Dynamic shifts of visual receptive fields in cortical area MT by spatial attention

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1156-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilo Womelsdorf ◽  
Katharina Anton-Erxleben ◽  
Florian Pieper ◽  
Stefan Treue
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Cortical Area ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Area Mt ◽  
Visual Receptive Fields

scholarly journals Attention directed by expectations enhances receptive fields in cortical area MT

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey M. Ghose ◽  
David W. Bearl
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Area ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Area Mt

scholarly journals Role of Interneuron Diversity in the Cortical Microcircuit for Attention

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 2158-2182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calin I. Buia ◽  
Paul H. Tiesinga
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Cortical Area ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Biophysical Model ◽  
Testable Hypothesis ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Area V4 ◽  
Gamma Frequency ◽  
Feature Based

Receptive fields of neurons in cortical area V4 are large enough to fit multiple stimuli, making V4 the ideal place to study the effects of selective attention at the single-neuron level. Experiments have revealed evidence for stimulus competition and have characterized the effect thereon of spatial and feature-based attention. We developed a biophysical model with spiking neurons and conductance-based synapses. To account for the comprehensive set of experimental results, it was necessary to include in the model, in addition to regular spiking excitatory (E) cells, two types of interneurons: feedforward interneurons (FFI) and top-down interneurons (TDI). Feature-based attention was mediated by a projection of the TDI to the FFI, stimulus competition was mediated by a cross-columnar excitatory connection to the FFI, whereas spatial attention was mediated by an increase in activity of the feedforward inputs from cortical area V2. The model predicts that spatial attention increases the FFI firing rate, whereas feature-based attention decreases the FFI firing rate and increases the TDI firing rate. During strong stimulus competition, the E cells were synchronous in the beta frequency range (15–35 Hz), but with feature-based attention, they became synchronous in the gamma frequency range (35–50 Hz). We propose that the FFI correspond to fast-spiking, parvalbumin-positive basket cells and that the TDI correspond to cells with a double-bouquet morphology that are immunoreactive to calbindin or calretinin. Taken together, the model results provide an experimentally testable hypothesis for the behavior of two interneuron types under attentional modulation.

Area MT Neurons Respond to Visual Motion Distant From Their Receptive Fields

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 4156-4167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Zaksas ◽  
Tatiana Pasternak
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Area Mt ◽  
Mt Neurons ◽  
Stimulus Offset

Neurons in cortical area MT have localized receptive fields (RF) representing the contralateral hemifield and play an important role in processing visual motion. We recorded the activity of these neurons during a behavioral task in which two monkeys were required to discriminate and remember visual motion presented in the ipsilateral hemifield. During the task, the monkeys viewed two stimuli, sample and test, separated by a brief delay and reported whether they contained motion in the same or in opposite directions. Fifty to 70% of MT neurons were activated by the motion stimuli presented in the ipsilateral hemifield at locations far removed from their classical receptive fields. These responses were in the form of excitation or suppression and were delayed relative to conventional MT responses. Both excitatory and suppressive responses were direction selective, but the nature and the time course of their directionality differed from the conventional excitatory responses recorded with stimuli in the RF. Direction selectivity of the excitatory remote response was transient and early, whereas the suppressive response developed later and persisted after stimulus offset. The presence or absence of these unusual responses on error trials, as well as their magnitude, was affected by the behavioral significance of stimuli used in the task. We hypothesize that these responses represent top-down signals from brain region(s) accessing information about stimuli in the entire visual field and about the behavioral state of the animal. The recruitment of neurons in the opposite hemisphere during processing of behaviorally relevant visual signals reveals a mechanism by which sensory processing can be affected by cognitive task demands.

Area 17 lesions deactivate area MT in owl monkeys

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 399-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon H. Kaas ◽  
Leah A. Krubitzer
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Area Mt ◽  
Mt Neurons ◽  
Visual Hemifield ◽  
Cortex Area ◽  
Owl Monkeys ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
Visual Area Mt

AbstractThe middle temporal visual area, MT, is one of three major targets of the primary visual cortex, area 17, in primates. We assessed the contribution of area 17 connections to the responsiveness of area MT neurons to visual stimuli by first mapping the representation of the visual hemifield in MT of anesthetized owl monkeys with microelectrodes, ablating an electrophysiologically mapped part of area 17, and then immediately remapping MT. Before the lesions, neurons at recording sites throughout MT responded vigorously to moving slits of light and other visual stimuli. In addition, the relationship of receptive fields to recording sites revealed a systematic representation of the contralateral visual hemifield in MT, as reported previously for owl monkeys and other primates. The immediate effect of removing part of the retinotopic map in area 17 by gentle aspiration was to selectively deactivate the corresponding part of the visuotopic map in MT. Lesions of dorsomedial area 17 representing central and paracentral vision of the lower visual quadrant deactivated neurons in caudomedial MT formerly having receptive fields in the central and paracentral lower visual quadrant. Most neurons at recording sites throughout other parts of MT had normal levels of responsiveness to visual stimuli, and receptive-field locations that closely matched those before the lesion. However, neurons at a few sites along the margin of the deactivated zone of cortex had receptive fields that were slightly displaced from the region of vision affected by the lesion into other parts of the visual field, suggesting some degree of plasticity in the visual hemifield representation in MT. Subsequent histological examination of cortex confirmed that the lesions were confined to area 17 and the recordings were in MT. The results indicate that the visually evoked activity of neurons in MT of owl monkeys is highly dependent on inputs relayed directly or indirectly from area 17.

scholarly journals Resolving single cone inputs to visual receptive fields

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 967-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence C Sincich ◽  
Yuhua Zhang ◽  
Pavan Tiruveedhula ◽  
Jonathan C Horton ◽  
Austin Roorda
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Receptive Fields ◽  
Single Cone

Visual receptive fields of local intracortical potentials

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lohmann ◽  
R. Eckhorn ◽  
H.J. Reitboeck
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Receptive Fields
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