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Ahissar E, Nelinger G, Assa E, Karp O, Saraf-Sinik I. Thalamocortical loops as temporal demodulators across senses. Commun Biol 2023; 6:562. [PMID: 37237075 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04881-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory information is coded in space and in time. The organization of neuronal activity in space maintains straightforward relationships with the spatial organization of the perceived environment. In contrast, the temporal organization of neuronal activity is not trivially related to external features due to sensor motion. Still, the temporal organization shares similar principles across sensory modalities. Likewise, thalamocortical circuits exhibit common features across senses. Focusing on touch, vision, and audition, we review their shared coding principles and suggest that thalamocortical systems include circuits that allow analogous recoding mechanisms in all three senses. These thalamocortical circuits constitute oscillations-based phase-locked loops, that translate temporally-coded sensory information to rate-coded cortical signals, signals that can integrate information across sensory and motor modalities. The loop also allows predictive locking to the onset of future modulations of the sensory signal. The paper thus suggests a theoretical framework in which a common thalamocortical mechanism implements temporal demodulation across senses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehud Ahissar
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
| | - Guy Nelinger
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Eldad Assa
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Ofer Karp
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
| | - Inbar Saraf-Sinik
- Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
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Human visual processing during walking: Dissociable pre- and post-stimulus influences. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119757. [PMID: 36414209 PMCID: PMC9771827 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Walking influences visual processing but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the influence of walking on pre-stimulus and stimulus-induced visual neural activity and behavioural performance in a discrimination task while participants were standing or freely walking. The results showed dissociable pre- and post-stimulus influences by the movement state. Walking was associated with a reduced pre-stimulus alpha power, which predicted enhanced N1 and decreased P3 components during walking. This pre-stimulus alpha activity was additionally modulated by time on the task, which was paralleled by a similar behavioural modulation. In contrast, the post-stimulus alpha power was reduced in its modulation due to stimulus onset during walking but showed no evidence of modulation by time on the task. Additionally, stimulus parameters (eccentricity, laterality, distractor presence significantly influenced post-stimulus alpha power, whereas the visually evoked components showed no evidence of such an influence. There was further no evidence of a correlation between pre-stimulus and post stimulus alpha power. We conclude that walking has two dissociable influences on visual processing: while the walking induced reduction in alpha power suggests an attentional state change that relates to visual awareness, the post-stimulus influence on alpha power modulation indicates changed spatial visual processing during walking.
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Devia C, Concha-Miranda M, Rodríguez E. Bi-Stable Perception: Self-Coordinating Brain Regions to Make-Up the Mind. Front Neurosci 2022; 15:805690. [PMID: 35153663 PMCID: PMC8829010 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.805690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Bi-stable perception is a strong instance of cognitive self-organization, providing a research model for how ‘the brain makes up its mind.’ The complexity of perceptual bistability prevents a simple attribution of functions to areas, because many cognitive processes, recruiting multiple brain regions, are simultaneously involved. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence suggests the activation of a large network of distant brain areas. Concurrently, electroencephalographic and magnetoencephalographic (MEEG) literature shows sub second oscillatory activity and phase synchrony on several frequency bands. Strongly represented are beta and gamma bands, often associated with neural/cognitive integration processes. The spatial extension and short duration of brain activities suggests the need for a fast, large-scale neural coordination mechanism. To address the range of temporo-spatial scales involved, we systematize the current knowledge from mathematical models, cognitive sciences and neuroscience at large, from single-cell- to system-level research, including evidence from human and non-human primates. Surprisingly, despite evidence spanning through different organization levels, models, and experimental approaches, the scarcity of integrative studies is evident. In a final section of the review we dwell on the reasons behind such scarcity and on the need of integration in order to achieve a real understanding of the complexities underlying bi-stable perception processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christ Devia
- Departamento de Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Miguel Concha-Miranda
- Departamento de Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Laboratorio de Neurodinámica Básica y Aplicada, Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Eugenio Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Neurodinámica Básica y Aplicada, Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- *Correspondence: Eugenio Rodríguez,
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Abstract
The amplitude of prestimulus alpha oscillations over parieto-occipital cortex has been shown to predict visual detection of masked and threshold-level stimuli. Whether alpha activity similarly predicts target visibility in perceptual suppression paradigms, another type of illusion commonly used to investigate visual awareness, is presently unclear. Here, we examined prestimulus alpha activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) of healthy participants in the context of a generalized flash suppression (GFS) task during which salient target stimuli are rendered subjectively invisible in a subset of trials following the onset of a full-field motion stimulus. Unlike for masking or threshold paradigms, alpha (8-12 Hz) amplitude prior to motion onset was significantly higher when targets remained subjectively visible compared to trials during which the targets became perceptually suppressed. Furthermore, individual prestimulus alpha amplitudes strongly correlated with the individual trial-to-trial variability quenching following motion stimulus onset, indicating that variability quenching in visual cortex is closely linked to prestimulus alpha activity. We conclude that predictive correlates of conscious perception derived from perceptual suppression paradigms differ substantially from those obtained with "near threshold paradigms", possibly reflecting the effectiveness of the suppressor stimulus.
