scholarly journals Flexible circuit mechanisms for context-dependent song sequencing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic A Roemschied ◽  
Diego Armando Pacheco Pinedo ◽  
Elise C Ireland ◽  
Xinping Li ◽  
Max J Aragon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Motor Circuit ◽  
Male Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Sensory History ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Context Dependent

Many sequenced behaviors, including locomotion, reaching, and vocalization, are patterned differently in different contexts, enabling animals to adjust to their current environments. However, how contextual information shapes neural activity to flexibly alter the patterning of actions is not yet understood. Prior work indicates such flexibility could be achieved via parallel motor circuits, with differing sensitivities to sensory context [1, 2, 3]; instead we demonstrate here how a single neural pathway operates in two different regimes dependent on recent sensory history. We leverage the Drosophila song production system [4] to investigate the neural mechanisms that support male song sequence generation in two contexts: near versus far from the female. While previous studies identified several song production neurons [5, 6, 7, 8], how these neurons are organized to mediate song patterning was unknown. We find that male flies sing 'simple' trains of only one syllable or mode far from the female but complex song sequences consisting of alternations between modes when near to her. We characterize the male song circuit from the brain to the ventral nerve cord (VNC), and find that the VNC song pre-motor circuit is shaped by two key computations: mutual inhibition and rebound excitability [9] between nodes driving the two modes of song. Weak sensory input to a direct brain-to-VNC excitatory pathway (via pC2 brain and pIP10 descending neurons) drives simple song far from the female. Strong sensory input to the same pathway enables complex song production via simultaneous recruitment of P1a neuron-mediated disinhibition of the VNC song pre-motor circuit. Thus, proximity to the female effectively unlocks motor circuit dynamics in the correct sensory context. We construct a compact circuit model to demonstrate that these few computations are sufficient to replicate natural context-dependent song dynamics. These results have broad implications for neural population-level models of context-dependent behavior [10] and highlight that canonical circuit motifs [11, 12, 13] can be combined in novel ways to enable circuit flexibility required for dynamic communication.

scholarly journals Behavioral Triggers of Skin Conductance Responses and Their Neural Correlates in the Primate Amygdala

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1749-1754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Laine ◽  
Kevin M. Spitler ◽  
Clayton P. Mosher ◽  
Katalin M. Gothard
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sympathetic Arousal

The amygdala plays a crucial role in evaluating the emotional significance of stimuli and in transforming the results of this evaluation into appropriate autonomic responses. Lesion and stimulation studies suggest involvement of the amygdala in the generation of the skin conductance response (SCR), which is an indirect measure of autonomic activity that has been associated with both emotion and attention. It is unclear if this involvement marks an emotional reaction to an external stimulus or sympathetic arousal regardless of its origin. We recorded skin conductance in parallel with single-unit activity from the right amygdala of two rhesus monkeys during a rewarded image viewing task and while the monkeys sat alone in a dimly lit room, drifting in and out of sleep. In both experimental conditions, we found similar SCR-related modulation of activity at the single-unit and neural population level. This suggests that the amygdala contributes to the production or modulation of SCRs regardless of the source of sympathetic arousal.

scholarly journals Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1664) ◽  
pp. 1971-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jordan Price ◽  
Scott M. Lanyon ◽  
Kevin E. Omland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
New World ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Apparent Relationship ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Tropics

Birds in which both sexes produce complex songs are thought to be more common in the tropics than in temperate areas, where typically only males sing. Yet the role of phylogeny in this apparent relationship between female song and latitude has never been examined. Here, we reconstruct evolutionary changes in female song and breeding latitude in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), a family with both temperate and tropical representatives. We provide strong evidence that members of this group have moved repeatedly from tropical to temperate breeding ranges and, furthermore, that these range shifts were associated with losses of female song more often than expected by chance. This historical perspective suggests that male-biased song production in many temperate species is the result not of sexual selection for complex song in males but of selection against such songs in females. Our results provide new insights into the differences we see today between tropical and temperate songbirds, and suggest that the role of sexual selection in the evolution of bird song might not be as simple as we think.

scholarly journals Structure in Neural Activity during Observed and Executed Movements Is Shared at the Neural Population Level, Not in Single Neurons

Cell Reports ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 108006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiyuan Jiang ◽  
Hemant Saggar ◽  
Stephen I. Ryu ◽  
Krishna V. Shenoy ◽  
Jonathan C. Kao
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Single Neurons

scholarly journals Stimulus Feature-Specific Information Flow Along the Columnar Cortical Microcircuit Revealed by Multivariate Laminar Spiking Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Tovar ◽  
Jacob A. Westerberg ◽  
Michele A. Cox ◽  
Kacie Dougherty ◽  
Thomas A. Carlson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Granular Cell ◽  
Stimulus Orientation ◽  
Specific Information

