scholarly journals Mesoscale correlation structure with single cell resolution during visual coding

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiyi Yu ◽  
Jeffrey N. Stirman ◽  
Christopher R. Dorsett ◽  
Spencer L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Correlation Structure ◽  
Visual Coding ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Higher Visual Areas

AbstractNeural circuitry represents sensory input with patterns of spiking activity. Across brain regions, initial representations are transformed to ultimately drive adaptive behavior. In mammalian neocortex, visual information is processed by primary visual cortex (V1) and multiple higher visual areas (HVAs). The interconnections of these brain regions, over which transformations can occur, span millimeters or more. Shared variability in spiking responses between neurons, called “noise correlations” (NCs), can be due to shared input and/or direct or indirect connectivity. Thus, NCs provide insight into the functional connectivity of neuronal circuits. In this study, we used subcellular resolution, mesoscale field-of-view two-photon calcium imaging to systematically characterize the NCs for pairs of layer 2/3 neurons across V1 and four HVAs (areas LM, LI, AL and PM) of mice. The average NCs for pairs of neurons within or across cortical areas were orders of magnitude larger than trial-shuffled control values. We characterized the modulation of NCs by neuron distance, tuning similarity, receptive field overlap, and stimulus type over millimeter scale distances in mouse visual cortex, within and across V1 and multiple HVAs. NCs were positively correlated with shared tuning and receptive field overlap, even across cortical areas and millimeter length scales. We compared the structure of these NCs to that of hypothetical networks to determine what network types can account for the results. We found that to reproduce the NC networks, neuron connectivity was regulated by both feature similarities and hub mechanism. Overall, these results revealed principles for the functional organization and correlation structure at the individual neuron level across multiple cortical areas, which can inform and constrain computational theories of cortical networks.

scholarly journals Representation of the Ipsilateral Visual Field by Neurons in the Macaque Lateral Intraparietal Cortex Depends on the Forebrain Commissures

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 2624-2633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Dunn ◽  
Carol L. Colby
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Spatial Updating ◽  
Split Brain ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Cortex

Our eyes are constantly moving, allowing us to attend to different visual objects in the environment. With each eye movement, a given object activates an entirely new set of visual neurons, yet we perceive a stable scene. One neural mechanism that may contribute to visual stability is remapping. Neurons in several brain regions respond to visual stimuli presented outside the receptive field when an eye movement brings the stimulated location into the receptive field. The stored representation of a visual stimulus is remapped, or updated, in conjunction with the saccade. Remapping depends on neurons being able to receive visual information from outside the classic receptive field. In previous studies, we asked whether remapping across hemifields depends on the forebrain commissures. We found that, when the forebrain commissures are transected, behavior dependent on accurate spatial updating is initially impaired but recovers over time. Moreover, neurons in lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP) continue to remap information across hemifields in the absence of the forebrain commissures. One possible explanation for the preserved across-hemifield remapping in split-brain animals is that neurons in a single hemisphere could represent visual information from both visual fields. In the present study, we measured receptive fields of LIP neurons in split-brain monkeys and compared them with receptive fields in intact monkeys. We found a small number of neurons with bilateral receptive fields in the intact monkeys. In contrast, we found no such neurons in the split-brain animals. We conclude that bilateral representations in area LIP following forebrain commissures transection cannot account for remapping across hemifields.

Artificial scotoma-induced perceptual distortions are orientation dependent and short lived

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRIS TAILBY ◽  
ANDREW METHA
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Test Stimulus ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Retinal Area ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Perceptual Distortions ◽  
Orientation Specificity ◽  
Dynamic Alteration

