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Scaffei E, Mazziotti R, Conti E, Costanzo V, Calderoni S, Stoccoro A, Carmassi C, Tancredi R, Baroncelli L, Battini R. A Potential Biomarker of Brain Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot fNIRS Study in Female Preschoolers. Brain Sci 2023; 13:951. [PMID: 37371429 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13060951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a neurodevelopmental condition whose detection still remains challenging in young females due to the heterogeneity of the behavioral phenotype and the capacity of camouflage. The availability of quantitative biomarkers to assess brain function may support in the assessment of ASD. Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive and flexible tool that quantifies cortical hemodynamic responses (HDR) that can be easily employed to describe brain activity. Since the study of the visual phenotype is a paradigmatic model to evaluate cerebral processing in many neurodevelopmental conditions, we hypothesized that visually-evoked HDR (vHDR) might represent a potential biomarker in ASD females. We performed a case-control study comparing vHDR in a cohort of high-functioning preschooler females with ASD (fASD) and sex/age matched peers. We demonstrated the feasibility of visual fNIRS measurements in fASD, and the possibility to discriminate between fASD and typical subjects using different signal features, such as the amplitude and lateralization of vHDR. Moreover, the level of response lateralization was correlated to the severity of autistic traits. These results corroborate the cruciality of sensory symptoms in ASD, paving the way for the validation of the fNIRS analytical tool for diagnosis and treatment outcome monitoring in the ASD population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Scaffei
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Raffaele Mazziotti
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Eugenia Conti
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Valeria Costanzo
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Sara Calderoni
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Andrea Stoccoro
- Department of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, University of Pisa, 56100 Pisa, Italy
| | - Claudia Carmassi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Laura Baroncelli
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Roberta Battini
- IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Viale del Tirreno, 56128 Pisa, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56126 Pisa, Italy
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Parker PRL, Abe ETT, Leonard ESP, Martins DM, Niell CM. Joint coding of visual input and eye/head position in V1 of freely moving mice. Neuron 2022; 110:3897-3906.e5. [PMID: 36137549 PMCID: PMC9742335 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.08.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Visual input during natural behavior is highly dependent on movements of the eyes and head, but how information about eye and head position is integrated with visual processing during free movement is unknown, as visual physiology is generally performed under head fixation. To address this, we performed single-unit electrophysiology in V1 of freely moving mice while simultaneously measuring the mouse's eye position, head orientation, and the visual scene from the mouse's perspective. From these measures, we mapped spatiotemporal receptive fields during free movement based on the gaze-corrected visual input. Furthermore, we found a significant fraction of neurons tuned for eye and head position, and these signals were integrated with visual responses through a multiplicative mechanism in the majority of modulated neurons. These results provide new insight into coding in the mouse V1 and, more generally, provide a paradigm for investigating visual physiology under natural conditions, including active sensing and ethological behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip R L Parker
- Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Elliott T T Abe
- Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Emmalyn S P Leonard
- Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Dylan M Martins
- Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Cristopher M Niell
- Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
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Murphy AJ, Hasse JM, Briggs F. Physiological characterization of a rare subpopulation of doublet-spiking neurons in the ferret lateral geniculate nucleus. J Neurophysiol 2020; 124:432-442. [PMID: 32667229 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00191.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Interest in exploring homologies in the early visual pathways of rodents, carnivores, and primates has recently grown. Retinas of these species contain morphologically and physiologically heterogeneous retinal ganglion cells that form the basis for parallel visual information processing streams. Whether rare retinal ganglion cells with unusual visual response properties in carnivores and primates project to the visual thalamus and drive unusual visual responses among thalamic relay neurons is poorly understood. We surveyed neurophysiological responses among hundreds of lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons in ferrets and observed a novel subpopulation of LGN neurons displaying doublet-spiking waveforms. Some visual response properties of doublet-spiking LGN neurons, like contrast and temporal frequency tuning, were intermediate to those of X and Y LGN neurons. Interestingly, most doublet-spiking LGN neurons were tuned for orientation and displayed direction selectivity for horizontal motion. Spatiotemporal receptive fields of doublet-spiking neurons were diverse and included center/surround organization, On/Off responses, and elongated separate On and Off subregions. Optogenetic activation of corticogeniculate feedback did not alter the tuning or spatiotemporal receptive fields of doublet-spiking neurons, suggesting that their unusual tuning properties were inherited from retinal inputs. The doublet-spiking LGN neurons were found throughout the depth of LGN recording penetrations. Together these findings suggest that while extremely rare (<2% of recorded LGN neurons), unique subpopulations of LGN neurons in carnivores receive retinal inputs that confer them with nonstandard visual response properties like direction selectivity. These results suggest that neuronal circuits for nonstandard visual computations are common across a variety of species, even though their proportions vary.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Interest in visual system homologies across species has recently increased. Across species, retinas contain diverse retinal ganglion cells including cells with unusual visual response properties. It is unclear whether rare retinal ganglion cells in carnivores project to and drive similarly unique visual responses in the visual thalamus. We discovered a rare subpopulation of thalamic neurons defined by unique spike shape and visual response properties, suggesting that nonstandard visual computations are common to many species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison J Murphy
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.,Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
| | - J Michael Hasse
- Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York.,Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
| | - Farran Briggs
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.,Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.,Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York.,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
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