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Arousal dependent modulation of thalamo-cortical functional interaction
Iain Stitt1, Zhe Charles Zhou1,2, Susanne Radtke-Schuller1
1Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Nature Communications
|June 27, 2018
Summary
Fluctuations in brain arousal dynamically alter communication between the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and the LP/Pulvinar thalamus. This shift, measured via pupil-linked arousal, impacts visual processing network states.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Ongoing changes in arousal significantly impact sensory processing and behavior.
- The precise neural circuits mediating arousal's influence on brain function are not fully understood.
- Pupil-linked arousal serves as a non-invasive indicator of the brain's neuromodulatory tone.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how functional interactions between the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and the lateral posterior (LP)/Pulvinar thalamus are modulated by arousal fluctuations.
- To identify the specific oscillatory dynamics underlying these arousal-dependent changes in thalamo-cortical communication.
Main Methods:
- Utilized pupil-linked arousal as a measure of neuromodulatory tone.
- Analyzed oscillatory interactions between PPC and LP/Pulvinar during varying arousal states.
- Examined the effects of active visual exploration (saccadic eye movements) and naturalistic stimuli on thalamo-cortical network states.
Main Results:
- Found that pupil-linked arousal fluctuations correlate with altered PPC-LP/Pulvinar oscillatory interactions.
- Observed a shift in dominance: cortical alpha oscillations drive activity during low arousal, while LP/Pulvinar drives PPC in the theta band during high arousal.
- Demonstrated that saccadic eye movements and naturalistic video stimuli induce similar transitions in thalamo-cortical interaction patterns.
Conclusions:
- Neuromodulatory mechanisms dynamically shape thalamo-cortical functional interactions.
- These arousal-driven network state transitions are crucial for effective visual processing.
- The findings provide circuit-level insights into how arousal modulates sensory processing and behavior.
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