1
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Topfstedt CE, Wollenberg L, Schenk T. Training enables substantial decoupling of visual attention and saccade preparation. Vision Res 2024; 221:108424. [PMID: 38744033 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2024.108424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Visual attention is typically shifted toward the targets of upcoming saccadic eye movements. This observation is commonly interpreted in terms of an obligatory coupling between attentional selection and oculomotor programming. Here, we investigated whether this coupling is facilitated by a habitual expectation of spatial congruence between visual and motor targets. To this end, we conducted a dual-task (i.e., concurrent saccade task and visual discrimination task) experiment in which male and female participants were trained to either anticipate spatial congruence or incongruence between a saccade target and an attention probe stimulus. To assess training-induced effects of expectation on premotor attention allocation, participants subsequently completed a test phase in which the attention probe position was randomized. Results revealed that discrimination performance was systematically biased toward the expected attention probe position, irrespective of whether this position matched the saccade target or not. Overall, our findings demonstrate that visual attention can be substantially decoupled from ongoing oculomotor programming and suggest an important role of habitual expectations in the attention-action coupling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christof Elias Topfstedt
- Klinische Neuropsychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Luca Wollenberg
- Klinische Neuropsychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Schenk
- Klinische Neuropsychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802 Munich, Germany.
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2
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Veale R, Takahashi M. Pathways for Naturalistic Looking Behavior in Primate II. Superior Colliculus Integrates Parallel Top-down and Bottom-up Inputs. Neuroscience 2024; 545:86-110. [PMID: 38484836 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Volitional signals for gaze control are provided by multiple parallel pathways converging on the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), whose deeper layers output to the brainstem gaze circuits. In the first of two papers (Takahashi and Veale, 2023), we described the properties of gaze behavior of several species under both laboratory and natural conditions, as well as the current understanding of the brainstem and spinal cord circuits implementing gaze control in primate. In this paper, we review the parallel pathways by which sensory and task information reaches SC and how these sensory and task signals interact within SC's multilayered structure. This includes both bottom-up (world statistics) signals mediated by sensory cortex, association cortex, and subcortical structures, as well as top-down (goal and task) influences which arrive via either direct excitatory pathways from cerebral cortex, or via indirect basal ganglia relays resulting in inhibition or dis-inhibition as appropriate for alternative behaviors. Models of attention such as saliency maps serve as convenient frameworks to organize our understanding of both the separate computations of each neural pathway, as well as the interaction between the multiple parallel pathways influencing gaze. While the spatial interactions between gaze's neural pathways are relatively well understood, the temporal interactions between and within pathways will be an important area of future study, requiring both improved technical methods for measurement and improvement of our understanding of how temporal dynamics results in the observed spatiotemporal allocation of gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Veale
- Department of Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan
| | - Mayu Takahashi
- Department of Systems Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
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3
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Johnston R, Smith MA. Brain-wide arousal signals are segregated from movement planning in the superior colliculus. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.26.591284. [PMID: 38746466 PMCID: PMC11092505 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.591284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) is traditionally considered a brain region that functions as an interface between processing visual inputs and generating eye movement outputs. Although its role as a primary reflex center is thought to be conserved across vertebrate species, evidence suggests that the SC has evolved to support higher-order cognitive functions including spatial attention. When it comes to oculomotor areas such as the SC, it is critical that high precision fixation and eye movements are maintained even in the presence of signals related to ongoing changes in cognition and brain state, both of which have the potential to interfere with eye position encoding and movement generation. In this study, we recorded spiking responses of neuronal populations in the SC while monkeys performed a memory-guided saccade task and found that the activity of some of the neurons fluctuated over tens of minutes. By leveraging the statistical power afforded by high-dimensional neuronal recordings, we were able to identify a low-dimensional pattern of activity that was correlated with the subjects' arousal levels. Importantly, we found that the spiking responses of deep-layer SC neurons were less correlated with this brain-wide arousal signal, and that neural activity associated with changes in pupil size and saccade tuning did not overlap in population activity space with movement initiation signals. Taken together, these findings provide a framework for understanding how signals related to cognition and arousal can be embedded in the population activity of oculomotor structures without compromising the fidelity of the motor output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Johnston
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Matthew A. Smith
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
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4
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Michalczyk Ł. Fixation offset decreases manual inhibition of return (IOR) in detection and discrimination tasks. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024:17470218241240978. [PMID: 38459611 DOI: 10.1177/17470218241240978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Attention can be covertly shifted to peripheral stimuli to improve their processing. However, attention is also then inhibited against returning to the previously attended location; thus, both detection and discrimination of a stimulus presented at that location decrease (the inhibition of return [IOR] effect). The after-effect of the covert orienting hypothesis postulates a close link between attention shifting, IOR, and oculomotor control. The fixation offset, which improves the generation of saccades, decreases IOR in detection tasks, suggesting a close link between IOR and oculomotor control. However, according to some alternative views (e.g., the input-based IOR hypothesis and the object files segregation/integration hypothesis), IOR may be related to some sensory rather than motor processes. Some studies support that view and show that IOR may occur differently in detection and discrimination tasks and that oculomotor processes do not affect IOR in tasks where manual responses are required and eye movements are suppressed. Two experiments presented in this article show that removing the fixation point decreases manual IOR in detection and discrimination tasks. The results are discussed in terms of various theoretical approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Michalczyk
