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Guo F, Zou J, Wang Y, Fang B, Zhou H, Wang D, He S, Zhang P. Human subcortical pathways automatically detect collision trajectory without attention and awareness. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002375. [PMID: 38236815 PMCID: PMC10795999 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Detecting imminent collisions is essential for survival. Here, we used high-resolution fMRI at 7 Tesla to investigate the role of attention and consciousness for detecting collision trajectory in human subcortical pathways. Healthy participants can precisely discriminate collision from near-miss trajectory of an approaching object, with pupil size change reflecting collision sensitivity. Subcortical pathways from the superior colliculus (SC) to the ventromedial pulvinar (vmPul) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) exhibited collision-sensitive responses even when participants were not paying attention to the looming stimuli. For hemianopic patients with unilateral lesions of the geniculostriate pathway, the ipsilesional SC and VTA showed significant activation to collision stimuli in their scotoma. Furthermore, stronger SC responses predicted better behavioral performance in collision detection even in the absence of awareness. Therefore, human tectofugal pathways could automatically detect collision trajectories without the observers' attention to and awareness of looming stimuli, supporting "blindsight" detection of impending visual threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanhua Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jinyou Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Aier Institute of Optometry and Vision Science, Aier Eye Hospital Group, Changsha, China
| | - Ye Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Boyan Fang
- Neurological Rehabilitation Center, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Huanfen Zhou
- Division of Ophthalmology, The Third Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Dajiang Wang
- Division of Ophthalmology, The Third Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Sheng He
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
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2
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Casanova C, Chalupa LM. The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and the pulvinar as essential partners for visual cortical functions. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1258393. [PMID: 37712093 PMCID: PMC10498387 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1258393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In most neuroscience textbooks, the thalamus is presented as a structure that relays sensory signals from visual, auditory, somatosensory, and gustatory receptors to the cerebral cortex. But the function of the thalamic nuclei goes beyond the simple transfer of information. This is especially true for the second-order nuclei, but also applies to first-order nuclei. First order thalamic nuclei receive information from the periphery, like the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), which receives a direct input from the retina. In contrast, second order thalamic nuclei, like the pulvinar, receive minor or no input from the periphery, with the bulk of their input derived from cortical areas. The dLGN refines the information received from the retina by temporal decorrelation, thereby transmitting the most "relevant" signals to the visual cortex. The pulvinar is closely linked to virtually all visual cortical areas, and there is growing evidence that it is necessary for normal cortical processing and for aspects of visual cognition. In this article, we will discuss what we know and do not know about these structures and propose some thoughts based on the knowledge gained during the course of our careers. We hope that these thoughts will arouse curiosity about the visual thalamus and its important role, especially for the next generation of neuroscientists.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Leo M. Chalupa
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States
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3
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Rahmati M, Curtis CE, Sreenivasan KK. Mnemonic representations in human lateral geniculate nucleus. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1094226. [PMID: 37234404 PMCID: PMC10206025 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1094226] [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: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
There is a growing appreciation for the role of the thalamus in high-level cognition. Motivated by findings that internal cognitive state drives activity in feedback layers of primary visual cortex (V1) that target the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), we investigated the role of LGN in working memory (WM). Specifically, we leveraged model-based neuroimaging approaches to test the hypothesis that human LGN encodes information about spatial locations temporarily encoded in WM. First, we localized and derived a detailed topographic organization in LGN that accords well with previous findings in humans and non-human primates. Next, we used models constructed on the spatial preferences of LGN populations in order to reconstruct spatial locations stored in WM as subjects performed modified memory-guided saccade tasks. We found that population LGN activity faithfully encoded the spatial locations held in memory in all subjects. Importantly, our tasks and models allowed us to dissociate the locations of retinal stimulation and the motor metrics of memory-guided saccades from the maintained spatial locations, thus confirming that human LGN represents true WM information. These findings add LGN to the growing list of subcortical regions involved in WM, and suggest a key pathway by which memories may influence incoming processing at the earliest levels of the visual hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masih Rahmati
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Clayton E. Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Kartik K. Sreenivasan
- Division of Science and Mathematics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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4
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Wang H, Wang X, Wang Y, Zhang D, Yang Y, Zhou Y, Qiu B, Zhang P. White matter BOLD signals at 7 Tesla reveal visual field maps in optic radiation and vertical occipital fasciculus. Neuroimage 2023; 269:119916. [PMID: 36736638 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence that blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in the white matter (WM) can be detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the functional relevance and significance of WM BOLD signals remain controversial. Here we investigated whether 7T BOLD fMRI can reveal fine-scale functional organizations of a WM bundle. Population receptive field (pRF) analyses of the 7T retinotopy dataset from the Human Connectome Project revealed clear contralateral retinotopic organizations of two visual WM bundles: the optic radiation (OR) and the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF). The retinotopic maps of OR are highly consistent with post-mortem dissections and diffusion tractographies, while the VOF maps are compatible with the dorsal and ventral visual areas connected by the WM. Similar to the grey matter (GM) visual areas, both WM bundles show over-representations of the central visual field and increasing pRF size with eccentricity. Hemodynamic response functions of visual WM were slower and wider compared with those of GM areas. These findings clearly demonstrate that WM BOLD at 7 Tesla is closely coupled with neural activity related to axons, encoding highly specific information that can be used to characterize fine-scale functional organizations of a WM bundle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Wang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Wang
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China
| | - Yanming Wang
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China
| | - Du Zhang
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China
| | - Yan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei 230088, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yifeng Zhou
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Bensheng Qiu
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei 230088, China; School of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Eye hospital, and State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China.; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China..
