scholarly journals Investigations on bottom-up and top-down processing in early visual cortex with high-resolution fMRI

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marquardt
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kok ◽  
Nicholas B. Turk-Browne

AbstractPerception can be cast as a process of inference, in which bottom-up signals are combined with top-down predictions in sensory systems. However, the source of these top-down predictions, especially when complex and multisensory, remains largely unknown. We hypothesised that the hippocampus — which rapidly learns arbitrary associations and has bidirectional connections with sensory systems — may be involved. We exposed humans to auditory cues predicting visual shapes, while measuring high-resolution fMRI signals in visual cortex and the hippocampus. Using multivariate reconstruction methods, we discovered a dissociation between these regions: representations in visual cortex were dominated by whichever shape was presented, whereas representations in the hippocampus (CA3 and subiculum, but not CA1) reflected only which shape was predicted by the cue. The strength of hippocampal predictions correlated across participants with the amount of expectation-related facilitation in visual cortex. These findings are consistent with the possibility that the hippocampus supplies predictions to sensory systems.


Author(s):  
Sunyoung Park ◽  
John T. Serences

Top-down spatial attention enhances cortical representations of behaviorally relevant visual information and increases the precision of perceptual reports. However, little is known about the relative precision of top-down attentional modulations in different visual areas, especially compared to the highly precise stimulus-driven responses that are observed in early visual cortex. For example, the precision of attentional modulations in early visual areas may be limited by the relatively coarse spatial selectivity and the anatomical connectivity of the areas in prefrontal cortex that generate and relay the top-down signals. Here, we used fMRI and human participants to assess the precision of bottom-up spatial representations evoked by high contrast stimuli across the visual hierarchy. Then, we examined the relative precision of top-down attentional modulations in the absence of spatially-specific bottom-up drive. While V1 showed the largest relative difference between the precision of top-down attentional modulations and the precision of bottom-up modulations, mid-level areas such as V4 showed relatively smaller differences between the precision of top-down and bottom-up modulations. Overall, this interaction between visual areas (e.g. V1 vs V4) and the relative precision of top-down and bottom-up modulations suggests that the precision of top-down attentional modulations is limited by the representational fidelity of areas that generate and relay top-down feedback signals.


2010 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. e380
Author(s):  
Tomoki Fukai ◽  
Nobuhiko Wagatsuma ◽  
Tobias C. Potjans ◽  
Markus Diesmann

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (41) ◽  
pp. 10499-10504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Yan ◽  
Li Zhaoping ◽  
Wu Li

Early sensory cortex is better known for representing sensory inputs but less for the effect of its responses on behavior. Here we explore the behavioral correlates of neuronal responses in primary visual cortex (V1) in a task to detect a uniquely oriented bar—the orientation singleton—in a background of uniformly oriented bars. This singleton is salient or inconspicuous when the orientation contrast between the singleton and background bars is sufficiently large or small, respectively. Using implanted microelectrodes, we measured V1 activities while monkeys were trained to quickly saccade to the singleton. A neuron’s responses to the singleton within its receptive field had an early and a late component, both increased with the orientation contrast. The early component started from the outset of neuronal responses; it remained unchanged before and after training on the singleton detection. The late component started ∼40 ms after the early one; it emerged and evolved with practicing the detection task. Training increased the behavioral accuracy and speed of singleton detection and increased the amount of information in the late response component about a singleton’s presence or absence. Furthermore, for a given singleton, faster detection performance was associated with higher V1 responses; training increased this behavioral–neural correlate in the early V1 responses but decreased it in the late V1 responses. Therefore, V1’s early responses are directly linked with behavior and represent the bottom-up saliency signals. Learning strengthens this link, likely serving as the basis for making the detection task more reflexive and less top-down driven.


Author(s):  
Fanhua Guo ◽  
Chengwen Liu ◽  
Chencan Qian ◽  
Zihao Zhang ◽  
Kaibao Sun ◽  
...  

AbstractAttention mechanisms at different cortical layers of human visual cortex remain poorly understood. Using submillimeter-resolution fMRI at 7T, we investigated the effects of top-down spatial attention on the contrast responses across different cortical depths in human early visual cortex. Gradient echo (GE) T2* weighted BOLD signal showed an additive effect of attention on contrast responses across cortical depths. Compared to the middle cortical depth, attention modulation was stronger in the superficial and deep depths of V1, and also stronger in the superficial depth of V2 and V3. Using ultra-high resolution (0.3mm in-plane) balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) fMRI, a multiplicative scaling effect of attention was found in the superficial and deep layers, but not in the middle layer of V1. Attention modulation of low contrast response was strongest in the middle cortical depths, indicating baseline enhancement or contrast gain of attention modulation on feedforward input. Finally, the additive effect of attention on T2* BOLD can be explained by strong nonlinearity of BOLD signals from large blood vessels, suggesting multiplicative effect of attention on neural activity. These findings support that top-down spatial attention mainly operates through feedback connections from higher order cortical areas, and a distinct mechanism of attention may also be associated with feedforward input through subcortical pathway.HighlightsResponse or activity gain of spatial attention in superficial and deep layersContrast gain or baseline shift of attention in V1 middle layerNonlinearity of large blood vessel causes additive effect of attention on T2* BOLD


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Chengwen Liu ◽  
chencan Qian ◽  
Zihao Zhang ◽  
Sheng He ◽  
...  

PROTEOMICS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 1600321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Vyatkina ◽  
Lennard J. M. Dekker ◽  
Si Wu ◽  
Martijn M. VanDuijn ◽  
Xiaowen Liu ◽  
...  

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