- Institute of Psychology, Ignatianum University in Cracow, Krakow, Poland
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5
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Hanning NM, Himmelberg MM, Carrasco M. Presaccadic Attention Depends on Eye Movement Direction and Is Related to V1 Cortical Magnification. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1023232023. [PMID: 38316562 PMCID: PMC10957215 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1023-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
With every saccadic eye movement, humans bring new information into their fovea to be processed with high visual acuity. Notably, perception is enhanced already before a relevant item is foveated: During saccade preparation, presaccadic attention shifts to the upcoming fixation location, which can be measured via behavioral correlates such as enhanced visual performance or modulations of sensory feature tuning. The coupling between saccadic eye movements and attention is assumed to be robust and mandatory and considered a mechanism facilitating the integration of pre- and postsaccadic information. However, until recently it had not been investigated as a function of saccade direction. Here, we measured contrast response functions during fixation and saccade preparation in male and female observers and found that the pronounced response gain benefit typically elicited by presaccadic attention is selectively lacking before upward saccades at the group level-some observers even showed a cost. Individual observer's sensitivity before upward saccades was negatively related to their amount of surface area in primary visual cortex representing the saccade target, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism that optimizes the use of the limited neural resources processing the upper vertical meridian. Our results raise the question of how perceptual continuity is achieved and how upward saccades can be accurately targeted despite the lack of-theoretically required-presaccadic attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina M Hanning
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Marc M Himmelberg
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
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6
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Hüer J, Saxena P, Treue S. Pathway-selective optogenetics reveals the functional anatomy of top-down attentional modulation in the macaque visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2304511121. [PMID: 38194453 PMCID: PMC10801865 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304511121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial attention represents a powerful top-down influence on sensory responses in primate visual cortical areas. The frontal eye field (FEF) has emerged as a key candidate area for the source of this modulation. However, it is unclear whether the FEF exerts its effects via its direct axonal projections to visual areas or indirectly through other brain areas and whether the FEF affects both the enhancement of attended and the suppression of unattended sensory responses. We used pathway-selective optogenetics in rhesus macaques performing a spatial attention task to inhibit the direct input from the FEF to area MT, an area along the dorsal visual pathway specialized for the processing of visual motion information. Our results show that the optogenetic inhibition of the FEF input specifically reduces attentional modulation in MT by about a third without affecting the neurons' sensory response component. We find that the direct FEF-to-MT pathway contributes to both the enhanced processing of target stimuli and the suppression of distractors. The FEF, thus, selectively modulates firing rates in visual area MT, and it does so via its direct axonal projections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Hüer
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen37077, Germany
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt60528, Germany
| | - Pankhuri Saxena
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen37077, Germany
| | - Stefan Treue
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen37077, Germany
- Faculty of Biology and Psychology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen37073, Germany
- Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Göttingen37077, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Göttingen37073, Germany
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7
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Esposito M, Palermo S, Nahi YC, Tamietto M, Celeghin A. Implicit Selective Attention: The Role of the Mesencephalic-basal Ganglia System. Curr Neuropharmacol 2024; 22:1497-1512. [PMID: 37653629 PMCID: PMC11097991 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x21666230831163052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability of the brain to recognize and orient attention to relevant stimuli appearing in the visual field is highlighted by a tuning process, which involves modulating the early visual system by both cortical and subcortical brain areas. Selective attention is coordinated not only by the output of stimulus-based saliency maps but is also influenced by top-down cognitive factors, such as internal states, goals, or previous experiences. The basal ganglia system plays a key role in implicitly modulating the underlying mechanisms of selective attention, favouring the formation and maintenance of implicit sensory-motor memories that are capable of automatically modifying the output of priority maps in sensory-motor structures of the midbrain, such as the superior colliculus. The article presents an overview of the recent literature outlining the crucial contribution of several subcortical structures to the processing of different sources of salient stimuli. In detail, we will focus on how the mesencephalic- basal ganglia closed loops contribute to implicitly addressing and modulating selective attention to prioritized stimuli. We conclude by discussing implicit behavioural responses observed in clinical populations in which awareness is compromised at some level. Implicit (emergent) awareness in clinical conditions that can be accompanied by manifest anosognosic symptomatology (i.e., hemiplegia) or involving abnormal conscious processing of visual information (i.e., unilateral spatial neglect and blindsight) represents interesting neurocognitive "test cases" for inferences about mesencephalicbasal ganglia closed-loops involvement in the formation of implicit sensory-motor memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Esposito
