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Siegle JH, Jia X, Durand S, Gale S, Bennett C, Graddis N, Heller G, Ramirez TK, Choi H, Luviano JA, Groblewski PA, Ahmed R, Arkhipov A, Bernard A, Billeh YN, Brown D, Buice MA, Cain N, Caldejon S, Casal L, Cho A, Chvilicek M, Cox TC, Dai K, Denman DJ, de Vries SEJ, Dietzman R, Esposito L, Farrell C, Feng D, Galbraith J, Garrett M, Gelfand EC, Hancock N, Harris JA, Howard R, Hu B, Hytnen R, Iyer R, Jessett E, Johnson K, Kato I, Kiggins J, Lambert S, Lecoq J, Ledochowitsch P, Lee JH, Leon A, Li Y, Liang E, Long F, Mace K, Melchior J, Millman D, Mollenkopf T, Nayan C, Ng L, Ngo K, Nguyen T, Nicovich PR, North K, Ocker GK, Ollerenshaw D, Oliver M, Pachitariu M, Perkins J, Reding M, Reid D, Robertson M, Ronellenfitch K, Seid S, Slaughterbeck C, Stoecklin M, Sullivan D, Sutton B, Swapp J, Thompson C, Turner K, Wakeman W, Whitesell JD, Williams D, Williford A, Young R, Zeng H, Naylor S, Phillips JW, Reid RC, Mihalas S, Olsen SR, Koch C. Survey of spiking in the mouse visual system reveals functional hierarchy. Nature 2021; 592:86-92. [PMID: 33473216 PMCID: PMC10399640 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03171-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The anatomy of the mammalian visual system, from the retina to the neocortex, is organized hierarchically1. However, direct observation of cellular-level functional interactions across this hierarchy is lacking due to the challenge of simultaneously recording activity across numerous regions. Here we describe a large, open dataset-part of the Allen Brain Observatory2-that surveys spiking from tens of thousands of units in six cortical and two thalamic regions in the brains of mice responding to a battery of visual stimuli. Using cross-correlation analysis, we reveal that the organization of inter-area functional connectivity during visual stimulation mirrors the anatomical hierarchy from the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas3. We find that four classical hierarchical measures-response latency, receptive-field size, phase-locking to drifting gratings and response decay timescale-are all correlated with the hierarchy. Moreover, recordings obtained during a visual task reveal that the correlation between neural activity and behavioural choice also increases along the hierarchy. Our study provides a foundation for understanding coding and signal propagation across hierarchically organized cortical and thalamic visual areas.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Xiaoxuan Jia
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | | | - Sam Gale
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Nile Graddis
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Hannah Choi
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.,Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Amy Bernard
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Dillan Brown
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Nicolas Cain
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Linzy Casal
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Andrew Cho
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Timothy C Cox
- University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | - Kael Dai
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Daniel J Denman
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.,The University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - David Feng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Brian Hu
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ross Hytnen
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - India Kato
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Jerome Lecoq
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Arielle Leon
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Yang Li
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Fuhui Long
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kyla Mace
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Lydia Ng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kiet Ngo
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Kat North
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Jed Perkins
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - David Reid
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Sam Seid
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Ben Sutton
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jackie Swapp
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Rob Young
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hongkui Zeng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sarah Naylor
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - R Clay Reid
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Shawn R Olsen
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
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Kanashiro T, Ocker GK, Cohen MR, Doiron B. Attentional modulation of neuronal variability in circuit models of cortex. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28590902 PMCID: PMC5476447 DOI: 10.7554/elife.23978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Accepted: 05/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The circuit mechanisms behind shared neural variability (noise correlation) and its dependence on neural state are poorly understood. Visual attention is well-suited to constrain cortical models of response variability because attention both increases firing rates and their stimulus sensitivity, as well as decreases noise correlations. We provide a novel analysis of population recordings in rhesus primate visual area V4 showing that a single biophysical mechanism may underlie these diverse neural correlates of attention. We explore model cortical networks where top-down mediated increases in excitability, distributed across excitatory and inhibitory targets, capture the key neuronal correlates of attention. Our models predict that top-down signals primarily affect inhibitory neurons, whereas excitatory neurons are more sensitive to stimulus specific bottom-up inputs. Accounting for trial variability in models of state dependent modulation of neuronal activity is a critical step in building a mechanistic theory of neuronal cognition. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23978.001 The world around us is complex and our brains need to navigate this complexity. We must focus on relevant inputs from our senses – such as the bus we need to catch – while ignoring distractions – such as the eye-catching displays in the shop windows we pass on the same street. Selective attention is a tool that enables us to filter complex sensory scenes and focus on whatever is most important at the time. But how does selective attention work? Our sense of vision results from the activity of cells in a region of the brain called visual cortex. Paying attention to an object affects the activity of visual cortex in two ways. First, it causes the average activity of the brain cells in the visual cortex that respond to that object to increase. Second, it reduces spontaneous moment-to-moment fluctuations in the activity of those brain cells, known as noise. Both of these effects make it easier for the brain to process the object in question. Kanashiro et al. set out to build a mathematical model of visual cortex that captures these two components of selective attention. The cortex contains two types of brain cells: excitatory neurons, which activate other cells, and inhibitory neurons, which suppress other cells. Experiments suggest that excitatory neurons contribute to the flow of activity within the cortex, whereas inhibitory neurons help cancel out noise. The new mathematical model predicts that paying attention affects inhibitory neurons far more than excitatory ones. According to the model, selective attention works mainly by reducing the noise that would otherwise distort the activity of visual cortex. The next step is to test this prediction directly. This will require measuring the activity of the inhibitory neurons in an animal performing a selective attention task. Such experiments, which should be achievable using existing technologies, will allow scientists to confirm or disprove the current model, and to dissect the mechanisms that underlie visual attention. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23978.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatjana Kanashiro
- Program for Neural Computation, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.,Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.,Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, United States
| | - Gabriel Koch Ocker
- Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.,Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, United States.,Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, United States
| | - Marlene R Cohen
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, United States.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States
| | - Brent Doiron
- Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, United States.,Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, United States
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