Most of the mammalian neocortex is comprised of a highly similar anatomical structure, consisting of a granular cell layer between superficial and deep layers. Even so, different cortical areas process different information. Taken together, this suggests that cortex features a canonical functional microcircuit that supports region-specific information processing. For example, the primate primary visual cortex (V1) combines the two eyes' signals, extracts stimulus orientation, and integrates contextual information such as visual stimulation history. These processes co-occur during the same laminar stimulation sequence that is triggered by the onset of visual stimuli. Yet, we still know little regarding the laminar processing differences that are specific to each of these types of stimulus information. Univariate analysis techniques have provided great insight by examining one electrode at a time or by studying average responses across multiple electrodes. Here we focus on multivariate statistics to examine response patterns across electrodes instead. Specifically, we applied multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to linear multielectrode array recordings of laminar spiking responses to decode information regarding the eye-of-origin, stimulus orientation, and stimulus repetition. MVPA differs from conventional univariate approaches in that it examines patterns of neural activity across simultaneously recorded electrode sites. We were curious whether this added dimensionality could reveal neural processes on the population level that are challenging to detect when measuring brain activity without the context of neighboring recording sites. We found that eye-of-origin information was decodable for the entire duration of stimulus presentation, but diminished in the deepest layers of V1. Conversely, orientation information was transient and equally pronounced along all layers. More importantly, using time-resolved MVPA, we were able to evaluate laminar response properties beyond those yielded by univariate analyses. Specifically, we performed a time generalization analysis by training a classifier at one point of the neural response and testing its performance throughout the remaining period of stimulation. Using this technique, we demonstrate repeating (reverberating) patterns of neural activity that have not previously been observed using standard univariate approaches.

scholarly journals Neural populations in human posteromedial cortex display opposing responses during memory and numerical processing

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (38) ◽  
pp. 15514-15519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett L. Foster ◽  
Mohammad Dastjerdi ◽  
Josef Parvizi
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Signal Trial ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Numerical Processing ◽  
Neuroimaging Data

Our understanding of the human default mode network derives primarily from neuroimaging data but its electrophysiological correlates remain largely unexplored. To address this limitation, we recorded intracranially from the human posteromedial cortex (PMC), a core structure of the default mode network, during various conditions of internally directed (e.g., autobiographical memory) as opposed to externally directed focus (e.g., arithmetic calculation). We observed late-onset (>400 ms) increases in broad high γ-power (70–180 Hz) within PMC subregions during memory retrieval. High γ-power was significantly reduced or absent when subjects retrieved self-referential semantic memories or responded to self-judgment statements, respectively. Conversely, a significant deactivation of high γ-power was observed during arithmetic calculation, the duration of which correlated with reaction time at the signal-trial level. Strikingly, at each recording site, the magnitude of activation during episodic autobiographical memory retrieval predicted the degree of suppression during arithmetic calculation. These findings provide important anatomical and temporal details—at the neural population level—of PMC engagement during autobiographical memory retrieval and address how the same populations are actively suppressed during tasks, such as numerical processing, which require externally directed attention.

scholarly journals Population-Level Representation of a Temporal Sequence Underlying Song Production in the Zebra Finch

Neuron ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 866-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel A. Picardo ◽  
Josh Merel ◽  
Kalman A. Katlowitz ◽  
Daniela Vallentin ◽  
Daniel E. Okobi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Temporal Sequence ◽  
Song Production

scholarly journals Comparison of Shape Encoding in Primate Dorsal and Ventral Visual Pathways

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney R. Lehky ◽  
Anne B. Sereno
Keyword(s):  
Population Level ◽  
Shape Selectivity ◽  
Visual Pathways ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Inferotemporal Cortex ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Cortex ◽  
Dorsal Pathway ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Shape Encoding ◽  
High Level

