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Published on: January 10, 2019
The detection of visual contrast in the behaving mouse
Laura Busse1, Asli Ayaz, Neel T Dhruv
1UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK. laura.busse@cin.uni-tuebingen.de
Summary
Mice learned to detect visual contrast but their choices were influenced by reward history. A neural decoder outperformed mouse performance, suggesting suboptimal information use in the visual cortex.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Mice are increasingly used to study the neural circuits of the early visual system.
- Relating neural circuits to perception requires measuring visually guided behavior and its dependence on stimulus attributes like contrast.
Purpose of the Study:
- To train mice to detect visual contrast using operant conditioning.
- To investigate factors influencing mouse choices beyond visual contrast, such as reward value and trial history.
- To compare mouse behavioral performance with neural decoder predictions from primary visual cortex.
Main Methods:
- Operant conditioning and a two-alternative forced-choice task were used to train mice.
- Psychometric curves were generated to infer contrast sensitivity.
- A generalized linear model was employed to capture behavioral influences.
- Neural responses from the primary visual cortex were recorded during passive viewing.
Main Results:
- Mice achieved high performance in contrast detection after training.
- Choices were influenced by contrast, reward value, and recent trial outcomes.
- A generalized linear model accurately described these behavioral influences.
- A simple decoder applied to neural data outperformed the mice's behavioral performance.
Conclusions:
- Mice's visually guided behavior is influenced by factors beyond the immediate visual stimulus.
- The mouse visual cortex contains information that is potentially underutilized in guiding behavior.
- This study provides a framework for linking neural activity to behavior in mice.