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
| | - Sara Palermo
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
- Neuroradiology Unit, Department of Diagnostic and Technology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Marco Tamietto
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, and CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands
| | - Alessia Celeghin
- Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124, Turin
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8
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Thomas A, Yang W, Wang C, Tipparaju SL, Chen G, Sullivan B, Swiekatowski K, Tatam M, Gerfen C, Li N. Superior colliculus bidirectionally modulates choice activity in frontal cortex. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7358. [PMID: 37963894 PMCID: PMC10645979 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43252-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Action selection occurs through competition between potential choice options. Neural correlates of choice competition are observed across frontal cortex and downstream superior colliculus (SC) during decision-making, yet how these regions interact to mediate choice competition remains unresolved. Here we report that SC can bidirectionally modulate choice competition and drive choice activity in frontal cortex. In the mouse, topographically matched regions of frontal cortex and SC formed a descending motor pathway for directional licking and a re-entrant loop via the thalamus. During decision-making, distinct neuronal populations in both frontal cortex and SC encoded opposing lick directions and exhibited competitive interactions. SC GABAergic neurons encoded ipsilateral choice and locally inhibited glutamatergic neurons that encoded contralateral choice. Activating or suppressing these cell types could bidirectionally drive choice activity in frontal cortex. These results thus identify SC as a major locus to modulate choice competition within the broader action selection network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyse Thomas
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Weiguo Yang
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Catherine Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Guang Chen
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Brennan Sullivan
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kylie Swiekatowski
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mahima Tatam
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Charles Gerfen
- Section on Neuroanatomy, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nuo Li
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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9
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Tian LY, Warren TL, Mehaffey WH, Brainard MS. Dynamic top-down biasing implements rapid adaptive changes to individual movements. eLife 2023; 12:e83223. [PMID: 37733005 PMCID: PMC10513479 DOI: 10.7554/elife.83223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Complex behaviors depend on the coordinated activity of neural ensembles in interconnected brain areas. The behavioral function of such coordination, often measured as co-fluctuations in neural activity across areas, is poorly understood. One hypothesis is that rapidly varying co-fluctuations may be a signature of moment-by-moment task-relevant influences of one area on another. We tested this possibility for error-corrective adaptation of birdsong, a form of motor learning which has been hypothesized to depend on the top-down influence of a higher-order area, LMAN (lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium), in shaping moment-by-moment output from a primary motor area, RA (robust nucleus of the arcopallium). In paired recordings of LMAN and RA in singing birds, we discovered a neural signature of a top-down influence of LMAN on RA, quantified as an LMAN-leading co-fluctuation in activity between these areas. During learning, this co-fluctuation strengthened in a premotor temporal window linked to the specific movement, sequential context, and acoustic modification associated with learning. Moreover, transient perturbation of LMAN activity specifically within this premotor window caused rapid occlusion of pitch modifications, consistent with LMAN conveying a temporally localized motor-biasing signal. Combined, our results reveal a dynamic top-down influence of LMAN on RA that varies on the rapid timescale of individual movements and is flexibly linked to contexts associated with learning. This finding indicates that inter-area co-fluctuations can be a signature of dynamic top-down influences that support complex behavior and its adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Y Tian
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Timothy L Warren
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - William H Mehaffey
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Michael S Brainard
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
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10
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Kane GA, Senne RA, Scott BB. Rat movements reflect internal decision dynamics in an evidence accumulation task. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.11.556575. [PMID: 37745309 PMCID: PMC10515875 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.11.556575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Perceptual decision-making involves multiple cognitive processes, including accumulation of sensory evidence, planning, and executing a motor action. How these processes are intertwined is unclear; some models assume that decision-related processes precede motor execution, whereas others propose that movements reflecting on-going decision processes occur before commitment to a choice. Here we develop and apply two complementary methods to study the relationship between decision processes and the movements leading up to a choice. The first is a free response pulse-based evidence accumulation task, in which stimuli continue until choice is reported. The second is a motion-based drift diffusion model (mDDM), in which movement variables from video pose estimation constrain decision parameters on a trial-by-trial basis. We find the mDDM provides a better model fit to rats' decisions in the free response accumulation task than traditional DDM models. Interestingly, on each trial we observed a period of time, prior to choice, that was characterized by head immobility. The length of this period was positively correlated with the rats' decision bounds and stimuli presented during this period had the greatest impact on choice. Together these results support a model in which internal decision dynamics are reflected in movements and demonstrate that inclusion of movement parameters improves the performance of diffusion-to-bound decision models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary A. Kane
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston MA
| | - Ryan A. Senne
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston MA
| | - Benjamin B. Scott