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5
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Campbell I, Sharifpour R, Vandewalle G. Light as a Modulator of Non-Image-Forming Brain Functions—Positive and Negative Impacts of Increasing Light Availability. Clocks Sleep 2023; 5:116-140. [PMID: 36975552 PMCID: PMC10047820 DOI: 10.3390/clockssleep5010012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Light use is rising steeply, mainly because of the advent of light-emitting diode (LED) devices. LEDs are frequently blue-enriched light sources and may have different impacts on the non-image forming (NIF) system, which is maximally sensitive to blue-wavelength light. Most importantly, the timing of LED device use is widespread, leading to novel light exposure patterns on the NIF system. The goal of this narrative review is to discuss the multiple aspects that we think should be accounted for when attempting to predict how this situation will affect the NIF impact of light on brain functions. We first cover both the image-forming and NIF pathways of the brain. We then detail our current understanding of the impact of light on human cognition, sleep, alertness, and mood. Finally, we discuss questions concerning the adoption of LED lighting and screens, which offer new opportunities to improve well-being, but also raise concerns about increasing light exposure, which may be detrimental to health, particularly in the evening.
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6
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Nakayama K, Moher J, Song JH. Rethinking Vision and Action. Annu Rev Psychol 2023; 74:59-86. [PMID: 36652303 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-021422-043229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Action is an important arbitrator as to whether an individual or a species will survive. Yet, action has not been well integrated into the study of psychology. Action or motor behavior is a field apart. This is traditional science with its need for specialization. The sequence in a typical laboratory experiment of see → decide → act provides the rationale for broad disciplinary categorizations. With renewed interest in action itself, surprising and exciting anomalous findings at odds with this simplified caricature have emerged. They reveal a much more intimate coupling of vision and action, which we describe. In turn, this prompts us to identify and dwell on three pertinent theories deserving of greater notice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Nakayama
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA;
| | - Jeff Moher
- Department of Psychology, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, USA;
| | - Joo-Hyun Song
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA;
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7
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Neural Dynamics during Binocular Rivalry: Indications from Human Lateral Geniculate Nucleus. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0470-22.2022. [PMID: 36609303 PMCID: PMC9840381 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0470-22.2022] [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: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
When two sufficiently different stimuli are presented to each eye, perception alternates between them. This binocular rivalry is conceived as a competition for representation in the single stream of visual consciousness. The magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) pathways, originating in the retina, encode disparate information, but their potentially different contributions to binocular rivalry have not been determined. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the human lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), where the M and P neurons are segregated into layers receiving input from a single eye. We had three participants (one male, two females) and used achromatic stimuli to avoid contributions from color opponent neurons that may have confounded previous studies. We observed activity in the eye-specific regions of LGN correlated with perception, with similar magnitudes during rivalry or physical stimuli alternations, also similar in the M and P regions. These results suggest that LGN activity reflects our perceptions during binocular rivalry and is not simply an artifact of color opponency. Further, perception appears to be a global phenomenon in the LGN, not just limited to a single information channel.
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8
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Brang D, Plass J, Sherman A, Stacey WC, Wasade VS, Grabowecky M, Ahn E, Towle VL, Tao JX, Wu S, Issa NP, Suzuki S. Visual cortex responds to sound onset and offset during passive listening. J Neurophysiol 2022; 127:1547-1563. [PMID: 35507478 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00164.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sounds enhance our ability to detect, localize, and respond to co-occurring visual targets. Research suggests that sounds improve visual processing by resetting the phase of ongoing oscillations in visual cortex. However, it remains unclear what information is relayed from the auditory system to visual areas and if sounds modulate visual activity even in the absence of visual stimuli (e.g., during passive listening). Using intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) in humans, we examined the sensitivity of visual cortex to three forms of auditory information during a passive listening task: auditory onset responses, auditory offset responses, and rhythmic entrainment to sounds. Because some auditory neurons respond to both sound onsets and offsets, visual timing and duration processing may benefit from each. Additionally, if auditory entrainment information is relayed to visual cortex, it could support the processing of complex stimulus dynamics that are aligned between auditory and visual stimuli. Results demonstrate that in visual cortex, amplitude-modulated sounds elicited transient onset and offset responses in multiple areas, but no entrainment to sound modulation frequencies. These findings suggest that activity in visual cortex (as measured with iEEG in response to auditory stimuli) may not be affected by temporally fine-grained auditory stimulus dynamics during passive listening (though it remains possible that this signal may be observable with simultaneous auditory-visual stimuli). Moreover, auditory responses were maximal in low-level visual cortex, potentially implicating a direct pathway for rapid interactions between auditory and visual cortices. This mechanism may facilitate perception by time-locking visual computations to environmental events marked by auditory discontinuities.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Brang
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - John Plass
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Aleksandra Sherman
- Department of Cognitive Science, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - William C Stacey
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | | | - Marcia Grabowecky
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - EunSeon Ahn
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Vernon L Towle
- Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - James X Tao
- Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Shasha Wu
- Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Naoum P Issa
- Department of Neurology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Satoru Suzuki
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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9
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Kurzawski JW, Lunghi C, Biagi L, Tosetti M, Morrone MC, Binda P. Short-term plasticity in the human visual thalamus. eLife 2022; 11:74565. [PMID: 35384840 PMCID: PMC9020816 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While there is evidence that the visual cortex retains a potential for plasticity in adulthood, less is known about the subcortical stages of visual processing. Here we asked whether short-term ocular dominance plasticity affects the human visual thalamus. We addressed this question in normally sighted adult humans, using ultra-high field (7T) magnetic resonance imaging combined with the paradigm of short-term monocular deprivation. With this approach, we previously demonstrated transient shifts of perceptual eye dominance and ocular dominance in visual cortex (Binda et al., 2018). Here we report evidence for short-term plasticity in the ventral division of the pulvinar (vPulv), where the deprived eye representation was enhanced over the non-deprived eye. This ventral-pulvinar plasticity was similar as previously seen in visual cortex and it was correlated with the ocular dominance shift measured behaviorally. In contrast, there was no effect of monocular deprivation in two adjacent thalamic regions: dorsal pulvinar (dPulv), and Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN). We conclude that the visual thalamus retains potential for short-term plasticity in adulthood; the plasticity effect differs across thalamic subregions, possibly reflecting differences in their cortico-fugal connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Claudia Lunghi
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | | | | | - Maria Concetta Morrone
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Paola Binda
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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10
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Application of the Catecholaminergic Neuron Electron Transport (CNET) Physical Substrate for Consciousness and Action Selection to Integrated Information Theory. ENTROPY 2022; 24:e24010091. [PMID: 35052119 PMCID: PMC8774445 DOI: 10.3390/e24010091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
A newly discovered physical mechanism involving incoherent electron tunneling in layers of the protein ferritin that are found in catecholaminergic neurons (catecholaminergic neuron electron transport or CNET) is hypothesized to support communication between neurons. Recent tests further confirm that these ferritin layers can also perform a switching function (in addition to providing an electron tunneling mechanism) that could be associated with action selection in those neurons, consistent with earlier predictions based on CNET. While further testing would be needed to confirm the hypothesis that CNET allows groups of neurons to communicate and act as a switch for selecting one of the neurons in the group to assist in reaching action potential, this paper explains how that hypothesized behavior would be consistent with Integrated Information Theory (IIT), one of a number of consciousness theories (CTs). While the sheer number of CTs suggest that any one of them alone is not sufficient to explain consciousness, this paper demonstrates that CNET can provide a physical substrate and action selection mechanism that is consistent with IIT and which can also be applied to other CTs, such as to conform them into a single explanation of consciousness.
