scholarly journals A general decoding strategy explains the relationship between behavior and correlated variability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy M. Ni ◽  
Chengcheng Huang ◽  
Brent Doiron ◽  
Marlene R. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Change ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Population Responses ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Natural Vision ◽  
Perceptual Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Single Set

ABSTRACTIncreases in perceptual performance correspond to decreases in the correlated variability of sensory neuron responses. No sensory information decoding mechanism has yet explained this relationship. We hypothesize that when observers must respond to a stimulus change of any magnitude, decoders prioritize generality: a single set of neuronal weights to decode any stimulus response. Our mechanistic circuit model supports that a general decoding strategy explains the inverse relationship between perceptual performance and V4 correlated variability observed in two rhesus monkeys performing a visual attention task. Further, based on the recorded V4 population responses, a monkey’s decoding mechanism was more closely matched the more broad the range of stimulus changes used to compute a sensory information decoder. These results support that observers use a general sensory information decoding strategy based on a single set of decoding weights, capable of decoding neuronal responses to the wide variety of stimuli encountered in natural vision.

scholarly journals Simultaneous multi-area recordings suggest that attention improves performance by reshaping stimulus representations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Ruff ◽  
Marlene R. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Visual Neurons ◽  
Neuronal Mechanisms ◽  
Oculomotor Neurons ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractVisual attention dramatically improves subjects’ ability to see and also modulates the responses of neurons in every known visual and oculomotor area, but whether those modulations can account for perceptual improvements remains unclear. We measured the relationship between populations of visual neurons, oculomotor neurons, and behavior during detection and discrimination tasks. We found that neither of the two prominent hypothesized neuronal mechanisms underlying attention (which concern changes in information coding and the way sensory information is read out) provide a satisfying account of the observed behavioral improvements. Instead, our results are more consistent with the novel hypothesis that attention reshapes the representation of attended stimuli to more effectively influence behavior. Our results suggest a path toward understanding the neural underpinnings of perception and cognition in health and disease by analyzing neuronal responses in ways that are constrained by behavior and interactions between brain areas.

scholarly journals Indices of Heart Rate Variability and Performance During a Response-Conflict Task Are Differently Associated With ADHD and Autism

2021 ◽  
pp. 108705472097279
Author(s):  
Alessio Bellato ◽  
Iti Arora ◽  
Puja Kochhar ◽  
Chris Hollis ◽  
Madeleine J. Groom
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Response Conflict ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Accurate Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Comorbid Adhd ◽  
The Relationship

We investigated autonomic arousal, attention and response conflict, in ADHD and autism. Heart rate variability (HRV), and behavioral/electrophysiological indices of performance, were recorded during a task with low and high levels of response conflict in 78 children/adolescents (7–15 years old) with ADHD, autism, comorbid ADHD+autism, or neurotypical. ANOVA models were used to investigate effects of ADHD and autism, while a mediation model was tested to clarify the relationship between ADHD and slower performance. Slower and less accurate performance characterized ADHD and autism; however, atypical electrophysiological indices differently characterized these conditions. The relationship between ADHD and slower task performance was mediated by reduced HRV in response to the cue stimulus. Autonomic hypo-arousal and difficulties in mobilizing energetic resources in response to sensory information (associated with ADHD), and atypical electrophysiological indices of information processing (associated with autism), might negatively affect cognitive performance in those with ADHD+autism.

Birth Order and Perceptual Motor Performance

1977 ◽  
Vol 45 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1076-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. Bassett ◽  
Edward B. Blanchard ◽  
William F. Gayton ◽  
Kenneth L. Ozmon
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
First Graders ◽  
Perceptual Performance ◽  
Developmental Test ◽  
Perceptual Motor Performance ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Secondary Finding ◽  
Better Than

To examine the relationship between performance on the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and birth order, 578 first-graders were tested. Later-born children performed significantly better than did firstborns on specific subtests of the Frostig (Visual-motor Coordination and Figure-ground Perception). There was a significant interaction on Perceptual Constancy which indicated that later-born males performed significantly better than did firstborn males. A secondary finding was a r of .547, a stronger relationship between intelligence level and global perceptual performance than previously reported.