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston MA
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11
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Hanning NM, Fernández A, Carrasco M. Dissociable roles of human frontal eye fields and early visual cortex in presaccadic attention. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5381. [PMID: 37666805 PMCID: PMC10477327 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40678-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Shortly before saccadic eye movements, visual sensitivity at the saccade target is enhanced, at the expense of sensitivity elsewhere. Some behavioral and neural correlates of this presaccadic shift of attention resemble those of covert attention, deployed during fixation. Microstimulation in non-human primates has shown that presaccadic attention modulates perception via feedback from oculomotor to visual areas. This mechanism also seems plausible in humans, as both oculomotor and visual areas are active during saccade planning. We investigated this hypothesis by applying TMS to frontal or visual areas during saccade preparation. By simultaneously measuring perceptual performance, we show their causal and differential roles in contralateral presaccadic attention effects: Whereas rFEF+ stimulation enhanced sensitivity opposite the saccade target throughout saccade preparation, V1/V2 stimulation reduced sensitivity at the saccade target only shortly before saccade onset. These findings are consistent with presaccadic attention modulating perception through cortico-cortical feedback and further dissociate presaccadic and covert attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina M Hanning
- Department of Psychology & Center for Neural Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Antonio Fernández
- Department of Psychology & Center for Neural Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology & Center for Neural Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, USA
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12
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Liao MR, Kim AJ, Anderson BA. Neural correlates of value-driven spatial orienting. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14321. [PMID: 37171022 PMCID: PMC10524674 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Reward learning has been shown to habitually guide overt spatial attention to specific regions of a scene. However, the neural mechanisms that support this bias are unknown. In the present study, participants learned to orient themselves to a particular quadrant of a scene (a high-value quadrant) to maximize monetary gains. This learning was scene-specific, with the high-value quadrant varying across different scenes. During a subsequent test phase, participants were faster at identifying a target if it appeared in the high-value quadrant (valid), and initial saccades were more likely to be made to the high-value quadrant. fMRI analyses during the test phase revealed learning-dependent priority signals in the caudate tail, superior colliculus, frontal eye field, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, paralleling findings concerning feature-based, value-driven attention. In addition, ventral regions typically associated with scene selection and spatial information processing, including the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and temporo-occipital cortex, were also implicated. Taken together, our findings offer new insights into the neural architecture subserving value-driven attention, both extending our understanding of nodes in the attention network previously implicated in feature-based, value-driven attention and identifying a ventral network of brain regions implicated in reward's influence on scene-dependent spatial orienting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ray Liao
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Andy J Kim
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Brian A Anderson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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13
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Stine GM, Trautmann EM, Jeurissen D, Shadlen MN. A neural mechanism for terminating decisions. Neuron 2023; 111:2601-2613.e5. [PMID: 37352857 PMCID: PMC10565788 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023]
Abstract
The brain makes decisions by accumulating evidence until there is enough to stop and choose. Neural mechanisms of evidence accumulation are established in association cortex, but the site and mechanism of termination are unknown. Here, we show that the superior colliculus (SC) plays a causal role in terminating decisions, and we provide evidence for a mechanism by which this occurs. We recorded simultaneously from neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) and SC while monkeys made perceptual decisions. Despite similar trial-averaged activity, we found distinct single-trial dynamics in the two areas: LIP displayed drift-diffusion dynamics and SC displayed bursting dynamics. We hypothesized that the bursts manifest a threshold mechanism applied to signals represented in LIP to terminate the decision. Consistent with this hypothesis, SC inactivation produced behavioral effects diagnostic of an impaired threshold sensor and prolonged the buildup of activity in LIP. The results reveal the transformation from deliberation to commitment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel M Stine
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Eric M Trautmann
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Danique Jeurissen
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Michael N Shadlen
- Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
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14
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Michalczyk Ł. Fixation offset decreases pupillary inhibition of return. Brain Cogn 2023; 170:106058. [PMID: 37390691 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.106058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023]
Abstract
Inhibition of return (IOR) is reflected as a slower manual or saccadic response to a cued rather than an uncued target (manual IOR and saccadic IOR, respectively), and as a pupillary dilation when a bright, relative to a dark side of a display is cued (pupillary IOR). The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between an IOR and oculomotor system. According to the predominant view, only the saccadic IOR is strictly related to the visuomotor process, and the manual and pupillary IORs depend on non-motor factors (e.g., short-term visual depression). Alternatively, the after-effect of the covert-orienting hypothesis postulates that IOR is strictly related to the oculomotor system. As fixation offset affects oculomotor processes, this study investigated whether fixation offset also affects pupillary and manual IORs. The results show that fixation offset decreased IOR in pupillary but not manual responses, and provides support for the hypothesis that at least the pupillary IOR is tightly linked to eye movement preparation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Michalczyk
- Institute of Psychology, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland.