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11
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Loss and enhancement of layer-selective signals in geniculostriate and corticotectal pathways of adult human amblyopia. Cell Rep 2021; 37:110117. [PMID: 34910903 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
How abnormal visual experiences early in life influence human subcortical pathways is poorly understood. Using high-resolution fMRI and pathway-selective visual stimuli, we investigate the influence of amblyopia on response properties and the effective connectivity of subcortical visual pathways of the adult human brain. Compared to the normal and fellow eyes, stimuli presented to the amblyopic eye show selectively reduced response in the parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus and weaker effective connectivity to V1. Compared to the normal eye, the response of the amblyopic eye to chromatic stimulus decreases in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus, while response of the fellow eye robustly increases in the deep SC with stronger connectivity from the visual cortex. Therefore, amblyopia leads to selective parvocellular alterations of the geniculostriate and corticotectal pathways. These findings provide the neural basis for amblyopic deficits in visual acuity, ocular motor control, and attention.
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12
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Groen IIA, Dekker TM, Knapen T, Silson EH. Visuospatial coding as ubiquitous scaffolding for human cognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 26:81-96. [PMID: 34799253 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
For more than 100 years we have known that the visual field is mapped onto the surface of visual cortex, imposing an inherently spatial reference frame on visual information processing. Recent studies highlight visuospatial coding not only throughout visual cortex, but also brain areas not typically considered visual. Such widespread access to visuospatial coding raises important questions about its role in wider cognitive functioning. Here, we synthesise these recent developments and propose that visuospatial coding scaffolds human cognition by providing a reference frame through which neural computations interface with environmental statistics and task demands via perception-action loops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris I A Groen
- Institute for Informatics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tessa M Dekker
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Tomas Knapen
- Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Spinoza Centre for NeuroImaging, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Edward H Silson
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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13
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Klink PC, Chen X, Vanduffel V, Roelfsema P. Population receptive fields in non-human primates from whole-brain fMRI and large-scale neurophysiology in visual cortex. eLife 2021; 10:67304. [PMID: 34730515 PMCID: PMC8641953 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Population receptive field (pRF) modeling is a popular fMRI method to map the retinotopic organization of the human brain. While fMRI-based pRF maps are qualitatively similar to invasively recorded single-cell receptive fields in animals, it remains unclear what neuronal signal they represent. We addressed this question in awake nonhuman primates comparing whole-brain fMRI and large-scale neurophysiological recordings in areas V1 and V4 of the visual cortex. We examined the fits of several pRF models based on the fMRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal, multi-unit spiking activity (MUA), and local field potential (LFP) power in different frequency bands. We found that pRFs derived from BOLD-fMRI were most similar to MUA-pRFs in V1 and V4, while pRFs based on LFP gamma power also gave a good approximation. fMRI-based pRFs thus reliably reflect neuronal receptive field properties in the primate brain. In addition to our results in V1 and V4, the whole-brain fMRI measurements revealed retinotopic tuning in many other cortical and subcortical areas with a consistent increase in pRF size with increasing eccentricity, as well as a retinotopically specific deactivation of default mode network nodes similar to previous observations in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Xing Chen
- Vision and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Pieter Roelfsema
- Vision and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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14
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Zooming-in on higher-level vision: High-resolution fMRI for understanding visual perception and awareness. Prog Neurobiol 2021; 207:101998. [PMID: 33497652 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.101998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
One of the central questions in visual neuroscience is how the sparse retinal signals leaving our eyes are transformed into a rich subjective visual experience of the world. Invasive physiology studies, which offers the highest spatial resolution, have revealed many facts about the processing of simple visual features like contrast, color, and orientation, focusing on the early visual areas. At the same time, standard human fMRI studies with comparably coarser spatial resolution have revealed more complex, functionally specialized, and category-selective responses in higher visual areas. Although the visual system is the best understood among the sensory modalities, these two areas of research remain largely segregated. High-resolution fMRI opens up a possibility for linking them. On the one hand, it allows studying how the higher-level visual functions affect the fine-scale activity in early visual areas. On the other hand, it allows discovering the fine-scale functional organization of higher visual areas and exploring their functional connectivity with visual areas lower in the hierarchy. In this review, I will discuss examples of successful work undertaken in these directions using high-resolution fMRI and discuss where this method could be applied in the future to advance our understanding of the complexity of higher-level visual processing.
