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Dopamine Is Signaled by Mid-frequency Oscillations and Boosts Output Layers Visual Information in Visual Cortex
Daniel Zaldivar1, Jozien Goense2, Scott C Lowe3
1Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Max-Planck Ring 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; IMPRS for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Österbergstrasse 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
Current Biology : CB
|January 9, 2018
Summary
Dopamine enhances visual information processing in the brain. This neuromodulator boosts neural oscillations in specific frequency bands, improving information transfer from primary to higher visual areas.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Neural oscillations are fundamental to cortical information processing.
- The specific roles of different oscillation bands and neuromodulators like dopamine remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dopamine influences neural oscillations and information processing in the visual cortex.
- To determine if specific oscillation bands serve as markers for dopaminergic activity.
Main Methods:
- Recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) of anesthetized monkeys.
- Administered L-DOPA to mimic dopaminergic neuromodulation.
- Analyzed neural activity during spontaneous and movie-stimulated conditions.
Main Results:
- Dopaminergic neuromodulation increased LFP power in the 19-38 Hz band during spontaneous activity.
- Dopamine enhanced visual information encoding across all frequencies during movie stimulation.
- Information processing improvements were most notable in supragranular layers and the gamma (50-100 Hz) band.
Conclusions:
- Oscillations in the 19-38 Hz band can serve as a marker for dopaminergic neuromodulation.
- Dopamine strengthens information transmission from V1 to higher cortical areas, particularly via the gamma band.
- Identified novel mechanisms for dopamine's role in sensory information readout.
Keywords:
LFPsV1correlationscortical circuitscortical layersdopaminergic neuromodulationinformation theorylocal field potentialsnaturalistic visionprimary visual cortexMore Related Videos
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