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15
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Thomas A, Yang W, Wang C, Tipparaju SL, Chen G, Sullivan B, Swiekatowski K, Tatam M, Gerfen C, Li N. Superior colliculus cell types bidirectionally modulate choice activity in frontal cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.22.537884. [PMID: 37162880 PMCID: PMC10168218 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.22.537884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Action selection occurs through competition between potential choice options. Neural correlates of choice competition are observed across frontal cortex and downstream superior colliculus (SC) during decision-making, yet how these regions interact to mediate choice competition remains unresolved. Here we report that cell types within SC can bidirectionally modulate choice competition and drive choice activity in frontal cortex. In the mouse, topographically matched regions of frontal cortex and SC formed a descending motor pathway for directional licking and a re-entrant loop via the thalamus. During decision-making, distinct neuronal populations in both frontal cortex and SC encoded opposing lick directions and exhibited push-pull dynamics. SC GABAergic neurons encoded ipsilateral choice and glutamatergic neurons encoded contralateral choice, and activating or suppressing these cell types could bidirectionally drive push-pull choice activity in frontal cortex. These results thus identify SC as a major locus to modulate choice competition within the broader action selection network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyse Thomas
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Weiguo Yang
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Catherine Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | | | - Guang Chen
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Brennan Sullivan
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | | | - Mahima Tatam
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Charles Gerfen
- Section on Neuroanatomy, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Nuo Li
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
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16
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Hanning NM, Fernández A, Carrasco M. Dissociable roles of human frontal eye fields and early visual cortex in presaccadic attention - evidence from TMS. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.23.529691. [PMID: 36865228 PMCID: PMC9980111 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.23.529691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
Shortly before each saccadic eye movement, presaccadic attention improves visual sensitivity at the saccade target 1-5 at the expense of lowered sensitivity at non-target locations 6-11 . Some behavioral and neural correlates of presaccadic attention and covert attention -which likewise enhances sensitivity, but during fixation 12 -are similar 13 . This resemblance has led to the debatable 13-18 notion that presaccadic and covert attention are functionally equivalent and rely on the same neural circuitry 19-21 . At a broad scale, oculomotor brain structures (e.g., FEF) are also modulated during covert attention 22-24 - yet by distinct neuronal subpopulations 25-28 . Perceptual benefits of presaccadic attention rely on feedback from oculomotor structures to visual cortices 29,30 ( Fig. 1a ); micro-stimulation of FEF in non-human primates affects activity in visual cortex 31-34 and enhances visual sensitivity at the movement field of the stimulated neurons 35-37 . Similar feedback projections seem to exist in humans: FEF+ activation precedes occipital activation during saccade preparation 38,39 and FEF TMS modulates activity in visual cortex 40-42 and enhances perceived contrast in the contralateral hemifield 40 . We investigated presaccadic feedback in humans by applying TMS to frontal or visual areas during saccade preparation. By simultaneously measuring perceptual performance, we show the causal and differential roles of these brain regions in contralateral presaccadic benefits at the saccade target and costs at non-targets: Whereas rFEF+ stimulation reduced presaccadic costs throughout saccade preparation, V1/V2 stimulation reduced benefits only shortly before saccade onset. These effects provide causal evidence that presaccadic attention modulates perception through cortico-cortical feedback and further dissociate presaccadic and covert attention.
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17
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Szeska C, Mohrmann H, Hamm AO. Facilitated extinction but impaired extinction recall by eye movement manipulation in humans - Indications for action mechanisms and the applicability of eye movement desensitization. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 184:64-75. [PMID: 36586670 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy utilizes the manipulation of eye movements to reduce affective distress during fear-exposure. Animal research recently suggested a potential neural mechanism underlying these effects, by which increased activity of the superior colliculus (SC), mediating visual attention, increases the inhibition of the basolateral amygdala (BLA), mediating defensive plasticity. We tested such mechanism in forty healthy humans using a multiple-day single-cue fear conditioning and extinction paradigm. The activity of the SC during extinction was experimentally manipulated by eye movements, as half of the participants executed saccadic eye movements (n = 20; major SC involvement), while the other half executed smooth eye pursuits (n = 20; minor SC involvement). Amygdala-mediated fear-potentiated startle responses and fear bradycardia, as well as threat expectancy was analyzed. Saccadic eye movements facilitated the extinction of fear bradycardia and fear-potentiated startle responses. Higher saccadic accuracy and range correlated with reduced fear-potentiated startle. However, during extinction recall, fear-potentiated startle and fear bradycardia resurged and partly reached levels obtained after fear acquisition. Threat expectancy was not affected by different eye movements and was not elevated during extinction recall. Within limitations, results support an inhibitory SC-BLA pathway in humans by which eye movements may reduce low-level defensive responding, but not threat expectancy. Yet, manipulating eye movements during extinction learning seems to impair extinction recall for behavioral and physiological defensive response indices. Thus, increasing SC activity might enhance initial efficacy of exposure treatment, but additional strategies seem necessary for sustained fear attenuation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Szeska
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
| | - Heino Mohrmann
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology / Psychotherapy, Franz-Mehring-Strasse 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
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18
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Peysakhovich B, Tetrick SM, Silva AA, Li S, Zhu O, Ibos G, Johnston WJ, Freedman DJ. Primate superior colliculus is engaged in abstract higher-order cognition. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.17.524416. [PMID: 36711713 PMCID: PMC9882166 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.17.524416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Categorization is a fundamental cognitive process by which the brain assigns stimuli to behaviorally meaningful groups. Investigations of visual categorization in primates have identified a hierarchy of cortical areas that are involved in the transformation of sensory information into abstract category representations. However, categorization behaviors are ubiquitous across diverse animal species, even those without a neocortex, motivating the possibility that subcortical regions may contribute to abstract cognition in primates. One candidate structure is the superior colliculus (SC), an evolutionarily conserved midbrain region that, although traditionally thought to mediate only reflexive spatial orienting, is involved in cognitive tasks that require spatial orienting. Here, we reveal a novel role of the primate SC in abstract, higher-order visual cognition. We compared neural activity in the SC and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), a region previously shown to causally contribute to category decisions, while monkeys performed a visual categorization task in which they report their decisions with a hand movement. The SC exhibits stronger and shorter-latency category encoding than the PPC, and inactivation of the SC markedly impairs monkeys' category decisions. These results extend SC's established role in spatial orienting to abstract, non-spatial cognition.