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15
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Spatially Specific Working Memory Activity in the Human Superior Colliculus. J Neurosci 2020; 40:9487-9495. [PMID: 33115927 PMCID: PMC7724141 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2016-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2020] [Revised: 09/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Theoretically, working memory (WM) representations are encoded by population activity of neurons with distributed tuning across the stored feature. Here, we leverage computational neuroimaging approaches to map the topographic organization of human superior colliculus (SC) and model how population activity in SC encodes WM representations. We first modeled receptive field properties of voxels in SC, deriving a detailed topographic organization resembling that of the primate SC. Neural activity within human (5 male and 1 female) SC persisted throughout a retention interval of several types of modified memory-guided saccade tasks. Assuming an underlying neural architecture of the SC based on its retinotopic organization, we used an encoding model to show that the pattern of activity in human SC represents locations stored in WM. Our tasks and models allowed us to dissociate the locations of visual targets and the motor metrics of memory-guided saccades from the spatial locations stored in WM, thus confirming that human SC represents true WM information. These data have several important implications. They add the SC to a growing number of cortical and subcortical brain areas that form distributed networks supporting WM functions. Moreover, they specify a clear neural mechanism by which topographically organized SC encodes WM representations. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using computational neuroimaging approaches, we mapped the topographic organization of human superior colliculus (SC) and modeled how population activity in SC encodes working memory (WM) representations, rather than simpler visual or motor properties that have been traditionally associated with the laminar maps in the primate SC. Together, these data both position the human SC into a distributed network of brain areas supporting WM and elucidate the neural mechanisms by which the SC supports WM.
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16
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Chen Y, Chen T, Cai X. Light-sensitive circuits related to emotional processing underlie the antidepressant neural targets of light therapy. Behav Brain Res 2020; 396:112862. [PMID: 32827569 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Since Aaron Beck proposed his cognitive model of depression, biased attention, biased processing, and biased rumination (different phases of biased cognition) have been considered as the key elements consistently linked with depression. Increasing evidence suggests that the functional failures in the "emotional processing system (EPS)" underlie the neurological foundation of the biased cognition of depression. Light therapy, a non-intrusive approach, exerts powerful effects on emotion and cognition and affects the activity, functional connectivity, and plasticity of multiple brain structures. Although numerous studies have reported its effectiveness in treating depression, the findings have not been integrated with Beck's cognitive model and EPS, and the neurobiological mechanisms of antidepressant light therapy remain largely unknown. In this review, integrated with the classical theories of Beck's cognitive model of depression and EPS, we identified the key neural circuits and abnormalities involved in the cognitive bias of depression and, accordingly, identified and depicted several light-sensitive circuits (LSCs, neural circuits in the EPS that are responsive to light stimulation) that may underlie the antidepressant neural targets of light therapy, as listed below: In summary, the LSCs above narrow down the research scope of identifying the neural targets of antidepressant light therapy and help elucidate the neuropsychological mechanism of antidepressant light therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaodong Chen
- School of Architecture and Design, Southwest JiaoTong University, Chengdu, China.
| | - Taolin Chen
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xueli Cai
- School of Architecture and Design, Southwest JiaoTong University, Chengdu, China
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17
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Guedj C, Vuilleumier P. Functional connectivity fingerprints of the human pulvinar: Decoding its role in cognition. Neuroimage 2020; 221:117162. [PMID: 32659353 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The pulvinar is the largest thalamic nucleus in the brain and considered as a key structure in sensory processing and attention. Although its anatomy is well known, in particular thanks to studies in non-human primates, its role in perception and cognition remains poorly understood. Here, we used resting-state functional connectivity from a large sample of high-resolution data provided by the Human Connectome Project, combined with a large-scale meta-analysis approach to segregate and characterize the functional organization of the pulvinar nucleus. We identified five clusters per pulvinar with distinct connectivity profiles and determined their respective co-activation patterns. Using the Neurosynth database, we then investigated the functional significance of these co-activation networks. Our results confirm the functional heterogeneity of the pulvinar, revealing clearcut differences across clusters in terms of their connectivity patterns and associated cognitive domains. While the anterior and lateral clusters appear to be involved in action and attention domains, the ventromedial and dorsomedial clusters may preferentially subserve emotional processes and saliency detection. In contrast, the inferior cluster shows less specificity but correlates with perception and memory processes. Collectively, our results suggest that the pulvinar underwrites different components of cognition, supporting a central role in the coordination of cortico-subcortical processes mediated by distributed brain networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carole Guedj
- Neuroscience Department, Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, University Medical School of Geneva, Campus BIOTECH H8, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Neuroscience Department, Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, University Medical School of Geneva, Campus BIOTECH H8, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland
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18
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Qian Y, Zou J, Zhang Z, An J, Zuo Z, Zhuo Y, Wang DJJ, Zhang P. Robust functional mapping of layer-selective responses in human lateral geniculate nucleus with high-resolution 7T fMRI. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200245. [PMID: 32290803 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus is the major subcortical relay of retinal input to the visual cortex. It plays important roles in visual perception and cognition and is closely related with several eye diseases and brain disorders. Primate LGNs mainly consist of six layers of monocular neurons with distinct cell types and functions. The non-invasive measure of layer-selective activities of the human LGN would have broad scientific and clinical implications. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 7 Tesla (T) and carefully designed visual stimuli, we achieved robust functional mapping of eye-specific and also magnocellular/parvocellular-specific laminar patterns of the human LGN. These laminar patterns were highly reproducible with different pulse sequences scanned on separate days, between different subjects, and were in remarkable consistency with the simulation from high-resolution histology of the human LGNs. These findings clearly demonstrate that 7T fMRI can robustly resolve layer-specific responses of the human LGN. This paves the way for future investigation of the critical roles of the LGN in human visual perception and cognition, as well as the neural mechanisms of many developmental and neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yazhu Qian
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Jinyou Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Zihao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing An
- Digital Department, Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhentao Zuo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Zhuo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Danny J J Wang
