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Aging Affects Fine and Coarse Coding of Orientation Information in Macaque Primary Visual Cortex
Bing Zhang1, Zhengguo Gao2, Xuan Wang3
1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, PR China.
Neuroscience
|May 15, 2020
Summary
Aging impairs fine orientation coding in the brain. Neuronal recordings reveal reduced information in older monkeys, suggesting a mechanism for age-related vision decline.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Vision Science
- Aging Research
Background:
- Human visual function declines with age, particularly in processing orientation information.
- The underlying neuronal mechanisms for age-related deficits in visual perception remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuronal basis of age-related decline in orientation information coding.
- To compare the neural encoding of fine and coarse orientation differences between young and senescent monkeys.
Main Methods:
- In vivo extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in the primary visual cortex of young and senescent monkeys.
- Chernoff distance was used to quantify neuronal information coding for orientation differences.
- Neuronal correlations, including noise and signal correlations, were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Senescent monkeys showed significantly reduced Chernoff distance for fine orientation differences compared to young monkeys.
- Chernoff distance for coarse orientation coding was similar between age groups.
- Increased spontaneous and maximum evoked responses, along with higher noise and signal correlations, were observed in aging monkeys.
Conclusions:
- Aging impairs the efficiency of neuronal population coding for orientation information.
- Reduced coding efficiency for fine orientation differences may explain age-related deficits in human visual perception tasks.
- Altered neuronal activity and correlations contribute to age-related visual processing degradation.
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