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A primary sensory cortical interareal feedforward inhibitory circuit for tacto-visual integration
Simon Weiler1, Vahid Rahmati2, Marcel Isstas3
1Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neuronal Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, 25 Howland Street, London, W1T 4JG, UK.
Nature Communications
|April 9, 2024
Summary
Mice use both touch and vision to explore objects. This study reveals that whisker stimulation suppresses visual activity in the primary visual cortex, demonstrating tacto-visual convergence for object detection.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory processing
- Multisensory integration
Background:
- Humans and animals often use both tactile sensation and vision to explore objects.
- The mechanisms by which these sensory systems integrate information remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate tacto-visual convergence in mice.
- To explore how tactile information from whiskers influences visual processing in the primary visual cortex (VISp).
Main Methods:
- Used stereo photogrammetry for 3D whisker array reconstruction.
- Employed brain-wide anatomical tracing and functional connectivity analysis.
- Stimulated whisker arrays and recorded visually evoked activity in the VISp.
Main Results:
- Whisker stimulation suppressed visually evoked activity in a specific VISp sub-region.
- This tacto-visual region's visual representation overlapped with the whisker exploration space.
- Suppression was mediated by fast-spiking interneurons receiving input from the somatosensory cortex.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated functional convergence between tactile and visual sensory systems in mice.
- Identified a neural circuit for multisensory object detection and recognition involving the VISp and somatosensory cortex.
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