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19
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Zwaka H, McGinnis OJ, Pflitsch P, Prabha S, Mansinghka V, Engert F, Bolton AD. Visual object detection biases escape trajectories following acoustic startle in larval zebrafish. Curr Biol 2022; 32:5116-5125.e3. [PMID: 36402136 PMCID: PMC10028558 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated whether the larval zebrafish is sensitive to the presence of obstacles in its environment. Zebrafish execute fast escape swims when in danger of predation. We posited that collisions with solid objects during escape would be maladaptive to the fish, and therefore, the direction of escape swims should be informed by the locations of barriers. To test this idea, we developed a closed-loop imaging rig outfitted with barriers of various qualities. We show that when larval zebrafish escape in response to a non-directional vibrational stimulus, they use visual scene information to avoid collisions with obstacles. Our study demonstrates that barrier avoidance rate corresponds to the absolute distance of obstacles, as distant barriers outside of collision range elicit less bias than nearby collidable barriers that occupy the same amount of visual field. The computation of barrier avoidance is covert: the fact that fish will avoid barriers during escape cannot be predicted by its routine swimming behavior in the barrier arena. Finally, two-photon laser ablation experiments suggest that excitatory bias is provided to the Mauthner cell ipsilateral to approached barriers, either via direct excitation or a multi-step modulation process. We ultimately propose that zebrafish detect collidable objects via an integrative visual computation that is more complex than retinal occupancy alone, laying a groundwork for understanding how cognitive physical models observed in humans are implemented in an archetypal vertebrate brain. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Zwaka
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Olivia J McGinnis
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Paula Pflitsch
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Srishti Prabha
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Vikash Mansinghka
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Florian Engert
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Andrew D Bolton
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
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20
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Functional but not obligatory link between microsaccades and neural modulation by covert spatial attention. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3503. [PMID: 35715471 PMCID: PMC9205986 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31217-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Covert spatial attention is associated with spatial modulation of neural activity as well as with directional biases in fixational eye movements known as microsaccades. We studied how these two ‘fingerprints’ of attention are interrelated in humans. We investigated spatial modulation of 8-12 Hz EEG alpha activity and microsaccades when attention is directed internally within the spatial layout of visual working memory. Consistent with a common origin, spatial modulations of alpha activity and microsaccades co-vary: alpha lateralisation is stronger in trials with microsaccades toward versus away from the memorised location of the to-be-attended item and occurs earlier in trials with earlier microsaccades toward this item. Critically, however, trials without attention-driven microsaccades nevertheless show clear spatial modulation of alpha activity – comparable to trials with attention-driven microsaccades. Thus, directional biases in microsaccades correlate with neural signatures of spatial attention, but they are not necessary for neural modulation by spatial attention to be manifest. Covert visual spatial attention modulates neural activity and biases the direction of small eye movements, known as microsaccades. Here, the authors show that these two markers co-vary, but that microsaccades are not necessary for neural modulation by attention to occur.
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21
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van Kempen J, Brandt C, Distler C, Bellgrove MA, Thiele A. Dopamine influences attentional rate modulation in Macaque posterior parietal cortex. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6914. [PMID: 35484302 PMCID: PMC9050696 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10634-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive neuroscience has made great strides in understanding the neural substrates of attention, but our understanding of its neuropharmacology remains incomplete. Although dopamine has historically been studied in relation to frontal functioning, emerging evidence suggests important dopaminergic influences in parietal cortex. We recorded single- and multi-unit activity whilst iontophoretically administering dopaminergic agonists and antagonists while rhesus macaques performed a spatial attention task. Out of 88 units, 50 revealed activity modulation by drug administration. Dopamine inhibited firing rates according to an inverted-U shaped dose-response curve and increased gain variability. D1 receptor antagonists diminished firing rates according to a monotonic function and interacted with attention modulating gain variability. Finally, both drugs decreased the pupil light reflex. These data show that dopamine shapes neuronal responses and modulates aspects of attentional processing in parietal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochem van Kempen
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
| | - Christian Brandt
- Research Unit for ORL - Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Claudia Distler
- Allgemeine Zoologie Und Neurobiologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Mark A Bellgrove
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Alexander Thiele
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
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22
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Liu X, Huang H, Snutch TP, Cao P, Wang L, Wang F. The Superior Colliculus: Cell Types, Connectivity, and Behavior. Neurosci Bull 2022; 38:1519-1540. [PMID: 35484472 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-022-00858-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC), one of the most well-characterized midbrain sensorimotor structures where visual, auditory, and somatosensory information are integrated to initiate motor commands, is highly conserved across vertebrate evolution. Moreover, cell-type-specific SC neurons integrate afferent signals within local networks to generate defined output related to innate and cognitive behaviors. This review focuses on the recent progress in understanding of phenotypic diversity amongst SC neurons and their intrinsic circuits and long-projection targets. We further describe relevant neural circuits and specific cell types in relation to behavioral outputs and cognitive functions. The systematic delineation of SC organization, cell types, and neural connections is further put into context across species as these depend upon laminar architecture. Moreover, we focus on SC neural circuitry involving saccadic eye movement, and cognitive and innate behaviors. Overall, the review provides insight into SC functioning and represents a basis for further understanding of the pathology associated with SC dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Liu
