixation point at two angles of gaze to assess the interrelationship between the eye position and optic flow signal. The cortical response depended upon the type of flow and was modulated by eye position. The optic flow selectivity was embedded in a patchy architecture within the gain field architecture. All four optic flow stimuli tested were represented in areas 7a and DP. The location of the patches varied across days. However the spatial periodicity of the patches remained constant across days at ∼950 and 1100 µm for the two animals examined. These optical recordings agree with previous electrophysiological studies of area 7a, and provide new evidence for flow selectivity in DP and a fine scale description of its cortical topography. That the functional architectures for optic flow can change over time was unexpected. These and earlier results also from inferior parietal lobule support the inclusion of both static and dynamic functional architectures that define association cortical areas and ultimately support complex cognitive function.