Conditioning human observers with an “artificial scotoma”—a small retinal area deprived of patterned stimulation within a larger area of dynamically textured noise—results in contractions and expansions of perceived space that are thought to reflect receptive-field changes among cells in the primary visual cortex (Kapadia et al., 1994). Here we show that one-dimensional counter-phase flickering grating patterns are also potent stimuli for producing artificial scotomata capable of altering three-element bisection ability analogous to those results reported earlier. Moreover, we found that the magnitude of the induced spatial distortions depends critically on the relative orientations of peri-scotomatous and test-stimulus spatial contrast. In addition, the perceptual distortions are found to be relatively short lived, decaying within 660 ms. The results support the hypothesis that artificial scotoma-induced perceptual distortions are generated by dynamic alteration of connection efficacy within a network linking cortical areas of similar orientation specificity, consistent with established anatomical and physiological results.

scholarly journals Characterization of Feedback Neurons in the High-Level Visual Cortical Areas That Project Directly to the Primary Visual Cortex in the Cat

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huijun Pan ◽  
Shen Zhang ◽  
Deng Pan ◽  
Zheng Ye ◽  
Hao Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Area 21A ◽  
High Level ◽  
Visual Cortical

Previous studies indicate that top-down influence plays a critical role in visual information processing and perceptual detection. However, the substrate that carries top-down influence remains poorly understood. Using a combined technique of retrograde neuronal tracing and immunofluorescent double labeling, we characterized the distribution and cell type of feedback neurons in cat’s high-level visual cortical areas that send direct connections to the primary visual cortex (V1: area 17). Our results showed: (1) the high-level visual cortex of area 21a at the ventral stream and PMLS area at the dorsal stream have a similar proportion of feedback neurons back projecting to the V1 area, (2) the distribution of feedback neurons in the higher-order visual area 21a and PMLS was significantly denser than in the intermediate visual cortex of area 19 and 18, (3) feedback neurons in all observed high-level visual cortex were found in layer II–III, IV, V, and VI, with a higher proportion in layer II–III, V, and VI than in layer IV, and (4) most feedback neurons were CaMKII-positive excitatory neurons, and few of them were identified as inhibitory GABAergic neurons. These results may argue against the segregation of ventral and dorsal streams during visual information processing, and support “reverse hierarchy theory” or interactive model proposing that recurrent connections between V1 and higher-order visual areas constitute the functional circuits that mediate visual perception. Also, the corticocortical feedback neurons from high-level visual cortical areas to the V1 area are mostly excitatory in nature.

scholarly journals Biological variation in the sizes, shapes and locations of visual cortical areas in the mouse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Waters ◽  
Eric Lee ◽  
Nathalie Gaudreault ◽  
Fiona Griffin ◽  
Jerome Lecoq ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Biological Variation ◽  
Measurement Noise ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Retinotopic Maps ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Cortical Visual Areas ◽  
Processing Of Visual Information

ABSTRACTVisual cortex is organized into discrete sub-regions or areas that are arranged into a hierarchy and serve different functions in the processing of visual information. In our previous work, we noted that retinotopic maps of cortical visual areas differed between mice, but did not quantify these differences or determine the relative contributions of biological variation and measurement noise. Here we quantify the biological variation in the size, shape and locations of 11 visual areas in the mouse. We find that there is substantial biological variation in the sizes of visual areas, with some visual areas varying in size by two-fold across the population of mice.

scholarly journals Development and Plasticity of Intra- and Intersensory Information Processing

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 780-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Polley ◽  
Andrea R. Hillock ◽  
Christopher Spankovich ◽  
Maria V. Popescu ◽  
David W. Royal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cortical Region ◽  
Anterior Ectosylvian Sulcus ◽  
Stable Mode ◽  
Competing Demands

The functional architecture of sensory brain regions reflects an ingenious biological solution to the competing demands of a continually changing sensory environment. While they are malleable, they have the constancy necessary to support a stable sensory percept. How does the functional organization of sensory brain regions contend with these antithetical demands? Here we describe the functional organization of auditory and multisensory (i.e., auditory-visual) information processing in three sensory brain structures: (1) a low-level unisensory cortical region, the primary auditory cortex (A1); (2) a higher-order multisensory cortical region, the anterior ectosylvian sulcus (AES); and (3) a multisensory subcortical structure, the superior colliculus (SC). We then present a body of work that characterizes the ontogenic expression of experience-dependent influences on the operations performed by the functional circuits contained within these regions. We will present data to support the hypothesis that the competing demands for plasticity and stability are addressed through a developmental transition in operational properties of functional circuits from an initially labile mode in the early stages of postnatal development to a more stable mode in the mature brain that retains the capacity for plasticity under specific experiential conditions. Finally, we discuss parallels between the central tenets of functional organization and plasticity of sensory brain structures drawn from animal studies and a growing literature on human brain plasticity and the potential applicability of these principles to the audiology clinic.

