Neural activity during generalized flash suppression in visual cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongmiao Zhang
PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256791
Author(s):  
Daichi Konno ◽  
Shinji Nishimoto ◽  
Takafumi Suzuki ◽  
Yuji Ikegaya ◽  
Nobuyoshi Matsumoto

The brain continuously produces internal activity in the absence of afferently salient sensory input. Spontaneous neural activity is intrinsically defined by circuit structures and associated with the mode of information processing and behavioral responses. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of spontaneous activity in the visual cortices of behaving animals remain almost elusive. Using a custom-made electrode array, we recorded 32-site electrocorticograms in the primary and secondary visual cortex of freely behaving rats and determined the propagation patterns of spontaneous neural activity. Nonlinear dimensionality reduction and unsupervised clustering revealed multiple discrete states of the activity patterns. The activity remained stable in one state and suddenly jumped to another state. The diversity and dynamics of the internally switching cortical states would imply flexibility of neural responses to various external inputs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yashar Zeighami ◽  
Sylvain Iceta ◽  
Mahsa Dadar ◽  
Mélissa Pelletier ◽  
Mélanie Nadeau ◽  
...  

1.AbstractBackgroundMetabolic disorders associated with obesity could lead to alterations in brain structure and function. Whether these changes can be reversed after weight loss is unclear. Bariatric surgery provides a unique opportunity to address these questions because it induces marked weight loss and metabolic improvements which in turn may impact the brain in a longitudinal fashion. Previous studies found widespread changes in grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) after bariatric surgery. However, findings regarding changes in spontaneous neural activity following surgery, as assessed with the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and regional homogeneity of neural activity (ReHo), are scarce and heterogenous. In this study, we used a longitudinal design to examine the changes in spontaneous neural activity after bariatric surgery (comparing pre- to post-surgery), and to determine whether these changes are related to cardiometabolic variables.MethodsThe study included 57 participants with severe obesity (mean BMI=43.1±4.3kg/m2) who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (SG), biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), scanned prior to bariatric surgery and at follow-up visits of 4 months (N=36), 12 months (N=29), and 24 months (N=14) after surgery. We examined fALFF and ReHo measures across 1022 cortical and subcortical regions (based on combined Schaeffer-Xiao parcellations) using a linear mixed effect model. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on T1-weighted images was also used to measure GM density in the same regions. We also used an independent sample from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to assess regional differences between individuals who had normal-weight (N=46) or severe obesity (N=46).ResultsWe found a global increase in the fALFF signal with greater increase within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, precuneus, inferior temporal gyrus, and visual cortex. This effect was more significant 4 months after surgery. The increase within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, temporal gyrus, and visual cortex was more limited after 12 months and only present in the visual cortex after 24 months. These increases in neural activity measured by fALFF were also significantly associated with the increase in GM density following surgery. Furthermore, the increase in neural activity was significantly related to post-surgery weight loss and improvement in cardiometabolic variables, such as insulin resistance index and blood pressure. In the independent HCP sample, normal-weight participants had higher global and regional fALFF signals, mainly in dorsolateral/medial frontal cortex, precuneus and middle/inferior temporal gyrus compared to the obese participants. These BMI-related differences in fALFF were associated with the increase in fALFF 4 months post-surgery especially in regions involved in control, default mode and dorsal attention networks.ConclusionsBariatric surgery-induced weight loss and improvement in metabolic factors are associated with widespread global and regional increases in neural activity, as measured by fALFF signal. These findings alongside the higher fALFF signal in normal-weight participants compared to participants with severe obesity in an independent dataset suggest an early recovery in the neural activity signal level after the surgery.


2020 ◽  
Vol 598 (17) ◽  
pp. 3727-3745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojing Zhao ◽  
Jian Ding ◽  
Huijun Pan ◽  
Shen Zhang ◽  
Deng Pan ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 529-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ajina ◽  
Holly Bridge

Damage to the primary visual cortex removes the major input from the eyes to the brain, causing significant visual loss as patients are unable to perceive the side of the world contralateral to the damage. Some patients, however, retain the ability to detect visual information within this blind region; this is known as blindsight. By studying the visual pathways that underlie this residual vision in patients, we can uncover additional aspects of the human visual system that likely contribute to normal visual function but cannot be revealed under physiological conditions. In this review, we discuss the residual abilities and neural activity that have been described in blindsight and the implications of these findings for understanding the intact system.


Perception ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 695-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph von Campenhausen ◽  
Jürgen Schramme

For 100 years Benham's top has been a popular device demonstrating pattern-induced flicker colours (PIFCs). Results of early and recent investigations on PIFCs are reported and show that the phenomenon originates in phase-sensitive lateral interactions of modulated neural activity in the retina followed by additional spatial interactions in the visual cortex behind the locus of binocular fusion. Colour matches with normal colour stimuli indicate that S/(M + L) opponent neurons are involved. Dichromats do not find matching stimuli for all PIFCs. PIFCs may become useful in medical diagnosis. The phenomenon is interpreted as a side effect of a neural mechanism providing colour constancy under normal stimulus conditions.


Eye and Brain ◽  
2014 ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Maier ◽  
Michele Cox ◽  
Kacie Dougherty ◽  
Brandon Moore ◽  
David Leopold

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 2559-2570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaharu Kinoshita ◽  
Hidehiko Komatsu

The perceived brightness of a surface is determined not only by the luminance of the surface (local information), but also by the luminance of its surround (global information). To better understand the neural representation of surface brightness, we investigated the effects of local and global luminance on the activity of neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of awake macaque monkeys. Single- and multiple-unit recordings were made from V1 while the monkeys were performing a visual fixation task. The classical receptive field of each neuron was identified as a region responding to a spot stimulus. Neural responses were assessed using homogeneous surfaces at least three times as large as the receptive field as stimuli. We first examined the sensitivity of neurons to variation in local surface luminance, while the luminance of the surround was held constant. The activity of a large majority of surface-responsive neurons (106/115) varied monotonically with changes in surface luminance; in some the dynamic range was over 3 log units. This monotonic relation between surface luminance and neural activity was more evident later in the stimulus period than early on. The effect of the global luminance on neural activity was then assessed in 81 of the surface-responsive neurons by varying the luminance of the surround while holding the luminance of the surface constant. The activity of one group of neurons (25/81) was unaffected by the luminance of the surround; these neurons appear to encode the physical luminance of a surface covering the receptive field. The responses of the other neurons were affected by the luminance of the surround. The effects of the luminances of the surface and the surround on the activities of 26 of these neurons were in the same direction (either increased or decreased), while the effects on the remaining 25 neurons were in opposite directions. The activities of the latter group of neurons seemed to parallel the perceived brightness of the surface, whereas the former seemed to encode the level of illumination. There were differences across different types of neurons with regard to the layer distribution. These findings indicate that global luminance information significantly modulates the activity of surface-responsive V1 neurons and that not only physical luminance, but also perceived brightness, of a homogeneous surface is represented in V1.


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