scholarly journals Functional organization of frontoparietal cortex in the marmoset investigated with awake resting-state fMRI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Hori ◽  
Justine C. Clery ◽  
David J. Schaeffer ◽  
Ravi S. Menon ◽  
Stefan Everling

Frontoparietal networks contribute to complex cognitive functions in humans and macaques such as working memory, attention, task-switching, response suppression, grasping, reaching, and eye movement control. However, little is known about the organization of frontoparietal networks in the New World common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) which is now widely recognized as a powerful nonhuman primate experimental animal. In this study, we employed hierarchical clustering of interareal BOLD signals to investigate the hypothesis that the organization of the frontoparietal cortex in the marmoset follows the organizational principles of the macaque frontoparietal system. We found that the posterior part of the lateral frontal cortex (premotor regions) was functionally connected to the anterior parietal areas while more anterior frontal regions (frontal eye field (FEF)) were connected to more posterior parietal areas (the area around lateral intraparietal area (LIP)). These overarching patterns of inter-areal organization are consistent with a recent macaque study. These findings demonstrate parallel frontoparietal processing streams in marmosets and support the functional homologies of FEF-LIP and premotor-anterior parietal pathways between marmoset and macaque.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Hori ◽  
Justine C Cléry ◽  
David J Schaeffer ◽  
Ravi S Menon ◽  
Stefan Everling

Abstract Frontoparietal networks contribute to complex cognitive functions in humans and macaques, such as working memory, attention, task-switching, response suppression, grasping, reaching, and eye movement control. However, there has been no comprehensive examination of the functional organization of frontoparietal networks using functional magnetic resonance imaging in the New World common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus), which is now widely recognized as a powerful nonhuman primate experimental animal. In this study, we employed hierarchical clustering of interareal blood oxygen level–dependent signals to investigate the hypothesis that the organization of the frontoparietal cortex in the marmoset follows the organizational principles of the macaque frontoparietal system. We found that the posterior part of the lateral frontal cortex (premotor regions) was functionally connected to the anterior parietal areas, while more anterior frontal regions (frontal eye field [FEF]) were connected to more posterior parietal areas (the region around the lateral intraparietal area [LIP]). These overarching patterns of interareal organization are consistent with a recent macaque study. These findings demonstrate parallel frontoparietal processing streams in marmosets and support the functional similarities of FEF–LIP and premotor–anterior parietal pathways between marmoset and macaque.


2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 796-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Peng ◽  
Margaret E. Sereno ◽  
Amanda K. Silva ◽  
Sidney R. Lehky ◽  
Anne B. Sereno

Previous neurophysiological studies of the frontal eye field (FEF) in monkeys have focused on its role in saccade target selection and gaze shift control. It has been argued that FEF neurons indicate the locations of behaviorally significant visual stimuli and are not inherently sensitive to specific features of the visual stimuli per se. Here, for the first time, we directly examined single cell responses to simple, two-dimensional shapes and found that shape selectivity exists in a substantial number of FEF cells during a passive fixation task or during the sample, delay (memory), and eye movement periods in a delayed match to sample (DMTS) task. Our data demonstrate that FEF neurons show sensory and mnemonic selectivity for stimulus shape features whether or not they are behaviorally significant for the task at hand. We also investigated the extent and localization of activation in the FEF using a variety of shape stimuli defined by static or dynamic cues employing functional magentic resonance imaging (fMRI) in anesthetized and paralyzed monkeys. Our fMRI results support the electrophysiological findings by showing significant FEF activation for a variety of shape stimuli and cues in the absence of attentional and motor processing. This shape selectivity in FEF is comparable to previous reports in the ventral pathway, inviting a reconsideration of the functional organization of the visual system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janahan Selvanayagam ◽  
Kevin D. Johnston ◽  
David J. Schaeffer ◽  
Lauren K. Hayrynen ◽  
Stefan Everling