scholarly journals Intrinsic functional connectivity alterations of the primary visual cortex in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a seed-based resting-state fMRI study

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 204201882096029
Author(s):  
Yao Yu ◽  
Dong-Yi Lan ◽  
Li-Ying Tang ◽  
Ting Su ◽  
Biao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetic Retinopathy ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Intrinsic Functional Connectivity ◽  
The Right

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to investigate the differences in the intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of the primary visual cortex (V1), based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), between patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: In total, 26 patients (12 males, 14 females) with PDR and 26 HCs (12 males, 14 females), matched for sex, age, and education status, were enrolled in the study. All individuals underwent rs-fMRI scans. We acquired iFC maps and compared the differences between PDR patients and the HCs. Results: The PDR group had significantly increased FC between the left V1 and the right middle frontal gyrus (RMFG), and significantly reduced FC between the left V1 and the cuneus/calcarine/precuneus. In addition, the PDR patients had significantly increased FC between the right V1 and the right superior frontal gyrus (RSFG), and significantly reduced FC between the right V1 and the cuneus/calcarine/precuneus. The individual areas under the curve (AUCs) of FC values for the left V1 were as follows: RMFG (0.871, p < 0.001) and the cuneus/calcarine/precuneus (0.914, p < 0.001), while the AUCs of FC values for the right V1 were as follows: RSFG (0.895, p < 0.001) and the cuneus/calcarine/precuneus (0.918, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that, in PDR patients, altered iFC in distinct brain regions, including regions related to visual information processing and cognition. Considering the rise in the diabetes mellitus incidence rate and the consequences of PDR, the results could provide promising clues for exploring the neural mechanisms related to PDR and possible approaches for the early identification of PDR.

scholarly journals Organization of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in the mouse

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL KERSCHENSTEINER ◽  
WILLIAM GUIDO
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Retinal Projections ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the thalamus is the principal conduit for visual information from retina to visual cortex. Viewed initially as a simple relay, recent studies in the mouse reveal far greater complexity in the way input from the retina is combined, transmitted, and processed in dLGN. Here we consider the structural and functional organization of the mouse retinogeniculate pathway by examining the patterns of retinal projections to dLGN and how they converge onto thalamocortical neurons to shape the flow of visual information to visual cortex.

scholarly journals Uniformity, specificity and variability of corticocortical connectivity

2000 ◽  
Vol 355 (1393) ◽  
pp. 7-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus–C. Hilgetag ◽  
Simon Grant
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Cortical Area ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Global Features ◽  
Absolute Size ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Cortical Area ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Visual Cortical

