scholarly journals Sensory Processing Across Conscious and Nonconscious Brain States: From Single Neurons to Distributed Networks for Inferential Representation

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umberto Olcese ◽  
Matthijs N. Oude Lohuis ◽  
Cyriel M. A. Pennartz
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Distributed Networks ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
Brain States

scholarly journals Local cortical desynchronization and pupil-linked arousal differentially shape brain states for optimal sensory performance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonhard Waschke ◽  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Response Sensitivity ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Brain States ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
And Performance

AbstractInstantaneous brain states have consequences for our sensation, perception, and behaviour. Fluctuations in arousal and neural desynchronization likely pose perceptually relevant states. However, their relationship and their relative impact on perception is unclear. We here show that, at the single-trial level in humans, local desynchronization in sensory cortex (expressed as time-series entropy) versus pupil-linked arousal differentially impact perceptual processing. While we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry data, stimuli of a demanding auditory discrimination task were presented into states of high or low desynchronization of auditory cortex via a real-time closed-loop setup. Desynchronization and arousal distinctly influenced stimulus-evoked activity and shaped behaviour displaying an inverted u-shaped relationship: States of intermediate desynchronization elicited minimal response bias and fastest responses, while states of intermediate arousal gave rise to highest response sensitivity. Our results speak to a model in which independent states of local desynchronization and global arousal jointly optimise sensory processing and performance.

scholarly journals Visual evoked feedforward-feedback travelling waves organize neural activity across the cortical hierarchy in mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeeti Aggarwal ◽  
Connor Brennan ◽  
Jennifer Luo ◽  
Helen Chung ◽  
Diego Contreras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Traveling Waves ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Travelling Waves ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Distributed Networks ◽  
Association Cortex ◽  
Cortical Hierarchy ◽  
Visual Evoked

Sensory processing is distributed among many brain regions that interact via feedforward and feedback signaling. It has been hypothesized that neuronal oscillations mediating feedforward and feedback interactions organize into travelling waves. However, stimulus evoked travelling waves of sufficient spatial scale have never been demonstrated directly. Here, we show that simple visual stimuli reliably evoke two traveling waves with spatial wavelengths that cover much of the cerebral hemisphere in awake mice. 30-50Hz feedforward waves arise in primary visual cortex (V1) and propagate rostrally, while 3-6Hz feedback waves originate in the association cortex and flow caudally. The phase of the feedback wave modulates the amplitude of the feedforward wave and synchronizes firing between V1 and parietal cortex. Altogether, these results provide direct experimental evidence that visual evoked travelling waves percolate through the cerebral cortex and coordinate neuronal activity across broadly distributed networks mediating visual processing.

scholarly journals Local cortical desynchronization and pupil-linked arousal differentially shape brain states for optimal sensory performance

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonhard Waschke ◽  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Response Sensitivity ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Brain States ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
And Performance

Instantaneous brain states have consequences for our sensation, perception, and behaviour. Fluctuations in arousal and neural desynchronization likely pose perceptually relevant states. However, their relationship and their relative impact on perception is unclear. We here show that, at the single-trial level in humans, local desynchronization in sensory cortex (expressed as time-series entropy) versus pupil-linked arousal differentially impact perceptual processing. While we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry data, stimuli of a demanding auditory discrimination task were presented into states of high or low desynchronization of auditory cortex via a real-time closed-loop setup. Desynchronization and arousal distinctly influenced stimulus-evoked activity and shaped behaviour displaying an inverted u-shaped relationship: States of intermediate desynchronization elicited minimal response bias and fastest responses, while states of intermediate arousal gave rise to highest response sensitivity. Our results speak to a model in which independent states of local desynchronization and global arousal jointly optimise sensory processing and performance.

scholarly journals Brain States: Top-Down Influences in Sensory Processing

Neuron ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles D. Gilbert ◽  
Mariano Sigman
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Brain States

scholarly journals Feedback Determines the Structure of Correlated Variability in Primary Visual Cortex

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian G. Bondy ◽  
Ralf Haefner ◽  
Bruce G. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Task Instruction ◽  
Sensory Coding ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
V1 Neurons ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Visual Hierarchy

The variable responses of sensory neurons tend to be weakly correlated (spike-count correlation, rsc). This is widely thought to reflect noise in shared afferents, in which case rsc can limit the reliability of sensory coding. However, it could also be due to feedback from higher-order brain regions. Currently, the relative contribution of these sources is unknown. We addressed this by recording from populations of V1 neurons in macaques performing different discrimination tasks involving the same visual input. We found that the structure of rsc(the way rsc varied with neuronal stimulus preference) changed systematically with task instruction. Therefore, even at the earliest stage in the cortical visual hierarchy, rsc structure during task performance primarily reflects feedback dynamics. Consequently, previous proposals for how rsc constrains sensory processing need not apply. Furthermore, we show that correlations between the activity of single neurons and choice depend on feedback engaged by the task.

