Showing papers on "Orientation column published in 2018"

Distributed network interactions and their emergence in developing neocortex.

Abstract: The principles governing the functional organization and development of long-range network interactions in the neocortex remain poorly understood. Using in vivo widefield and two-photon calcium imaging of spontaneous activity patterns in mature ferret visual cortex, we find widespread modular correlation patterns that accurately predict the local structure of visually evoked orientation columns several millimeters away. Longitudinal imaging demonstrates that long-range spontaneous correlations are present early in cortical development before the elaboration of horizontal connections and predict mature network structure. Silencing feedforward drive through retinal or thalamic blockade does not eliminate early long-range correlated activity, suggesting a cortical origin. Circuit models containing only local, but heterogeneous, connections are sufficient to generate long-range correlated activity by confining activity patterns to a low-dimensional subspace via multisynaptic short-range interactions. These results suggest that local connections in early cortical circuits can generate structured long-range network correlations that guide the formation of visually evoked distributed functional networks.

3D topology of orientation columns in visual cortex revealed by functional optical coherence tomography

Abstract: Orientation tuning is a canonical neuronal response property of six-layer visual cortex that is encoded in pinwheel structures with center orientation singularities. Optical imaging of intrinsic signals enables us to map these surface two-dimensional (2D) structures, whereas lack of appropriate techniques has not allowed us to visualize depth structures of orientation coding. In the present study, we performed functional optical coherence tomography (fOCT), a technique capable of acquiring a 3D map of the intrinsic signals, to study the topology of orientation coding inside the cat visual cortex. With this technique, for the first time, we visualized columnar assemblies in orientation coding that had been predicted from electrophysiological recordings. In addition, we found that the columnar structures were largely distorted around pinwheel centers: center singularities were not rigid straight lines running perpendicularly to the cortical surface but formed twisted string-like structures inside the cortex that turned and extended horizontally through the cortex. Looping singularities were observed with their respective termini accessing the same cortical surface via clockwise and counterclockwise orientation pinwheels. These results suggest that a 3D topology of orientation coding cannot be fully anticipated from 2D surface measurements. Moreover, the findings demonstrate the utility of fOCT as an in vivo mesoscale imaging method for mapping functional response properties of cortex in the depth axis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We used functional optical coherence tomography (fOCT) to visualize three-dimensional structure of the orientation columns with millimeter range and micrometer spatial resolution. We validated vertically elongated columnar structure in iso-orientation domains. The columnar structure was distorted around pinwheel centers. An orientation singularity formed a string with tortuous trajectories inside the cortex and connected clockwise and counterclockwise pinwheel centers in the surface orientation map. The results were confirmed by comparisons with conventional optical imaging and electrophysiological recordings.

Framing orientation selectivity.

Abstract: The ongoing debate on the neural basis of orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex continues.

A Model of Temporal Encoding of Stimulus Orientation by Neuronal Responses in the Primary Visual Cortex

Abstract: It has been shown experimentally that the stimulus orientation that elicits the optimal response in an orientation column in the primary visual cortex (area V1) undergoes rapid systemic changes that last 10–100 ms. These changes allow different orientation columns to encode information from multiple items in the visual space (the so-called temporal encoding). However, the mechanism of these changes is still unknown. In addition, most of the modern biophysical models are unable to reproduce these changes; the peak orientation of their responses is constant over time. In this paper, we suggest a method to improve the firing-rate ring model of the orientation hypercolumn by replacing the spatial symmetric distribution of local connections with a spatial anti-symmetric distribution. As a result, we obtained a more perfect model that is capable of reproducing such changes. Moreover, their amplitude is proportional to the extent of asymmetry in the spatial distribution of local connections.

Long-range order from local interactions: organization and development of distributed cortical networks

Abstract: The cortical networks that underlie behavior exhibit an orderly functional organization at local and global scales, which is readily evident in the visual cortex of carnivores and primates. Here, neighboring columns of neurons represent the full range of stimulus orientations and contribute to distributed networks spanning several millimeters. However, the principles governing functional interactions that bridge this fine-scale functional architecture and distant network elements are unclear, and the emergence of these network interactions during development remains unexplored. Here, by using in vivo wide-field and 2-photon calcium imaging of spontaneous activity patterns in mature ferret visual cortex, we find widespread and specific modular correlation patterns that accurately predict the local structure of visually-evoked orientation columns from the spontaneous activity of neurons that lie several millimeters away. The large-scale networks revealed by correlated spontaneous activity show abrupt 9fractures9 in continuity that are in tight register with evoked orientation pinwheels. Chronic in vivo imaging demonstrates that these large-scale modular correlation patterns and fractures are already present at early stages of cortical development and predictive of the mature network structure. Silencing feed-forward drive through either retinal or thalamic blockade does not affect network structure suggesting a cortical origin for this large-scale correlated activity, despite the immaturity of long-range horizontal network connections in the early cortex. Using a circuit model containing only local connections, we demonstrate that such a circuit is sufficient to generate large-scale correlated activity, while also producing correlated networks showing strong fractures, a reduced dimensionality, and an elongated local correlation structure, all in close agreement with our empirical data. These results demonstrate the precise local and global organization of cortical networks revealed through correlated spontaneous activity and suggest that local connections in early cortical circuits may generate structured long-range network correlations that underlie the subsequent formation of visually-evoked distributed functional networks.

Development of Intermodule Interactions in Field 18 in Kittens Reared in Different Visual Environments: Orientation Modules

Abstract: The primary visual cortex of mammals with well developed visual analyzers is characterized by functional modules whose postnatal development depends on a combination of internal genetic and external factors determined by the visual environment. Concordance in the operation of orientation columns in field 18 was studied with the aim of assessing the maturation of intermodular interactions in the visual cortex of kittens reared in conditions of rhythmic light stimulation at frequencies of 15 and 50 Hz (the RLS-15 and RLS-50 groups). Functional maps obtained by an optical mapping method using internal signals were used for correlation comparison of responses at different points of the cortex recorded in response to presentation of visual stimuli with different physical characteristics. The results were compared with those from control animals and kittens reared in complete darkness (the DARK group). Animals of the RLS-15 group showed significant decreases in the coefficient of correlation between the dynamics of the responses of neighboring orientation modules regardless of the distance between the modules concerned. Possible links between these impairments and the functions of interneuronal interactions in the visual cortex and the development of internal cortical rhythms are discussed.