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Hongren Huang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Terrance P Snutch
- Michael Smith Laboratories and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Peng Cao
- National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Liping Wang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
| | - Feng Wang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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23
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Lev-Ari T, Beeri H, Gutfreund Y. The Ecological View of Selective Attention. Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:856207. [PMID: 35391754 PMCID: PMC8979825 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.856207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence is supporting the hypothesis that our selective attention is a manifestation of mechanisms that evolved early in evolution and are shared by many organisms from different taxa. This surge of new data calls for the re-examination of our notions about attention, which have been dominated mostly by human psychology. Here, we present an hypothesis that challenges, based on evolutionary grounds, a common view of attention as a means to manage limited brain resources. We begin by arguing that evolutionary considerations do not favor the basic proposition of the limited brain resources view of attention, namely, that the capacity of the sensory organs to provide information exceeds the capacity of the brain to process this information. Moreover, physiological studies in animals and humans show that mechanisms of selective attention are highly demanding of brain resources, making it paradoxical to see attention as a means to release brain resources. Next, we build on the above arguments to address the question why attention evolved in evolution. We hypothesize that, to a certain extent, limiting sensory processing is adaptive irrespective of brain capacity. We call this hypothesis the ecological view of attention (EVA) because it is centered on interactions of an animal with its environment rather than on internal brain resources. In its essence is the notion that inherently noisy and degraded sensory inputs serve the animal’s adaptive, dynamic interactions with its environment. Attention primarily functions to resolve behavioral conflicts and false distractions. Hence, we evolved to focus on a particular target at the expense of others, not because of internal limitations, but to ensure that behavior is properly oriented and committed to its goals. Here, we expand on this notion and review evidence supporting it. We show how common results in human psychophysics and physiology can be reconciled with an EVA and discuss possible implications of the notion for interpreting current results and guiding future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tidhar Lev-Ari
- The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, The Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Hadar Beeri
- The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, The Technion, Haifa, Israel
| | - Yoram Gutfreund
- The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, The Technion, Haifa, Israel
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24
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Donut-like organization of inhibition underlies categorical neural responses in the midbrain. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1680. [PMID: 35354821 PMCID: PMC8967821 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29318-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Categorical neural responses underlie various forms of selection and decision-making. Such binary-like responses promote robust signaling of the winner in the presence of input ambiguity and neural noise. Here, we show that a ‘donut-like’ inhibitory mechanism in which each competing option suppresses all options except itself, is highly effective at generating categorical neural responses. It surpasses motifs of feedback inhibition, recurrent excitation, and divisive normalization invoked frequently in decision-making models. We demonstrate experimentally not only that this mechanism operates in the midbrain spatial selection network in barn owls, but also that it is necessary for categorical signaling by it. The functional pattern of neural inhibition in the midbrain forms an exquisitely structured ‘multi-holed’ donut consistent with this network’s combinatorial inhibitory function for stimulus selection. Additionally, modeling reveals a generalizable neural implementation of the donut-like motif for categorical selection. Self-sparing inhibition may, therefore, be a powerful circuit module central to categorization. Decision making is facilitated by categorical neuronal responses, which robustly signal a winner despite input noise. In this study, the authors demonstrate that a donut-like inhibition motif effectively generates such categorical responses.
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25
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Yu G, Herman JP, Katz LN, Krauzlis RJ. Microsaccades as a marker not a cause for attention-related modulation. eLife 2022; 11:74168. [PMID: 35289268 PMCID: PMC8923660 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that microsaccades are causally linked to the attention-related modulation of neurons—specifically, that microsaccades toward the attended location are required for the subsequent changes in firing rate. These findings have raised questions about whether attention-related modulation is due to different states of attention as traditionally assumed or might instead be a secondary effect of microsaccades. Here, in two rhesus macaques, we tested the relationship between microsaccades and attention-related modulation in the superior colliculus (SC), a brain structure crucial for allocating attention. We found that attention-related modulation emerged even in the absence of microsaccades, was already present prior to microsaccades toward the cued stimulus, and persisted through the suppression of activity that accompanied all microsaccades. Nonetheless, consistent with previous findings, we also found significant attention-related modulation when microsaccades were directed toward, rather than away from, the cued location. Thus, despite the clear links between microsaccades and attention, microsaccades are not necessary for attention-related modulation, at least not in the SC. They do, however, provide an additional marker for the state of attention, especially at times when attention is shifting from one location to another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gongchen Yu
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute
| | - James P Herman
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
| | - Leor N Katz
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute
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26