- Digital Department, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.,College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
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19
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Goddard E, Mullen KT. fMRI representational similarity analysis reveals graded preferences for chromatic and achromatic stimulus contrast across human visual cortex. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116780. [PMID: 32276074 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Human visual cortex is partitioned into different functional areas that, from lower to higher, become increasingly selective and responsive to complex feature dimensions. Here we use a Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA) of fMRI-BOLD signals to make quantitative comparisons across LGN and multiple visual areas of the low-level stimulus information encoded in the patterns of voxel responses. Our stimulus set was picked to target the four functionally distinct subcortical channels that input visual cortex from the LGN: two achromatic sinewave stimuli that favor the responses of the high-temporal magnocellular and high-spatial parvocellular pathways, respectively, and two chromatic stimuli isolating the L/M-cone opponent and S-cone opponent pathways, respectively. Each stimulus type had three spatial extents to sample both foveal and para-central visual field. With the RSA, we compare quantitatively the response specializations for individual stimuli and combinations of stimuli in each area and how these change across visual cortex. First, our results replicate the known response preferences for motion/flicker in the dorsal visual areas. In addition, we identify two distinct gradients along the ventral visual stream. In the early visual areas (V1-V3), the strongest differential representation is for the achromatic high spatial frequency stimuli, suitable for form vision, and a very weak differentiation of chromatic versus achromatic contrast. Emerging in ventral occipital areas (V4, VO1 and VO2), however, is an increasingly strong separation of the responses to chromatic versus achromatic contrast and a decline in the high spatial frequency representation. These gradients provide new insight into how visual information is transformed across the visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin Goddard
- McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3G1A4, Canada
| | - Kathy T Mullen
- McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3G1A4, Canada.
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20
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21
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Distinguishing Hemodynamics from Function in the Human LGN Using a Temporal Response Model. Vision (Basel) 2019; 3:vision3020027. [PMID: 31735828 PMCID: PMC6802784 DOI: 10.3390/vision3020027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2018] [Revised: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We developed a temporal population receptive field model to differentiate the neural and hemodynamic response functions (HRF) in the human lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The HRF in the human LGN is dominated by the richly vascularized hilum, a structure that serves as a point of entry for blood vessels entering the LGN and supplying the substrates of central vision. The location of the hilum along the ventral surface of the LGN and the resulting gradient in the amplitude of the HRF across the extent of the LGN have made it difficult to segment the human LGN into its more interesting magnocellular and parvocellular regions that represent two distinct visual processing streams. Here, we show that an intrinsic clustering of the LGN responses to a variety of visual inputs reveals the hilum, and further, that this clustering is dominated by the amplitude of the HRF. We introduced a temporal population receptive field model that includes separate sustained and transient temporal impulse response functions that vary on a much short timescale than the HRF. When we account for the HRF amplitude, we demonstrate that this temporal response model is able to functionally segregate the residual responses according to their temporal properties.
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22
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Benson NC, Jamison KW, Arcaro MJ, Vu AT, Glasser MF, Coalson TS, Van Essen DC, Yacoub E, Ugurbil K, Winawer J, Kay K. The Human Connectome Project 7 Tesla retinotopy dataset: Description and population receptive field analysis. J Vis 2019; 18:23. [PMID: 30593068 PMCID: PMC6314247 DOI: 10.1167/18.13.23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
About a quarter of human cerebral cortex is dedicated mainly to visual processing. The large-scale spatial organization of visual cortex can be measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects view spatially modulated visual stimuli, also known as "retinotopic mapping." One of the datasets collected by the Human Connectome Project involved ultrahigh-field (7 Tesla) fMRI retinotopic mapping in 181 healthy young adults (1.6-mm resolution), yielding the largest freely available collection of retinotopy data. Here, we describe the experimental paradigm and the results of model-based analysis of the fMRI data. These results provide estimates of population receptive field position and size. Our analyses include both results from individual subjects as well as results obtained by averaging fMRI time series across subjects at each cortical and subcortical location and then fitting models. Both the group-average and individual-subject results reveal robust signals across much of the brain, including occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal cortex as well as subcortical areas. The group-average results agree well with previously published parcellations of visual areas. In addition, split-half analyses show strong within-subject reliability, further demonstrating the high quality of the data. We make publicly available the analysis results for individual subjects and the group average, as well as associated stimuli and analysis code. These resources provide an opportunity for studying fine-scale individual variability in cortical and subcortical organization and the properties of high-resolution fMRI. In addition, they provide a set of observations that can be compared with other Human Connectome Project measures acquired in these same participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah C Benson
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Keith W Jamison
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.,Current address: Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michael J Arcaro
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - An T Vu
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.,Current address: Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, VA Healthcare System, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Matthew F Glasser
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Medicine, St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Timothy S Coalson
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - David C Van Essen
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Essa Yacoub
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kamil Ugurbil
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jonathan Winawer
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kendrick Kay
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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23
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Indication of quantum mechanical electron transport in human substantia nigra tissue from conductive atomic force microscopy analysis. Biosystems 2019; 179:30-38. [PMID: 30826349 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2019.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Neuromelanin and ferritin in dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra have a distribution and density that is similar to disordered arrays of quantum dots in photovoltaic devices, which have been experimentally shown to conduct electric energy using quantum mechanical electron transport mechanisms. Conductive atomic force microscopy tests were performed on human substantia nigra tissue at room temperature, to determine whether evidence of electron transport is present. The test results presented here provide evidence of quantum mechanical electron transport from ferritin and neuromelanin at levels that may be sufficient to cause or contribute to generation of action potentials.
