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Related Concept Videos

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

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The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex....
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Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

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Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
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Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

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The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at...
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Vision01:24

Vision

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Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
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Visual System01:26

Visual System

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Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
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Variability: Analysis01:11

Variability: Analysis

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Measures of variability are statistical metrics that reveal the dispersion pattern within a dataset. They are pivotal in biostatistics, providing insights into the heterogeneity within health and biological data. Variability signifies the degree to which data points diverge from one another, helping researchers understand the potential range of values and associated uncertainty within the data.
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Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns
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Cortical state determines global variability and correlations in visual cortex.

Marieke L Schölvinck1, Aman B Saleem2, Andrea Benucci2

  • 1UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, United Kingdom, and marieke.scholvinck@esi-frankfurt.de.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 9, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Neural variability in the visual cortex (V1) is higher than in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Global fluctuations, influenced by cortical state, drive this variability and neuronal correlations.

Keywords:
brain statescerebral cortexneural populationsthalamusvision

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Neuronal responses in sensory cortex exhibit significant trial-to-trial variability.
  • Understanding the sources of this variability is crucial for deciphering neural computation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare neuronal variability between the primary visual cortex (V1) and its afferents in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN).
  • To identify the origins of increased variability in V1.
  • To investigate the role of cortical state in modulating neuronal variability and correlations.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of spike activity in V1 and LGN neurons of cats.
  • Measurement of spiking activity in large V1 populations.
  • Analysis of shared variability and pairwise correlations across neurons.
  • Assessment of the impact of cortical state (synchronized vs. desynchronized) on neural activity.

Main Results:

  • Neuronal variability is significantly higher in V1 compared to LGN.
  • A substantial portion of V1 variability is shared across neurons, reflecting global fluctuations.
  • These global fluctuations are dependent on cortical state, being more prominent in synchronized states.
  • Global fluctuations influence both single-neuron variability and pairwise correlations, irrespective of preferred orientation.

Conclusions:

  • Cortical state plays a critical role in regulating neuronal variability and network dynamics.
  • Global fluctuations are a major contributor to V1 variability and correlations.
  • Accounting for global fluctuations reconciles discrepancies in previous studies regarding neuronal variability and correlations.