Mouse V1 population correlates of visual detection rely on heterogeneity within neuronal response patterns

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Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the primary sensory cortex for the detection, discrimination and awareness of visual stimuli, but it is unknown how neuronal populations in this area process detected and undetected stimuli differently. Critical differences may reside in the mean strength of responses to visual stimuli, as reflected in bulk signals detectable in fMRI, EEG or MEG studies, or may be more subtly composed of differentiated activity of individual sensory neurons. Quantifying single-cell Ca²⁺ responses to visual stimuli recorded with in vivo 2-photon imaging, we found that visual detection correlates more strongly with population response heterogeneity rather than overall response strength. Moreover, neuronal populations showed consistencies in activation patterns across temporally spaced trials in association with hit responses, but not during non-detections. Contrary to models relying on temporally stable networks or bulk-signaling, these results suggest that detection depends on transient differentiation in neuronal activity within cortical populations.

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Jorrit S Montijn

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

For correspondence
j.s.montijn@uva.nl

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Pieter M Goltstein

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Cyriel MA Pennartz

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All experimental procedures were conducted with approval of the animal ethics committee of the University of Amsterdam (DED234). All animals were housed socially in enriched cages and received analgesia (buprenorfine) and anesthesia (isoflurane) during invasive operations to minimize suffering.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.