AbstractThe frontal eye field (FEF) is a critical region for the deployment of overt and covert spatial attention. While investigations in the macaque continue to provide insight into the neural underpinnings of the FEF, due to its location within a sulcus the macaque FEF is virtually inaccessible to electrophysiological techniques such as high-density and laminar recordings. With a largely lissencephalic cortex, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a promising alternative primate model for studying FEF microcircuitry. Putative homologies have been established with the macaque FEF on the basis of cytoarchitecture and connectivity, however physiological investigation in awake, behaving marmosets is necessary to physiologically locate this area. Here we addressed this gap using intracortical microstimulation in a broad range of frontal cortical areas in marmosets. We implanted marmosets with 96-channel Utah arrays and applied microstimulation trains while they freely viewed video clips. We evoked short-latency fixed vector saccades at low currents (<50 μA) in areas 45, 8aV, 8C and 6DR. We observed a topography of saccade direction and amplitude consistent with findings in macaques and humans; we observed small saccades in ventrolateral FEF and large saccades combined with contralateral neck and shoulder movements encoded in dorsomedial FEF. Our data provide compelling evidence supporting homology between marmoset and macaque FEF and suggest the marmoset is a useful primate model for investigating FEF microcircuitry and its contributions to oculomotor and cognitive functions.Significance StatementThe frontal eye field (FEF) is a critical cortical region for overt and covert spatial attention. The microcircuitry of this area remains poorly understood, as in the macaque, the most commonly used model, it is embedded within a sulcus and is inaccessible to modern electrophysiological and optical imaging techniques. The common marmoset is a promising alternative primate model due to its lissencephalic cortex and potential for genetic manipulation. However, evidence for homologous cortical areas in this model remains limited and unclear. Here we applied microstimulation in frontal cortical areas in marmosets to physiologically identify the FEF. Our results provide compelling evidence for a frontal eye field in the marmoset, and suggest that the marmoset is a useful model for FEF microcircuitry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Aussel ◽  
Ian C. Fiebelkorn ◽  
Sabine Kastner ◽  
Nancy J. Kopell ◽  
Benjamin R. Pittman-Polletta

AbstractEven during sustained attention, enhanced processing of attended stimuli waxes and wanes rhythmically, with periods of enhanced and relatively diminished visual processing (and hit rates) alternating at 4 or 8 Hz in a sustained visual attention task. These alternating attentional states occur alongside alternating dynamical states, in which lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), the frontal eye field (FEF), and the mediodorsal pulvinar exhibit different activity and connectivity at α, β, and γ frequencies - rhythms associated with visual processing, working memory, and motor suppression. To assess whether and how these multiple interacting rhythms contribute to periodicity in attention, we propose a detailed computational model of FEF and LIP that reproduces the rhythmic dynamics and behavioral consequences of observed attentional states, when driven by θ-rhythmic inputs simulating experimentally-observed pulvinar activity. This model reveals that the frequencies and mechanisms of the observed rhythms optimize sensitivity in visual target detection while maintaining functional flexibility.


Author(s):  
Kaleb A. Lowe ◽  
Wolf Zinke ◽  
M. Anthony Phipps ◽  
Josh Cosman ◽  
Micala Maddox ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Dasilva ◽  
Christian Brandt ◽  
Marc Alwin Gieselmann ◽  
Claudia Distler ◽  
Alexander Thiele

Abstract Top-down attention, controlled by frontal cortical areas, is a key component of cognitive operations. How different neurotransmitters and neuromodulators flexibly change the cellular and network interactions with attention demands remains poorly understood. While acetylcholine and dopamine are critically involved, glutamatergic receptors have been proposed to play important roles. To understand their contribution to attentional signals, we investigated how ionotropic glutamatergic receptors in the frontal eye field (FEF) of male macaques contribute to neuronal excitability and attentional control signals in different cell types. Broad-spiking and narrow-spiking cells both required N-methyl-D-aspartic acid and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor activation for normal excitability, thereby affecting ongoing or stimulus-driven activity. However, attentional control signals were not dependent on either glutamatergic receptor type in broad- or narrow-spiking cells. A further subdivision of cell types into different functional types using cluster-analysis based on spike waveforms and spiking characteristics did not change the conclusions. This can be explained by a model where local blockade of specific ionotropic receptors is compensated by cell embedding in large-scale networks. It sets the glutamatergic system apart from the cholinergic system in FEF and demonstrates that a reduction in excitability is not sufficient to induce a reduction in attentional control signals.


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