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Canales-Johnson A, Billig AJ, Olivares F, Gonzalez A, Garcia MDC, Silva W, Vaucheret E, Ciraolo C, Mikulan E, Ibanez A, Huepe D, Noreika V, Chennu S, Bekinschtein TA. Dissociable Neural Information Dynamics of Perceptual Integration and Differentiation during Bistable Perception. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:4563-4580. [PMID: 32219312 PMCID: PMC7325715 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
At any given moment, we experience a perceptual scene as a single whole and yet we may distinguish a variety of objects within it. This phenomenon instantiates two properties of conscious perception: integration and differentiation. Integration is the property of experiencing a collection of objects as a unitary percept and differentiation is the property of experiencing these objects as distinct from each other. Here, we evaluated the neural information dynamics underlying integration and differentiation of perceptual contents during bistable perception. Participants listened to a sequence of tones (auditory bistable stimuli) experienced either as a single stream (perceptual integration) or as two parallel streams (perceptual differentiation) of sounds. We computed neurophysiological indices of information integration and information differentiation with electroencephalographic and intracranial recordings. When perceptual alternations were endogenously driven, the integrated percept was associated with an increase in neural information integration and a decrease in neural differentiation across frontoparietal regions, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for the differentiated percept. However, when perception was exogenously driven by a change in the sound stream (no bistability), neural oscillatory power distinguished between percepts but information measures did not. We demonstrate that perceptual integration and differentiation can be mapped to theoretically motivated neural information signatures, suggesting a direct relationship between phenomenology and neurophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Canales-Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EB Cambridge, UK
- Vicerectoria de Investigacion y Posgrado, Universidad Catolica del Maule, Talca 3480112, Chile
| | - Alexander J Billig
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, N6A 3K7, Canada
- UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Francisco Olivares
- Facultad de Psicologia, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago 8370076, Chile
| | - Andrés Gonzalez
- Facultad de Psicologia, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago 8370076, Chile
| | - María del Carmen Garcia
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1199ABB, Argentina
| | - Walter Silva
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1199ABB, Argentina
| | - Esteban Vaucheret
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1199ABB, Argentina
| | - Carlos Ciraolo
- Programa de Cirugía de Epilepsia, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1199ABB, Argentina
| | - Ezequiel Mikulan
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires 1126, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibanez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires 1126, Argentina
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago 2485, Chile
| | - David Huepe
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago 2485, Chile
| | - Valdas Noreika
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EB Cambridge, UK
| | - Srivas Chennu
- School of Computing, University of Kent, ME4 4AG Chatham, UK
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EB Cambridge, UK
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Kloosterman NA, Meindertsma T, Hillebrand A, van Dijk BW, Lamme VAF, Donner TH. Top-down modulation in human visual cortex predicts the stability of a perceptual illusion. J Neurophysiol 2014; 113:1063-76. [PMID: 25411458 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00338.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Conscious perception sometimes fluctuates strongly, even when the sensory input is constant. For example, in motion-induced blindness (MIB), a salient visual target surrounded by a moving pattern suddenly disappears from perception, only to reappear after some variable time. Whereas such changes of perception result from fluctuations of neural activity, mounting evidence suggests that the perceptual changes, in turn, may also cause modulations of activity in several brain areas, including visual cortex. In this study, we asked whether these latter modulations might affect the subsequent dynamics of perception. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure modulations in cortical population activity during MIB. We observed a transient, retinotopically widespread modulation of beta (12-30 Hz)-frequency power over visual cortex that was closely linked to the time of subjects' behavioral report of the target disappearance. This beta modulation was a top-down signal, decoupled from both the physical stimulus properties and the motor response but contingent on the behavioral relevance of the perceptual change. Critically, the modulation amplitude predicted the duration of the subsequent target disappearance. We propose that the transformation of the perceptual change into a report triggers a top-down mechanism that stabilizes the newly selected perceptual interpretation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niels A Kloosterman
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Center for Brain and Cognition, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
| | - Thomas Meindertsma
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Arjan Hillebrand
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology and Magnetoencephalography Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bob W van Dijk
- Department of Physics and Medical Technology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Faculty of Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and
| | - Victor A F Lamme
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Center for Brain and Cognition, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tobias H Donner
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Center for Brain and Cognition, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
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