Extensive excitatory network interactions shape temporal processing of communication signals in a model sensory system

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofeng Ma ◽  
Tsunehiko Kohashi ◽  
Bruce A. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Sensory System ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
Local Network ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Excitatory Network

Many sensory brain regions are characterized by extensive local network interactions. However, we know relatively little about the contribution of this microcircuitry to sensory coding. Detailed analyses of neuronal microcircuitry are usually performed in vitro, whereas sensory processing is typically studied by recording from individual neurons in vivo. The electrosensory pathway of mormyrid fish provides a unique opportunity to link in vitro studies of synaptic physiology with in vivo studies of sensory processing. These fish communicate by actively varying the intervals between pulses of electricity. Within the midbrain posterior exterolateral nucleus (ELp), the temporal filtering of afferent spike trains establishes interval tuning by single neurons. We characterized pairwise neuronal connectivity among ELp neurons with dual whole cell recording in an in vitro whole brain preparation. We found a densely connected network in which single neurons influenced the responses of other neurons throughout the network. Similarly tuned neurons were more likely to share an excitatory synaptic connection than differently tuned neurons, and synaptic connections between similarly tuned neurons were stronger than connections between differently tuned neurons. We propose a general model for excitatory network interactions in which strong excitatory connections both reinforce and adjust tuning and weak excitatory connections make smaller modifications to tuning. The diversity of interval tuning observed among this population of neurons can be explained, in part, by each individual neuron receiving a different complement of local excitatory inputs.

scholarly journals Multiple mechanisms link prestimulus neural oscillations to sensory responses

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Iemi ◽  
Niko A Busch ◽  
Annamaria Laudini ◽  
Saskia Haegens ◽  
Jason Samaha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Baseline Shift ◽  
Brain States ◽  
Sensory Responses ◽  
Spontaneous Fluctuations ◽  
Aperiodic Signal

AbstractSpontaneous fluctuations of neural activity may explain why sensory responses vary across repeated presentations of the same physical stimulus. To test this hypothesis, we recorded electroencephalography in humans during stimulation with identical visual stimuli and analyzed how prestimulus neural oscillations modulate different stages of sensory processing reflected by distinct components of the event-related potential (ERP). We found that strong prestimulus alpha- and beta-band power resulted in a suppression of early ERP components (C1 and N150) and in an amplification of late components (after 0.4 s), even after controlling for fluctuations in 1/f aperiodic signal and sleepiness. Whereas functional inhibition of sensory processing underlies the reduction of early ERP responses, we found that the modulation of non-zero-mean oscillations (baseline shift) accounted for the amplification of late responses. Distinguishing between these two mechanisms is crucial for understanding how internal brain states modulate the processing of incoming sensory information.

scholarly journals Multiple mechanisms link prestimulus neural oscillations to sensory responses

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Iemi ◽  
Niko A Busch ◽  
Annamaria Laudini ◽  
Saskia Haegens ◽  
Jason Samaha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Baseline Shift ◽  
Brain States ◽  
Sensory Responses ◽  
Spontaneous Fluctuations ◽  
Aperiodic Signal

Spontaneous fluctuations of neural activity may explain why sensory responses vary across repeated presentations of the same physical stimulus. To test this hypothesis, we recorded electroencephalography in humans during stimulation with identical visual stimuli and analyzed how prestimulus neural oscillations modulate different stages of sensory processing reflected by distinct components of the event-related potential (ERP). We found that strong prestimulus alpha- and beta-band power resulted in a suppression of early ERP components (C1 and N150) and in an amplification of late components (after 0.4 s), even after controlling for fluctuations in 1/f aperiodic signal and sleepiness. Whereas functional inhibition of sensory processing underlies the reduction of early ERP responses, we found that the modulation of non-zero-mean oscillations (baseline shift) accounted for the amplification of late responses. Distinguishing between these two mechanisms is crucial for understanding how internal brain states modulate the processing of incoming sensory information.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document