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Published on: June 23, 2023
An increase in spontaneous activity mediates visual habituation
Jae-Eun Kang Miller1, Bradley R Miller2, Darik A O'Neil3
1NeuroTechnology Center, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Division of Systems Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Spontaneous brain activity in the cerebral cortex increases during habituation to visual stimuli. This heightened activity accelerates learning and may help filter sensory information based on experience.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- The function of the brain's constant spontaneous activity is not well understood.
- Investigating the role of spontaneous activity in learning and sensory processing is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if spontaneous neural activity in the mouse primary visual cortex encodes learned experiences, specifically during visual habituation.
- To explore the relationship between spontaneous activity levels and the degree of habituation.
Main Methods:
- Chronic two-photon calcium imaging was used to measure neuronal population responses in the primary visual cortex of mice.
- Visual habituation to a specific oriented stimulus was employed as the learning paradigm.
- Two-photon optogenetic stimulation was used to manipulate spontaneous activity levels.
Main Results:
- Spontaneous activity increased across all orientation-selective neurons during habituation, reaching levels comparable to stimulus-evoked activity.
- The increase in spontaneous activity showed a strong correlation with the extent of habituation.
- Artificially boosting spontaneous activity accelerated the habituation process.
Conclusions:
- Cortical spontaneous activity is functionally linked to the process of habituation.
- Habituation may occur by reducing the discrepancy between spontaneous and stimulus-evoked neural activity.
- Baseline spontaneous activity could play a role in gating sensory information based on prior learning.
