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Related Experiment Videos

A synaptic explanation of suppression in visual cortex.

Matteo Carandini1, David J Heeger, Walter Senn

  • 1Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland. matteo@ski.org

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|November 13, 2002
PubMed
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Thalamocortical synaptic depression, not intracortical inhibition, explains visual cortex (V1) neuron suppression. This synaptic mechanism accounts for V1 response properties, challenging existing theories.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Neuronal responses in the primary visual cortex (V1) are suppressed by mask stimuli.
  • This suppression is traditionally attributed to intracortical inhibition.
  • An alternative explanation is investigated, focusing on synaptic mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and test thalamocortical synaptic depression as an alternative explanation for V1 response suppression.
  • To determine if synaptic depression can account for various response properties of V1 neurons.
  • To challenge the prevailing view of intracortical inhibition mediating V1 suppression.

Main Methods:

  • Developing a theoretical model based on thalamocortical synaptic depression.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparing model predictions with experimental observations of V1 neuronal responses.
  • Analyzing the effects of mask stimuli on V1 neuronal activity.

    • Main Results:

    • Thalamocortical synaptic depression accurately predicts monocular suppression and resistance to cortical adaptation.
    • The model explains suppression by stimuli effective in the thalamus but not V1.
    • Synaptic depression accounts for response saturation and contrast invariance in selectivity.

    Conclusions:

    • Thalamocortical synaptic depression offers a parsimonious explanation for V1 response suppression.
    • Early synaptic mechanisms, rather than intracortical networks, may govern key V1 response properties.
    • This finding necessitates a re-evaluation of the role of initial synaptic events in cortical processing.