scholarly journals Mechanisms that allow cortical preparatory activity without inappropriate movement

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy R. Darlington ◽  
Stephen G. Lisberger
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Null Space ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Specific Component ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Gain Enhancement ◽  
Pursuit System ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Visual Motor

AbstractWe reveal a novel mechanism that explains how preparatory activity can evolve in motor-related cortical areas without prematurely inducing movement. The smooth eye movement region of the frontal eye fields (FEFSEM) is a critical node in the neural circuit controlling smooth pursuit eye movement. Preparatory activity evolves in FEFSEM during fixation in parallel with an objective measure of visual-motor gain. We propose that the use of FEFSEM output as a gain signal allows for preparation to progress in the pursuit system without causing movement. We also show that preparatory modulation of firing rate in FEFSEM progresses in a way that predicts movement, providing evidence against the “movement-null” space hypothesis of how preparatory activity can progress without movement. Finally, there is partial reorganization of FEFSEM population activity between preparation and movement. We propose that this reorganization allows for a directionally non-specific component of preparatory visual-motor gain enhancement in the pursuit system.

scholarly journals Mechanisms that allow cortical preparatory activity without inappropriate movement

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy R Darlington ◽  
Stephen G Lisberger
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Null Space ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Specific Component ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Gain Enhancement ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Visual Motor

We reveal a novel mechanism that explains how preparatory activity can evolve in motor-related cortical areas without prematurely inducing movement. The smooth eye movement region of the frontal eye fields (FEFSEM) is a critical node in the neural circuit controlling smooth pursuit eye movement. Preparatory activity evolves in the monkey FEFSEM during fixation in parallel with an objective measure of visual-motor gain. We propose that the use of FEFSEM output as a gain signal rather than a movement command allows for preparation to progress in pursuit without causing movement. We also show that preparatory modulation of firing rate in FEFSEM predicts movement, providing evidence against the ‘movement-null’ space hypothesis as an explanation of how preparatory activity can progress without movement. Finally, there is a partial reorganization of FEFSEM population activity between preparation and movement that would allow for a directionally non-specific component of preparatory visual-motor gain enhancement in pursuit.

scholarly journals The Neural Basis for Response Latency in a Sensory-Motor Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 3055-3073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonyeol Lee ◽  
Timothy R Darlington ◽  
Stephen G Lisberger
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Motor Reaction ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Preparatory Activity

Abstract We seek a neural circuit explanation for sensory-motor reaction times. In the smooth eye movement region of the frontal eye fields (FEFSEM), the latencies of pairs of neurons show trial-by-trial correlations that cause trial-by-trial correlations in neural and behavioral latency. These correlations can account for two-third of the observed variation in behavioral latency. The amplitude of preparatory activity also could contribute, but the responses of many FEFSEM neurons fail to support predictions of the traditional “ramp-to-threshold” model. As a correlate of neural processing that determines reaction time, the local field potential in FEFSEM includes a brief wave in the 5–15-Hz frequency range that precedes pursuit initiation and whose phase is correlated with the latency of pursuit in individual trials. We suggest that the latency of the incoming visual motion signals combines with the state of preparatory activity to determine the latency of the transient response that controls eye movement. Impact statement The motor cortex for smooth pursuit eye movements contributes to sensory-motor reaction time through the amplitude of preparatory activity and the latency of transient, visually driven responses.

The Differential Diagnostic Technique: A Visual-Motor Projective Test: Further Research

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Weininger
Keyword(s):  
Objective Measure ◽  
Diagnostic Technique ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Projective Test ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Differential Diagnostic Technique

Within a wide variety of research settings and problems investigation the Differential Diagnostic Technique continues to indicate its usefulness as an objective measure of certain personality characteristics.

scholarly journals From Retrospective to Prospective: Integrated Value Representation in Frontal Cortex for Predictive Choice Behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kosuke Hamaguchi ◽  
Hiromi Takahashi-Aoki ◽  
Dai Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Choice Behavior ◽  
State Transition ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
The Past ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Action Value ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Different Sources

Animals must flexibly estimate the value of their actions to successfully adapt in a changing environment. The brain is thought to estimate action-value from two different sources, namely the action-outcome history (retrospective value) and the knowledge of the environment (prospective value). How these two different estimates of action-value are reconciled to make a choice is not well understood. Here we show that as a mouse learns the state-transition structure of a decision-making task, retrospective and prospective values become jointly encoded in the preparatory activity of neurons in the frontal cortex. Suppressing this preparatory activity in expert mice returned their behavior to a naive state. These results reveal the neural circuit that integrates knowledge about the past and future to support predictive decision-making.

scholarly journals Dynamical patterns underlying response properties of cortical circuits

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (140) ◽  
pp. 20170960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Keane ◽  
James A. Henderson ◽  
Pulin Gong
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Wave Pattern ◽  
External Stimulus ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Stimulus Strength ◽  
Population Response ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Response Properties

Recent experimental studies show cortical circuit responses to external stimuli display varied dynamical properties. These include stimulus strength-dependent population response patterns, a shift from synchronous to asynchronous states and a decline in neural variability. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying these response properties and explore how they are mechanistically related, we develop a neural circuit model that incorporates two essential features widely observed in the cerebral cortex. The first feature is a balance between excitatory and inhibitory inputs to individual neurons; the second feature is distance-dependent connectivity. We show that applying a weak external stimulus to the model evokes a wave pattern propagating along lateral connections, but a strong external stimulus triggers a localized pattern; these stimulus strength-dependent population response patterns are quantitatively comparable with those measured in experimental studies. We identify network mechanisms underlying this population response, and demonstrate that the dynamics of population-level response patterns can explain a range of prominent features in neural responses, including changes to the dynamics of neurons' membrane potentials and synaptic inputs that characterize the shift of cortical states, and the stimulus-evoked decline in neuron response variability. Our study provides a unified population activity pattern-based view of diverse cortical response properties, thus shedding new insights into cortical processing.