Ventral and dorsal visual pathways perform fundamentally different functions. The former is involved in object recognition, whereas the latter carries out spatial localization of stimuli and visual guidance of motor actions. Despite the association of the dorsal pathway with spatial vision, recent studies have reported shape selectivity in the dorsal stream. We compared shape encoding in anterior inferotemporal cortex (AIT), a high-level ventral area, with that in lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), a high-level dorsal area, during a fixation task. We found shape selectivities of individual neurons to be greater in anterior inferotemporal cortex than in lateral intraparietal cortex. At the neural population level, responses to different shapes were more dissimilar in AIT than LIP. Both observations suggest a greater capacity in AIT for making finer shape distinctions. Multivariate analyses of AIT data grouped together similar shapes based on neural population responses, whereas such grouping was indistinct in LIP. Thus in a first comparison of shape response properties in late stages of the two visual pathways, we report that AIT exhibits greater capability than LIP for both object discrimination and generalization. These differences in the two visual pathways provide the first neurophysiological evidence that shape encoding in the dorsal pathway is distinct from and not a mere duplication of that formed in the ventral pathway. In addition to shape selectivity, we observed stimulus-driven cognitive effects in both areas. Stimulus repetition suppression in LIP was similar to the well-known repetition suppression in AIT and may be associated with the “inhibition of return” memory effect observed during reflexive attention.

scholarly journals Task-dependent recurrent dynamics in visual cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satohiro Tajima ◽  
Kowa Koida ◽  
Chihiro I. Tajima ◽  
Hideyuki Suzuki ◽  
Kazuyuki Aihara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Attractor Dynamics ◽  
Sensory Action ◽  
Sensory Cortices ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Perceptual Abilities ◽  
Background Input

AbstractThe capacity for flexible sensory-action association in animals has been related to context-dependent attractor dynamics outside the sensory cortices. Here we report a line of evidence that flexibly modulated attractor dynamics during task switching are already present in the higher visual cortex in macaque monkeys. With a nonlinear decoding approach, we can extract the particular aspect of the neural population response that reflects the task-induced emergence of bistable attractor dynamics in a neural population, which could be obscured by standard unsupervised dimensionality reductions such as PCA. The dynamical modulation selectively increases the information relevant to task demands, indicating that such modulation is beneficial for perceptual decisions. A computational model that features nonlinear recurrent interaction among neurons with a task-dependent background input replicates the key properties observed in the experimental data. These results suggest that the context-dependent attractor dynamics involving the sensory cortex can underlie flexible perceptual abilities.

scholarly journals In spoken word recognition the future predicts the past

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gwilliams ◽  
Tal Linzen ◽  
David Poeppel ◽  
Alec Marantz
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Acoustic Signal ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Long Timescales

AbstractSpeech is an inherently noisy and ambiguous signal. In order to fluently derive meaning, a listener must integrate contextual information to guide interpretations of the sensory input. While many studies have demonstrated the influence of prior context on speech perception, the neural mechanisms supporting the integration of subsequent context remain unknown. Using magnetoencephalography, we analysed responses to spoken words with a varyingly ambiguous onset phoneme, the identity of which is later disambiguated at the lexical uniqueness point1. Our findings suggest that primmary auditory cortex is sensitive to phonological ambiguity very early during processing — at just 50 ms after onset. Subphonemic detail is preserved in auditory cortex over long timescales, and re-evoked at subsequent phoneme positions. Commitments to phonological categories occur in parallel, resolving on the shorter time-scale of ~450 ms. These findings provide evidence that future input determines the perception of earlier speech sounds by maintaining sensory features until they can be integrated with top down lexical information.Significance statementThe perception of a speech sound is determined by its surrounding context, in the form of words, sentences, and other speech sounds. Often, such contextual information becomes available later than the sensory input. The present study is the first to unveil how the brain uses this subsequent information to aid speech comprehension. Concretely, we find that the auditory system supports prolonged access to the transient acoustic signal, while concurrently making guesses about the identity of the words being said. Such a processing strategy allows the content of the message to be accessed quickly, while also permitting re-analysis of the acoustic signal to minimise parsing mistakes.

scholarly journals The Left Angular Gyrus Is Causally Involved in Context-dependent Integration and Associative Encoding during Narrative Reading

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Francesca M. Branzi ◽  
Gorana Pobric ◽  
JeYoung Jung ◽  
Matthew A. Lambon Ralph
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Information Integration ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Line Context ◽  
On Line ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Left Angular Gyrus

Abstract The role of the left angular gyrus (AG) in language processing remains unclear. In this study, we used TMS to test the hypothesis that the left AG causally supports the processes necessary for context-dependent integration and encoding of information during language processing. We applied on-line TMS over the left AG to disrupt the on-line context-dependent integration during a language reading task, specifically while human participants integrated information between two sequentially presented paragraphs of text (“context” and “target” paragraphs). We assessed the effect of TMS on the left AG by asking participants to retrieve integrated contextual information when given the target condition as cue in a successive memory task. Results from the memory task showed that TMS applied over the left AG during reading impaired the formation of integrated context-target representation. These results provide the first evidence of a causal link between the left AG function, on-line information integration, and associative encoding during language processing.

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