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24
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Abstract
The default network (DN) is a brain network with correlated activities spanning frontal, parietal, and temporal cortical lobes. The DN activates for high-level cognition tasks and deactivates when subjects are actively engaged in perceptual tasks. Despite numerous observations, the role of DN deactivation remains unclear. Using computational neuroimaging applied to a large dataset of the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and to two individual subjects scanned over many repeated runs, we demonstrate that the DN selectively deactivates as a function of the position of a visual stimulus. That is, we show that spatial vision is encoded within the DN by means of deactivation relative to baseline. Our results suggest that the DN functions as a set of high-level visual regions, opening up the possibility of using vision-science tools to understand its putative function in cognition and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Szinte
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, Netherlands.,Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BK, Netherlands
| | - Tomas Knapen
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, Netherlands.,Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BK, Netherlands
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25
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Organizing principles of pulvino-cortical functional coupling in humans. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5382. [PMID: 30568159 PMCID: PMC6300667 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07725-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The pulvinar influences communication between cortical areas. We use fMRI to characterize the functional organization of the human pulvinar and its coupling with cortex. The ventral pulvinar is sensitive to spatial position and moment-to-moment transitions in visual statistics, but also differentiates visual categories such as faces and scenes. The dorsal pulvinar is modulated by spatial attention and is sensitive to the temporal structure of visual input. Cortical areas are functionally coupled with discrete pulvinar regions. The spatial organization of this coupling reflects the functional specializations and anatomical distances between cortical areas. The ventral pulvinar is functionally coupled with occipital-temporal cortices. The dorsal pulvinar is functionally coupled with frontal, parietal, and cingulate cortices, including the attention, default mode, and human-specific tool networks. These differences mirror the principles governing cortical organization of dorsal and ventral cortical visual streams. These results provide a functional framework for how the pulvinar facilitates and regulates cortical processing. The pulvinar is involved in vision and attention, but its interactions with other brain regions are little-studied. Here, using fMRI the authors show that the human pulvinar has widespread functional coupling with cortical areas that reflects its intrinsic organization and the topographic layout of cortex.
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26
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Meng Q, Huang Y, Cui D, He L, Chen L, Ma Y, Zhao X. The dissociations of visual processing of "hole" and "no-hole" stimuli: An functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Brain Behav 2018; 8:e00979. [PMID: 29761025 PMCID: PMC5943751 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION "Where to begin" is a fundamental question of vision. A "Global-first" topological approach proposed that the first step in object representation was to extract topological properties, especially whether the object had a hole or not. Numerous psychophysical studies found that the hole (closure) could be rapidly recognized by visual system as a primitive property. However, neuroimaging studies showed that the temporal lobe (IT), which lied at a late stage of ventral pathway, was involved as a dedicated region. It appeared paradoxical that IT served as a key region for processing the early component of visual information. Did there exist a distinct fast route to transit hole information to IT? We hypothesized that a fast noncortical pathway might participate in processing holes. METHODS To address this issue, a backward masking paradigm combined with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was applied to measure neural responses to hole and no-hole stimuli in anatomically defined cortical and subcortical regions of interest (ROIs) under different visual awareness levels by modulating masking delays. RESULTS For no-hole stimuli, the neural activation of cortical sites was greatly attenuated when the no-hole perception was impaired by strong masking, whereas an enhanced neural response to hole stimuli in non-cortical sites was obtained when the stimulus was rendered more invisible. CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that whereas the cortical route was required to drive a perceptual response for no-hole stimuli, a subcortical route might be involved in coding the hole feature, resulting in a rapid hole perception in primitive vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianli Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Beijing China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Yan Huang
- The Brain Cognition & Brain Disease Institute for Collaboration Research of SIAT at CAS and the McGovern Institute at MIT Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences University Town of Shenzhen Shenzhen China
| | - Ding Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Beijing China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Lixia He
- Paralign Inc. San Francisco California
| | - Lin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Beijing China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Yuanye Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Beijing China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming China
| | - Xudong Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology Beijing China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
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27
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Polar-angle representation of saccadic eye movements in human superior colliculus. Neuroimage 2017; 171:199-208. [PMID: 29292132 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2017] [Revised: 11/23/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) is a layered midbrain structure involved in directing both head and eye movements and coordinating visual attention. Although a retinotopic organization for the mediation of saccadic eye-movements has been shown in monkey SC, in human SC the topography of saccades has not been confirmed. Here, a novel experimental paradigm was performed by five participants (one female) while high-resolution (1.2-mm) functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure activity evoked by saccadic eye movements within human SC. Results provide three critical observations about the topography of the SC: (1) saccades along the superior-inferior visual axis are mapped across the medial-lateral anatomy of the SC; (2) the saccadic eye-movement representation is in register with the retinotopic organization of visual stimulation; and (3) activity evoked by saccades occurs deeper within SC than that evoked by visual stimulation. These approaches lay the foundation for studying the organization of human subcortical - and enhanced cortical mapping - of eye-movement mechanisms.
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28
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Image identification from brain activity using the population receptive field model. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0183295. [PMID: 28922355 PMCID: PMC5603170 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A goal of computational models is not only to explain experimental data but also to make new predictions. A current focus of computational neuroimaging is to predict features of the presented stimulus from measured brain signals. These computational neuroimaging approaches may be agnostic about the underlying neural processes or may be biologically inspired. Here, we use the biologically inspired population receptive field (pRF) approach to identify presented images from fMRI recordings of the visual cortex, using an explicit model of the underlying neural response selectivity. The advantage of the pRF-model is its simplicity: it is defined by a handful of parameters, which can be estimated from fMRI data that was collected within half an hour. Using 7T MRI, we measured responses elicited by different visual stimuli: (i) conventional pRF mapping stimuli, (ii) semi-random synthetic images and (iii) natural images. The pRF mapping stimuli were used to estimate the pRF-properties of each cortical location in early visual cortex. Next, we used these pRFs to identify which synthetic or natural images was presented to the subject from the fMRI responses. We show that image identification using V1 responses is far above chance, both for the synthetic and natural images. Thus, we can identify visual images, including natural images, using the most fundamental low-parameter pRF model estimated from conventional pRF mapping stimuli. This allows broader application of image identification.
