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Cortical response states for enhanced sensory discrimination
Diego A Gutnisky1,2, Charles Beaman1, Sergio E Lew1,3
1Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas, Houston, United States.
Elife
|December 24, 2017
Summary
Brain activity fluctuations impact behavior. A
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory coding
- Primate vision
Background:
- Neuronal responses fluctuate rapidly during wakefulness.
- The role of these fluctuations in behavioral accuracy is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how trial-by-trial changes in population neural responses affect sensory coding in V1.
- Determine the impact on perceptual performance.
Main Methods:
- Recorded neuronal activity in monkey V1.
- Analyzed population responses and their correlation with individual neuronal activity.
- Assessed the relationship between population activity states and perceptual accuracy.
Main Results:
- Individual neuronal responses varied, but many covaried with the local population.
- A 'low' population activity state correlated with lower evoked responses and variability.
- This 'low' state predicted higher perceptual accuracy, especially 200 ms before stimulus onset.
Conclusions:
- Enhanced perceptual discrimination is linked to a 'silent' population activity mode.
- This mode allows neurons to increase information extraction for better performance.
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