Effects of Depressed Mood Induction on Reasoning Performance

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 855-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A. Radenhausen ◽  
James M. Anker
Keyword(s):  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Neutral Stimulus ◽  
Induction Procedure ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Perceptual Performance ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Perceptual Measure ◽  
Mood Induction Procedure

The relationship between depressed mood, reasoning and perceptual performance was examined with 57 undergraduate volunteers. To intensify its effect, Velten's 1968 mood induction procedure was modified by having subjects hear a prerecording of each mood statement prior to saying it themselves. Also, midway through the experiment subjects completed an abbreviated mood induction to ensure continuation of the appropriate mood. Ratings of subjects' mood on a 13-point Likert scale before and after mood induction indicated the mood induction was effective. Subjects completed the reasoning measure of 48 syllogisms, and the perceptual measure involving identification of positive, negative, or neutral stimulus words presented tachistoscopically. “Depressed” individuals showed poorer reasoning performance of marginal significance than “elated” subjects. Mood induction did not appear to affect perceptual performance. Results are discussed in terms of the research on reasoning deficits in depression.

scholarly journals Pre-stimulus phase and amplitude regulation of phase-locked responses are maximized in the critical state

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur-Ervin Avramiea ◽  
Richard Hardstone ◽  
Jan-Matthis Lueckmann ◽  
Jan Bím ◽  
Huibert D Mansvelder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Model ◽  
Critical State ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Critical Dynamics ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Functional States ◽  
The Brain

Understanding why identical stimuli give differing neuronal responses and percepts is a central challenge in research on attention and consciousness. Ongoing oscillations reflect functional states that bias processing of incoming signals through amplitude and phase. It is not known, however, whether the effect of phase or amplitude on stimulus processing depends on the long-term global dynamics of the networks generating the oscillations. Here, we show, using a computational model, that the ability of networks to regulate stimulus response based on pre-stimulus activity requires near-critical dynamics—a dynamical state that emerges from networks with balanced excitation and inhibition, and that is characterized by scale-free fluctuations. We also find that networks exhibiting critical oscillations produce differing responses to the largest range of stimulus intensities. Thus, the brain may bring its dynamics close to the critical state whenever such network versatility is required.

scholarly journals Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability

2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 337-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy R. Mason ◽  
Rhys E. Green ◽  
Christine Howard ◽  
Philip A. Stephens ◽  
Stephen G. Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Ecological Traits ◽  
Population Responses ◽  
Climate Suitability ◽  
Species Responses ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Climate change is a major global threat to biodiversity with widespread impacts on ecological communities. Evidence for beneficial impacts on populations is perceived to be stronger and more plentiful than that for negative impacts, but few studies have investigated this apparent disparity, or how ecological factors affect population responses to climatic change. We examined the strength of the relationship between species-specific regional population changes and climate suitability trends (CST), using 30-year datasets of population change for 525 breeding bird species in Europe and the USA. These data indicate a consistent positive relationship between population trend and CST across the two continents. Importantly, we found no evidence that this positive relationship differs between species expected to be negatively and positively impacted across the entire taxonomic group, suggesting that climate change is causing equally strong, quantifiable population increases and declines. Species’ responses to changing climatic suitability varied with ecological traits, however, particularly breeding habitat preference and body mass. Species associated with inland wetlands responded most strongly and consistently to recent climatic change. In Europe, smaller species also appeared to respond more strongly, whilst the relationship with body mass was less clear-cut for North American birds. Overall, our results identify the role of certain traits in modulating responses to climate change and emphasise the importance of long-term data on abundance for detecting large-scale species’ responses to environmental changes.

scholarly journals The Question of Lag: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Conductor Gesture and Sonic Response in Instrumental Ensembles

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory D. Meals
Keyword(s):  
Group Performance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Outward Appearance ◽  
Instrumental Ensemble ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Wind Bands ◽  
Instrumental Ensembles ◽  
Orchestral Musicians ◽  
The Relationship