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29
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Arcaro MJ, Livingstone MS. Retinotopic Organization of Scene Areas in Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex. J Neurosci 2017; 37:7373-7389. [PMID: 28674177 PMCID: PMC5546109 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0569-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Revised: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 06/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Primates have specialized domains in inferior temporal (IT) cortex that are responsive to particular image categories. Though IT traditionally has been regarded as lacking retinotopy, several recent studies in monkeys have shown that retinotopic maps extend to face patches along the lower bank of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and neighboring regions of IT cortex. Here, we used fMRI to map the retinotopic organization of medial ventral temporal cortex in four monkeys (2 male and 2 female). We confirm the presence of visual field maps within and around the lower bank of the STS and extend these prior findings to scene-selective cortex in the ventral-most regions of IT. Within the occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS), we identified two retinotopic areas, OTS1 and OTS2. The polar angle representation of OTS2 was a mirror reversal of the OTS1 representation. These regions contained representations of the contralateral periphery and were selectively active for scene versus face, body, or object images. The extent of this retinotopy parallels that in humans and shows that the organization of the scene network is preserved across primate species. In addition retinotopic maps were identified in dorsal extrastriate, posterior parietal, and frontal cortex as well as the thalamus, including both the lateral geniculate nucleus and pulvinar. Together, it appears that most, if not all, of the macaque visual system contains organized representations of visual space.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Primates have specialized domains in inferior temporal (IT) cortex that are responsive to particular image categories. Though retinotopic maps are considered a fundamental organizing principle of posterior visual cortex, IT traditionally has been regarded as lacking retinotopy. Recent imaging studies have demonstrated the presence of several visual field maps within the lateral IT. Using neuroimaging, we found multiple representations of visual space within ventral IT cortex of macaques that included scene-selective cortex. Scene domains were biased toward the peripheral visual field. These data demonstrate the prevalence of visual field maps throughout the primate visual system, including late stages in the ventral visual hierarchy, and support the idea that domains representing different categories are biased toward different parts of the visual field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Arcaro
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
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30
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Singh V, Pfeuffer J, Zhao T, Ress D. Evaluation of spiral acquisition variants for functional imaging of human superior colliculus at 3T field strength. Magn Reson Med 2017; 79:1931-1940. [PMID: 28736924 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.26845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Revised: 06/26/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE High-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging of human subcortical brain structures is challenging because of their deep location in the cranium, and their comparatively weak blood oxygen level dependent responses to strong stimuli. Magnetic resonance imaging data for subcortical brain regions exhibit both low signal-to-noise ratio and low functional contrast-to-noise ratio. To overcome these challenges, this work evaluates the use of dual-echo spiral variants that combine outward and inward trajectories. Specifically, in-in, in-out, and out-out combinations are evaluated. For completeness, single-echo spiral-in and parallel-receive-accelerated echo-planar-imaging sequences are also evaluated. METHODS Sequence evaluation was based on comparison of functional contrast-to-noise ratio within retinotopically predefined regions of interest. Superior colliculus was chosen as sample subcortical brain region because it exhibits a strong visual response. All sequences were compared relative to a single-echo spiral-out trajectory to establish a within-session reference. RESULTS In superior colliculus, the dual-echo out-out outperformed the reference trajectory by 55% in contrast-to-noise ratio, while all other trajectories had performance similar to the reference. The sequences were also compared in early visual cortex. Here, both dual-echo spiral out-out and in-out outperformed the reference by ∼25%. CONCLUSION Dual-echo spiral variants offer improved contrast-to-noise ratio performance for high-resolution imaging for both superior colliculus and cortex. Magn Reson Med 79:1931-1940, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vimal Singh
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Josef Pfeuffer
- Siemens Healthcare, Application Development, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Tiejun Zhao
- Siemens Healthcare, MR Research Collaborations, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David Ress
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
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Rizzo JR, Hosseini M, Wong EA, Mackey WE, Fung JK, Ahdoot E, Rucker JC, Raghavan P, Landy MS, Hudson TE. The Intersection between Ocular and Manual Motor Control: Eye-Hand Coordination in Acquired Brain Injury. Front Neurol 2017; 8:227. [PMID: 28620341 PMCID: PMC5451505 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Acute and chronic disease processes that lead to cerebral injury can often be clinically challenging diagnostically, prognostically, and therapeutically. Neurodegenerative processes are one such elusive diagnostic group, given their often diffuse and indolent nature, creating difficulties in pinpointing specific structural abnormalities that relate to functional limitations. A number of studies in recent years have focused on eye-hand coordination (EHC) in the setting of acquired brain injury (ABI), highlighting the important set of interconnected functions of the eye and hand and their relevance in neurological conditions. These experiments, which have concentrated on focal lesion-based models, have significantly improved our understanding of neurophysiology and underscored the sensitivity of biomarkers in acute and chronic neurological disease processes, especially when such biomarkers are combined synergistically. To better understand EHC and its connection with ABI, there is a need to clarify its definition and to delineate its neuroanatomical and computational underpinnings. Successful EHC relies on the complex feedback- and prediction-mediated relationship between the visual, ocular motor, and manual motor systems and takes advantage of finely orchestrated synergies between these systems in both the spatial and temporal domains. Interactions of this type are representative of functional sensorimotor control, and their disruption constitutes one of the most frequent deficits secondary to brain injury. The present review describes the visually mediated planning and control of eye movements, hand movements, and their coordination, with a particular focus on deficits that occur following neurovascular, neurotraumatic, and neurodegenerative conditions. Following this review, we also discuss potential future research directions, highlighting objective EHC as a sensitive biomarker complement within acute and chronic neurological disease processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- John-Ross Rizzo
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Maryam Hosseini
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Eric A Wong
