Brain without Bayes: Temporal dynamics of decision-making during form and motion perception by the laminar circuits of visual cortex

While there is a growing body of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence implicating a corpus of brain regions in value-based decision-making in humans, the limited temporal resolution of fMRI cannot address the relative temporal precedence of different brain regions in decision-making. To address this question, we adopted a computational model-based approach to electroencephalography (EEG) data acquired during a simple binary choice task. fMRI data were also acquired from the same participants for source localization. Post-decision value signals emerged 200 ms post-stimulus in a predominantly posterior source in the vicinity of the intraparietal sulcus and posterior temporal lobe cortex, alongside a weaker anterior locus. The signal then shifted to a predominantly anterior locus 850 ms following the trial onset, localized to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and lateral prefrontal cortex. Comparison signals between unchosen and chosen options emerged late in the trial at 1050 ms in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, suggesting that such comparison signals may not be directly associated with the decision itself but rather may play a role in post-decision action selection. Taken together, these results provide us new insights into the temporal dynamics of decision-making in the brain, suggesting that for a simple binary choice task, decisions may be encoded predominantly in posterior areas such as intraparietal sulcus, before shifting anteriorly.

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Interacting roles of lateral and medial Orbitofrontal cortex in decision-making and learning : A system-level computational model

10.1101/867515 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Bhargav Teja Nallapu ◽

Frédéric Alexandre

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Computational Model ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

System Level ◽

Interacting Networks ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

Experimental Findings

AbstractIn the context of flexible and adaptive animal behavior, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is found to be one of the crucial regions in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) influencing the downstream processes of decision-making and learning in the sub-cortical regions. Although OFC has been implicated to be important in a variety of related behavioral processes, the exact mechanisms are unclear, through which the OFC encodes or processes information related to decision-making and learning. Here, we propose a systems-level view of the OFC, positioning it at the nexus of sub-cortical systems and other prefrontal regions. Particularly we focus on one of the most recent implications of neuroscientific evidences regarding the OFC - possible functional dissociation between two of its sub-regions : lateral and medial. We present a system-level computational model of decision-making and learning involving the two sub-regions taking into account their individual roles as commonly implicated in neuroscientific studies. We emphasize on the role of the interactions between the sub-regions within the OFC as well as the role of other sub-cortical structures which form a network with them. We leverage well-known computational architecture of thalamo-cortical basal ganglia loops, accounting for recent experimental findings on monkeys with lateral and medial OFC lesions, performing a 3-arm bandit task. First we replicate the seemingly dissociate effects of lesions to lateral and medial OFC during decision-making as a function of value-difference of the presented options. Further we demonstrate and argue that such an effect is not necessarily due to the dissociate roles of both the subregions, but rather a result of complex temporal dynamics between the interacting networks in which they are involved.Author summaryWe first highlight the role of the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) in value-based decision making and goal-directed behavior in primates. We establish the position of OFC at the intersection of cortical mechanisms and thalamo-basal ganglial circuits. In order to understand possible mechanisms through which the OFC exerts emotional control over behavior, among several other possibilities, we consider the case of dissociate roles of two of its topographical subregions - lateral and medial parts of OFC. We gather predominant roles of each of these sub-regions as suggested by numerous experimental evidences in the form of a system-level computational model that is based on existing neuronal architectures. We argue that besides possible dissociation, there could be possible interaction of these sub-regions within themselves and through other sub-cortical structures, in distinct mechanisms of choice and learning. The computational framework described accounts for experimental data and can be extended to more comprehensive detail of representations required to understand the processes of decision-making, learning and the role of OFC and subsequently the regions of prefrontal cortex in general.

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Depth-resolved ultra-high field fMRI reveals feedback contributions to surface motion perception

10.1101/653626 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ingo Marquardt ◽

Peter De Weerd ◽

Marian Schneider ◽

Omer Faruk Gulban ◽

Dimo Ivanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Motion Perception ◽