Group musical performance, especially large instrumental ensembles, present the outward appearance of an asymmetric, temporally immediate stimulus-response relationship between conductor and ensemble. Interestingly, anecdotal reports from both conductors and performers indicate a degree of variability in the timing of orchestral response to the conductor’s gestures. This observation is not present in anecdotal accounts of other instrumental ensemble settings, like wind bands, but commonplace occurrence among orchestral musicians indicates the potential presence of greater complexity in the observed relationship. This study investigates both the quality and quantity of temporal lag between conductor and ensemble in two common instrumental ensemble configurations – wind bands and orchestras – in an effort to describe the interplay present within conducted group performance. The findings indicate that the anecdotally identified lag is present within all ensemble types, and that it presents a flexible, dynamic temporal relationship between conductor and ensemble. Additionally, both the quantity and quality of lag values are significantly different between ensemble types, experience levels, and musical content. Several avenues for future research are identified, and confounds within the sampled ensembles are examined for their potential roles in the observed relationships.

scholarly journals Routing information flow by separate neural synchrony frequencies allows for “functionally labeled lines” in higher primate cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (25) ◽  
pp. 12506-12515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Bagher Khamechian ◽  
Vladislav Kozyrev ◽  
Stefan Treue ◽  
Moein Esghaei ◽  
Mohammad Reza Daliri
Keyword(s):  
Information Flow ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Spike Timing ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
High Gamma ◽  
Ventral Pathway ◽  
Visual Cortical

Efficient transfer of sensory information to higher (motor or associative) areas in primate visual cortical areas is crucial for transforming sensory input into behavioral actions. Dynamically increasing the level of coordination between single neurons has been suggested as an important contributor to this efficiency. We propose that differences between the functional coordination in different visual pathways might be used to unambiguously identify the source of input to the higher areas, ensuring a proper routing of the information flow. Here we determined the level of coordination between neurons in area MT in macaque visual cortex in a visual attention task via the strength of synchronization between the neurons’ spike timing relative to the phase of oscillatory activities in local field potentials. In contrast to reports on the ventral visual pathway, we observed the synchrony of spikes only in the range of high gamma (180 to 220 Hz), rather than gamma (40 to 70 Hz) (as reported previously) to predict the animal’s reaction speed. This supports a mechanistic role of the phase of high-gamma oscillatory activity in dynamically modulating the efficiency of neuronal information transfer. In addition, for inputs to higher cortical areas converging from the dorsal and ventral pathway, the distinct frequency bands of these inputs can be leveraged to preserve the identity of the input source. In this way source-specific oscillatory activity in primate cortex can serve to establish and maintain “functionally labeled lines” for dynamically adjusting cortical information transfer and multiplexing converging sensory signals.

scholarly journals Differential Involvement of the Anterior Cingulate and Primary Sensorimotor Cortices in Sensory and Affective Functions of Pain

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 1201-1210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Chih Kuo ◽  
Ruei-Jen Chiou ◽  
Keng-Chen Liang ◽  
Chen-Tung Yen
Keyword(s):  
Electric Shock ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Noxious Heat ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Laser Heat ◽  
Primary Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Fear Potentiated Startle ◽  
Dimensions Of Pain

The present study examined the role of neurons in different pain-related functions of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and primary sensorimotor cortex (SmI) by assessing their abilities to code different levels of noxious heat and activity changes evoked by classical fear conditioning involving electric shocks. Multiple single-unit activity was recorded with microwires implanted in the SmI and ACC of each rat. In the first set of experiments, the middle segment of the tail in each rat was irradiated with laser-heat pulses of various intensities. Neuronal responses in both the SmI and ACC increased with the intensity of the laser heat, although there was a significantly higher percentage of intensity-related units in the SmI. Furthermore, the stimulus–response curve of SmI ensemble activity had a steeper slope than that of the ACC. In the second set of experiments, rats were trained and tested on a conditioned fear-potentiated startle task in which a light was paired with an electric shock and, later, the startle response was elicited by a burst of noise in the presence or absence of light. A higher percentage of ACC units changed their neuronal responses to the conditioned stimulus after the light–shock pairing and the average activity change was also significantly stronger. Our results suggest that SmI neurons are better at coding laser-heat intensity than ACC neurons, whereas more ACC neurons are involved in conditioned fear associated with an electric shock than SmI neurons. These data provide evidence for differential contributions of the SmI and ACC to sensory and affective dimensions of pain.

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