In many studies of the mammalian brain, subjective assessments of connectivity patterns and connection strengths have been used to subdivide the cortex into separate but linked areas and to make deductions about the flow of information through the cortical network. Here we describe the results of applying statistical analyses to quantitative corticocortical connection data, and the conclusions that can be drawn from such quantitative approaches. Injections of the tracer WGA–HRP were made into different visual areas either side of the middle suprasylvian sulcus (MSS) in 11 adult cats. Retrogradely labelled cells produced by these injections were counted in selected coronal sections taken at regularly spaced intervals (1mm) through the entire visual cortex, and their cumulative sums and relative proportions in each of 16 recognized visual cortical areas were computed. The surface dimensions of these areas were measured in each cat, from contour lines made on enlarged drawings of the same sections. A total of 116149 labelled neurons were assigned to all visual cortical areas in the 11 cats, with 5212 others excluded because of their uncertain location. The distribution of relative connection strengths, that is, the percentage of labelled cells per cortical area, was evaluated using non–parametric cluster analyses and Monte Carlo simulation, and relationships between connection strength and area size were examined by linear regression. The absolute size of each visual cortical area was uniform across individual cats, whereas the strengths of connections between the same area pairs were extremely variable for injections in different animals. The overall distribution of labelling strengths for corticocortical connections was continuous and monotonic, rather than inherently clustered, with the highest frequencies presented by the absent (zero density) and the very–low–density connections. These two categories could not, on analytical grounds, be separated from each other. Thus it seems that any subjective description of corticocortical connectivity strengths by ordinal classes (such as ‘absent’,‘weak’,‘moderate’ or ‘strong’) imposes a categorization on the data, rather than recognizes a structure inherent in the data themselves. Despite the great variability of connections, similarities in the distribution profiles for the relative strengths of labelled cells in all areas could be used to identify clusters of different injection sites in the MSS. This supported the conclusion that there are four connectionally distinct subdivisions of this cortex, corresponding to areas 21a, PMLS and AMLS (in the medial bank) and to area PLLS (in the lateral bank). Even for tracer deposits in the same cortical subdivision, however, the strength of connections projecting to the site from other cortical areas varied greatly across injection in different individual animals. W e further demonstrated that, on average, the strength of connections originating from any given cortical area was positively and linearly correlated with the size of its surface dimensions. When analysed by specific injection site location, however, this relationship was shown to hold for the individual connections to the medial bank MSS areas, but not for connections leading to the lateral bank area. The data suggest that connectivity of the cat's visual cortex possesses a number of uniform global features, which are locally organized in such a way as to give each cortical area unique characteristics.

scholarly journals Novel childhood experience suggests eccentricity drives organization of human visual cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Gomez ◽  
Michael Barnett ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Retinal Eccentricity ◽  
Childhood Experience ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
Cortical Responses ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe functional organization of human high-level visual cortex, such as face and place-selective regions, is strikingly consistent across individuals. A fundamental, unanswered question in neuroscience is what dimensions of visual information constrain the development and topography of this shared brain organization? To answer this question, we scanned with fMRI a unique group of adults who, as children, engaged in extensive experience with a novel stimulus–Pokémon–which are dissimilar from other ecological categories such as faces and places along critical dimensions (foveal bias, rectilinearity, size, animacy) from. We find that experienced adults not only demonstrate distinct and consistent distributed cortical responses to Pokémon, but their activations suggest that it is the experienced retinal eccentricity during childhood that predicts the locus of distributed responses to Pokémon in adulthood. These data advance our understanding about how childhood experience and functional constraints shape the functional organization of the human brain.

scholarly journals Pulvinar Modulates Contrast Responses in the Visual Cortex as a Function of Cortical Hierarchy

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1068-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Oliveira Ferreira de Souza ◽  
Nelson Cortes ◽  
Christian Casanova
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Theoretical Data ◽  
Visual Neurons ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Cortical Hierarchy ◽  
Area 21A ◽  
Contrast Response Function ◽  
Contrast Response ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The pulvinar is the largest extrageniculate visual nucleus in mammals. Given its extensive reciprocal connectivity with the visual cortex, it allows the cortico-thalamocortical transfer of visual information. Nonetheless, knowledge of the nature of the pulvinar inputs to the cortex remains elusive. We investigated the impact of silencing the pulvinar on the contrast response function of neurons in 2 distinct hierarchical cortical areas in the cat (areas 17 and 21a). Pulvinar inactivation altered the response gain in both areas, but with larger changes observed in area 21a. A theoretical model was proposed, simulating the pulvinar contribution to cortical contrast responses by modifying the excitation-inhibition balanced state of neurons across the cortical hierarchy. Our experimental and theoretical data showed that the pulvinar exerts a greater modulatory influence on neuronal activity in area 21a than in the primary visual cortex, indicating that the pulvinar impact on cortical visual neurons varies along the cortical hierarchy.

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