scholarly journals The neural basis for response latency in a sensory-motor behavior

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonyeol Lee ◽  
Timothy R. Darlington ◽  
Stephen G. Lisberger
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Preparatory Activity

AbstractWe seek a neural circuit explanation for sensory-motor reaction times. We have found evidence that two of three possible mechanisms could contribute to reaction times in smooth pursuit eye movements. In the smooth eye movement region of the frontal eye fields (FEFSEM), an area that causally affects the initiation of smooth pursuit eye movement, neural and behavioral latencies have significant trial-by-trial correlations that can account for 40% to 100% of the variation in behavioral latency. The amplitude of preparatory activity, which represents the motor system’s expectations for target motion, shows negative trial-by-trial correlations with behavioral latency and could contribute to the neural computation of reaction time. In contrast, the traditional “ramp-to-threshold” model is contradicted by the responses of many, but not all FEFSEM neurons. As evidence of neural processing that determines reaction time, the local field potential in FEFSEM includes a brief wave in the 5-15 Hz frequency range that precedes pursuit initiation and whose phase is correlated with the latency of pursuit in individual trials. We suggest that the latency of the incoming visual motion signals combines with the state of preparatory activity to determine the latency of the transient response that drives eye movement.

Direct Evidence for a Position Input to the Smooth Pursuit System

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 712-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Blohm ◽  
Marcus Missal ◽  
Philippe Lefèvre
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Position Error ◽  
Visual Axis ◽  
Velocity Error ◽  
Pursuit System ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Catch Up

When objects move in our environment, the orientation of the visual axis in space requires the coordination of two types of eye movements: saccades and smooth pursuit. The principal input to the saccadic system is position error, whereas it is velocity error for the smooth pursuit system. Recently, it has been shown that catch-up saccades to moving targets are triggered and programmed by using velocity error in addition to position error. Here, we show that, when a visual target is flashed during ongoing smooth pursuit, it evokes a smooth eye movement toward the flash. The velocity of this evoked smooth movement is proportional to the position error of the flash; it is neither influenced by the velocity of the ongoing smooth pursuit eye movement nor by the occurrence of a saccade, but the effect is absent if the flash is ignored by the subject. Furthermore, the response started around 85 ms after the flash presentation and decayed with an average time constant of 276 ms. Thus this is the first direct evidence of a position input to the smooth pursuit system. This study shows further evidence for a coupling between saccadic and smooth pursuit systems. It also suggests that there is an interaction between position and velocity error signals in the control of more complex movements.

scholarly journals Simultaneous electrophysiological recording and fiber photometry in freely behaving mice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amisha A Patel ◽  
Niall McAlinden ◽  
Keith Mathieson ◽  
Shuzo Sakata
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Electrophysiological Recording ◽  
Field Potentials ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Specific Population ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Cell Type Specific ◽  
Freely Behaving

AbstractIn vivo electrophysiology is the gold standard technique used to investigate sub-second neural dynamics in freely behaving animals. However, monitoring cell-type-specific population activity is not a trivial task. Over the last decade, fiber photometry based on genetically encoded calcium indicators has been widely adopted as a versatile tool to monitor cell-type-specific population activity in vivo. However, this approach suffers from low temporal resolution. Here, we combine these two approaches to monitor both sub-second field potentials and cell-type-specific population activity in freely behaving mice. By developing an economical custom-made system, and constructing a hybrid implant of an electrode and a fiber optic cannula, we simultaneously monitor artifact-free pontine field potentials and calcium transients in cholinergic neurons across the sleep-wake cycle. We find that pontine cholinergic activity co-occurs with sub-second pontine waves, called P-waves, during rapid eye movement sleep. Given the simplicity of our approach, simultaneous electrophysiological recording and cell-type-specific imaging provides a novel and valuable tool for interrogating state-dependent neural circuit dynamics in vivo.

scholarly journals Targeted photostimulation uncovers circuit motifs supporting short-term memory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayvon Daie ◽  
Karel Svoboda ◽  
Shaul Druckmann
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Stimulus Offset

AbstractShort-term memory is associated with persistent neural activity without sustained input, arising from the interactions between neurons with short time constants1,2. A variety of neural circuit motifs could account for measured neural activity3–7. A mechanistic understanding of the neural circuits supporting short-term memory requires probing network connectivity between functionally characterized neurons8. We performed targeted photostimulation of small (< 10) groups of neurons, while imaging the response of hundreds of other neurons9,10, in anterior-lateral motor cortex (ALM) of mice performing a delayed response task11. Mice were instructed with brief auditory stimuli to make directional movements (lick left or lick right), but only after a three second delay epoch. ALM contains neurons with delay epoch activity that is selective for left or right choices. Targeted photostimulation of groups of neurons during the delay epoch allowed us to observe the functional organization of population activity and recurrent interactions underlying short-term memory. These experiments revealed strong coupling between neurons sharing similar selectivity. Brief photostimulation of functionally related neurons produced changes in activity in sparse subpopulations of nearby neurons that persisted for several seconds following stimulus offset, far outlasting the duration of the perturbation. Photostimulation produced behavioral biases that were predictable based on the selectivity of the perturbed neuronal population. These results suggest that ALM contains multiple intercalated modules, consisting of recurrently coupled neurons, that can independently maintain persistent activity.

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