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Wayne E Mackey
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - James K Fung
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Edmond Ahdoot
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Janet C Rucker
- Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Ophthalmology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Preeti Raghavan
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michael S Landy
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Todd E Hudson
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
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Visual Population Receptive Fields in People with Schizophrenia Have Reduced Inhibitory Surrounds. J Neurosci 2016; 37:1546-1556. [PMID: 28025253 PMCID: PMC5299570 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3620-15.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2015] [Revised: 10/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
People with schizophrenia (SZ) experience abnormal visual perception on a range of visual tasks, which have been linked to abnormal synaptic transmission and an imbalance between cortical excitation and inhibition. However, differences in the underlying architecture of visual cortex neurons, which might explain these visual anomalies, have yet to be reported in vivo Here, we probed the neural basis of these deficits using fMRI and population receptive field (pRF) mapping to infer properties of visually responsive neurons in people with SZ. We employed a difference-of-Gaussian model to capture the center-surround configuration of the pRF, providing critical information about the spatial scale of the pRFs inhibitory surround. Our analysis reveals that SZ is associated with reduced pRF size in early retinotopic visual cortex, as well as a reduction in size and depth of the inhibitory surround in V1, V2, and V4. We consider how reduced inhibition might explain the diverse range of visual deficits reported in SZ.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT People with schizophrenia (SZ) experience abnormal perception on a range of visual tasks, which has been linked to abnormal synaptic transmission and an imbalance between cortical excitation/inhibition. However, associated differences in the functional architecture of visual cortex neurons have yet to be reported in vivo We used fMRI and population receptive field (pRF) mapping to demonstrate that the fine-grained functional architecture of visual cortex in people with SZ differs from unaffected controls. SZ is associated with reduced pRF size in early retinotopic visual cortex largely due to reduced inhibitory surrounds. An imbalance between cortical excitation and inhibition could drive such a change in the center-surround pRF configuration and ultimately explain the range of visual deficits experienced in SZ.
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Daneault V, Dumont M, Massé É, Vandewalle G, Carrier J. Light-sensitive brain pathways and aging. J Physiol Anthropol 2016; 35:9. [PMID: 26980095 PMCID: PMC4791759 DOI: 10.1186/s40101-016-0091-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 03/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Notwithstanding its effects on the classical visual system allowing image formation, light acts upon several non-image-forming (NIF) functions including body temperature, hormonal secretions, sleep-wake cycle, alertness, and cognitive performance. Studies have shown that NIF functions are maximally sensitive to blue wavelengths (460–480 nm), in comparison to longer light wavelengths. Higher blue light sensitivity has been reported for melatonin suppression, pupillary constriction, vigilance, and performance improvement but also for modulation of cognitive brain functions. Studies investigating acute stimulating effects of light on brain activity during the execution of cognitive tasks have suggested that brain activations progress from subcortical regions involved in alertness, such as the thalamus, the hypothalamus, and the brainstem, before reaching cortical regions associated with the ongoing task. In the course of aging, lower blue light sensitivity of some NIF functions has been reported. Here, we first describe neural pathways underlying effects of light on NIF functions and we discuss eye and cerebral mechanisms associated with aging which may affect NIF light sensitivity. Thereafter, we report results of investigations on pupillary constriction and cognitive brain sensitivity to light in the course of aging. Whereas the impact of light on cognitive brain responses appears to decrease substantially, pupillary constriction seems to remain more intact over the lifespan. Altogether, these results demonstrate that aging research should take into account the diversity of the pathways underlying the effects of light on specific NIF functions which may explain their differences in light sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Daneault
- Functional Neuroimaging Unit, University of Montreal Geriatric Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada. .,Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada. .,Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - M Dumont
- Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - É Massé
- Functional Neuroimaging Unit, University of Montreal Geriatric Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - G Vandewalle
- Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - J Carrier
- Functional Neuroimaging Unit, University of Montreal Geriatric Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Abstract
UNLABELLED The pulvinar is the largest nucleus in the primate thalamus and contains extensive, reciprocal connections with visual cortex. Although the anatomical and functional organization of the pulvinar has been extensively studied in old and new world monkeys, little is known about the organization of the human pulvinar. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T, we identified two visual field maps within the ventral pulvinar, referred to as vPul1 and vPul2. Both maps contain an inversion of contralateral visual space with the upper visual field represented ventrally and the lower visual field represented dorsally. vPul1 and vPul2 border each other at the vertical meridian and share a representation of foveal space with iso-eccentricity lines extending across areal borders. Additional, coarse representations of contralateral visual space were identified within ventral medial and dorsal lateral portions of the pulvinar. Connectivity analyses on functional and diffusion imaging data revealed a strong distinction in thalamocortical connectivity between the dorsal and ventral pulvinar. The two maps in the ventral pulvinar were most strongly connected with early and extrastriate visual areas. Given the shared eccentricity representation and similarity in cortical connectivity, we propose that these two maps form a distinct visual field map cluster and perform related functions. The dorsal pulvinar was most strongly connected with parietal and frontal areas. The functional and anatomical organization observed within the human pulvinar was similar to the organization of the pulvinar in other primate species. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The anatomical organization and basic response properties of the visual pulvinar have been extensively studied in nonhuman primates. Yet, relatively little is known about the functional and anatomical organization of the human pulvinar. Using neuroimaging, we found multiple representations of visual space within the ventral human pulvinar and extensive topographically organized connectivity with visual cortex. This organization is similar to other nonhuman primates and provides additional support that the general organization of the pulvinar is consistent across the primate phylogenetic tree. These results suggest that the human pulvinar, like other primates, is well positioned to regulate corticocortical communication.
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