High Field ◽

Depth Distribution ◽

Middle Layer ◽

Bold Response ◽

Ultra High Field ◽

Surface Motion ◽

Visual Hemifield ◽

Early Visual Cortex

AbstractHuman visual surface perception has neural correlates in early visual cortex, but the extent to which feedback contributes to this activity is not well known. Feedback projections preferentially enter superficial and deep anatomical layers, while avoiding the middle layer, which provides a hypothesis for the cortical depth distribution of fMRI activity related to feedback in early visual cortex. Here, we presented human participants uniform surfaces on a dark, textured background. The grey surface in the left hemifield was either perceived as static or moving based on a manipulation in the right hemifield. Physically, the surface was identical in the left visual hemifield, so any difference in percept likely was related to feedback. Using ultra-high field fMRI, we report the first evidence for a depth distribution of activation in line with feedback during the (illusory) perception of surface motion. Our results fit with a signal re-entering in superficial depths of V1, followed by a feedforward sweep of the re-entered information through V2 and V3, as suggested by activity centred in the middle-depth levels of the latter areas. This positive modulation of the BOLD signal due to illusory surface motion was on top of a strong negative BOLD response in the cortical representation of the surface stimuli, which depended on the presence of texture in the background. Hence, the magnitude and sign of the BOLD response to the surface strongly depended on background properties, and was additionally modulated by the presence or absence of illusory motion perception in a manner compatible with feedback. In summary, the present study demonstrates the potential of depth resolved fMRI in tackling biomechanical questions on perception that so far were only within reach of invasive animal experimentation.

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The role of human ventral visual cortex in motion perception

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awt214 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 136 (9) ◽

pp. 2784-2798 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Sharon Gilaie-Dotan ◽

Ayse P. Saygin ◽

Lauren J. Lorenzi ◽

Ryan Egan ◽

Geraint Rees ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Motion Perception

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Temporal dynamics of information content carried by neurons in the primary visual cortex

Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 19 ◽

10.7551/mitpress/7503.003.0135 ◽

2007 ◽

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Information Content ◽

Primary Visual Cortex ◽

Temporal Dynamics

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Early Visual Cortex Dynamics during Top–Down Modulated Shifts of Feature-Selective Attention

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00912 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 643-655 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Matthias M. Müller ◽

Mireille Trautmann ◽

Christian Keitel

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Time Course ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Behavioral Data ◽

Coherent Motion ◽

Neural Dynamics ◽

Early Visual Cortex ◽

Time Courses ◽

Feature Dimension

Shifting attention from one color to another color or from color to another feature dimension such as shape or orientation is imperative when searching for a certain object in a cluttered scene. Most attention models that emphasize feature-based selection implicitly assume that all shifts in feature-selective attention underlie identical temporal dynamics. Here, we recorded time courses of behavioral data and steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs), an objective electrophysiological measure of neural dynamics in early visual cortex to investigate temporal dynamics when participants shifted attention from color or orientation toward color or orientation, respectively. SSVEPs were elicited by four random dot kinematograms that flickered at different frequencies. Each random dot kinematogram was composed of dashes that uniquely combined two features from the dimensions color (red or blue) and orientation (slash or backslash). Participants were cued to attend to one feature (such as color or orientation) and respond to coherent motion targets of the to-be-attended feature. We found that shifts toward color occurred earlier after the shifting cue compared with shifts toward orientation, regardless of the original feature (i.e., color or orientation). This was paralleled in SSVEP amplitude modulations as well as in the time course of behavioral data. Overall, our results suggest different neural dynamics during shifts of attention from color and orientation and the respective shifting destinations, namely, either toward color or toward orientation.

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Eccentricity Mapping of the Human Visual Cortex to Evaluate Temporal Dynamics of Functional T1ρ Mapping

Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism ◽

10.1038/jcbfm.2015.94 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (7) ◽

pp. 1213-1219 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Hye-Young Heo ◽

John A Wemmie ◽

Casey P Johnson ◽

Daniel R Thedens ◽

Vincent A Magnotta

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

Visual Cortex ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Occipital Cortex ◽

Hemodynamic Response ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Blood Oxygenation ◽

Human Visual Cortex ◽

Tissue Metabolism ◽

Oxygenation Level

Recent experiments suggest that T1 relaxation in the rotating frame ( T1ρ) is sensitive to metabolism and can detect localized activity-dependent changes in the human visual cortex. Current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods have poor temporal resolution due to delays in the hemodynamic response resulting from neurovascular coupling. Because T1ρ is sensitive to factors that can be derived from tissue metabolism, such as pH and glucose concentration via proton exchange, we hypothesized that activity-evoked T1ρ changes in visual cortex may occur before the hemodynamic response measured by blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) contrast. To test this hypothesis, functional imaging was performed using BOLD, and ASL in human participants viewing an expanding ring stimulus. We calculated eccentricity phase maps across the occipital cortex for each functional signal and compared the temporal dynamics of T1ρ versus BOLD and ASL. The results suggest that T1ρ changes precede changes in the two blood flow-dependent measures. These observations indicate that T1ρ detects a signal distinct from traditional fMRI contrast methods. In addition, these findings support previous evidence that T1ρ is sensitive to factors other than blood flow, volume, or oxygenation. Furthermore, they suggest that tissue metabolism may be driving activity-evoked T1ρ changes.

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