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Skirzewski M, Molotchnikoff S, Hernandez LF, Maya-Vetencourt JF. Multisensory Integration: Is Medial Prefrontal Cortex Signaling Relevant for the Treatment of Higher-Order Visual Dysfunctions? Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 14:806376. [PMID: 35110996 PMCID: PMC8801884 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2021.806376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In the mammalian brain, information processing in sensory modalities and global mechanisms of multisensory integration facilitate perception. Emerging experimental evidence suggests that the contribution of multisensory integration to sensory perception is far more complex than previously expected. Here we revise how associative areas such as the prefrontal cortex, which receive and integrate inputs from diverse sensory modalities, can affect information processing in unisensory systems via processes of down-stream signaling. We focus our attention on the influence of the medial prefrontal cortex on the processing of information in the visual system and whether this phenomenon can be clinically used to treat higher-order visual dysfunctions. We propose that non-invasive and multisensory stimulation strategies such as environmental enrichment and/or attention-related tasks could be of clinical relevance to fight cerebral visual impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Skirzewski
- Rodent Cognition Research and Innovation Core, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Stéphane Molotchnikoff
- Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Département de Génie Electrique et Génie Informatique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Luis F. Hernandez
- Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging, University of Denver, Denver, CO, United States
| | - José Fernando Maya-Vetencourt
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Centre for Synaptic Neuroscience, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Genova, Italy
- *Correspondence: José Fernando Maya-Vetencourt
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27
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Contemori S, Loeb GE, Corneil BD, Wallis G, Carroll TJ. Trial-by-trial modulation of express visuomotor responses induced by symbolic or barely detectable cues. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1507-1523. [PMID: 34550012 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00053.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Human cerebral cortex can produce visuomotor responses that are modulated by contextual and task-specific constraints. However, the distributed cortical network for visuomotor transformations limits the minimal response time of that pathway. Notably, humans can generate express visuomotor responses in arm muscles that are inflexibly tuned to the target location and occur 80-120 ms from stimulus presentation [stimulus-locked responses (SLRs)]. This suggests a subcortical pathway for visuomotor transformations that might involve the superior colliculus and its downstream reticulo-spinal projections. Here we investigated whether cognitive expectations can modulate the SLR. In one experiment, we recorded surface electromyogram (EMG) from shoulder muscles as participants reached toward a visual target whose location was unpredictable in control conditions and partially predictable in cue conditions by interpreting a symbolic cue (75% validity). Valid symbolic cues led to earlier and larger SLRs than control conditions; invalid symbolic cues produced later and smaller SLRs than control conditions. This is consistent with a cortical top-down modulation of the putative subcortical SLR network. In a second experiment, we presented high-contrast targets in isolation (control) or ∼24 ms after low-contrast stimuli, which could appear at the same (valid cue) or opposite (invalid cue) location as the target and with equal probability (50% cue validity). We observed earlier SLRs than control with the valid low-contrast cues, whereas the invalid cues led to the opposite results. These findings may reflect bottom-up attentional mechanisms, potentially evolving subcortically via the superior colliculus. Overall, our results support both top-down and bottom-up modulations of the putative subcortical SLR network in humans.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Express visuomotor responses in humans appear to reflect subcortical sensorimotor transformation of visual inputs, potentially conveyed via the tecto-reticulo-spinal pathway. Here we show that the express responses are influenced by both symbolic and barely detectable spatial cues about stimulus location. The symbolic cue-induced effects suggest cortical top-down modulation of the putative subcortical visuomotor network. The effects of barely detectable cues may reflect exogenous facilitation mechanisms of the tecto-reticulo-spinal pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuele Contemori
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Gerald E Loeb
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Brian D Corneil
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Guy Wallis
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Timothy J Carroll
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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28
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An inferior-superior colliculus circuit controls auditory cue-directed visual spatial attention. Neuron 2021; 110:109-119.e3. [PMID: 34699777 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Selective attention modulates neuronal activity in multiple brain regions, but the origins of attention signals remain unclear. We show that, during a visual task requiring spatial attention directed by an auditory cue, an inferior-superior colliculus circuit provides the key attention signal. In mice performing a task based on a visual stimulus in the cued hemifield while ignoring a conflicting stimulus on the uncued side, the visual cortex (V1) and superior colliculus (SC) showed strong attentional modulation, with a shorter latency in the SC. The nucleus of the brachium of the inferior colliculus (nBIC), which provides auditory inputs to the SC, was activated not only at auditory cue onset but also during the delay period before the visual stimulus. The delay activity, but not cue onset activity, was crucial for task performance and attentional modulation in the SC and V1. These results establish a new behavioral paradigm for studying visual attention in mice and identify a midbrain signal controlling auditory cue-directed spatial attention.
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29
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Kehoe DH, Lewis J, Fallah M. Oculomotor Target Selection is Mediated by Complex Objects. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:845-863. [PMID: 34346737 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00580.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Oculomotor target selection often requires discriminating visual features, but it remains unclear how oculomotor substrates encoding saccade vectors functionally contribute to this process. One possibility is that oculomotor vector representations (observed directly as physiological activation or inferred from behavioral interference) of potential targets are continuously re-weighted by task-relevance computed elsewhere in specialized visual modules, while an alternative possibility is that oculomotor modules utilize local featural analyses to actively discriminate potential targets. Strengthening the former account, oculomotor vector representations have longer onset latencies for ventral- (i.e., color) than dorsal-stream features (i.e., luminance), suggesting that oculomotor vector representations originate from featurally-relevant specialized visual modules. Here, we extended this reasoning by behaviorally examining whether the onset latency of saccadic interference elicited by visually complex stimuli is greater than is commonly observed for simple stimuli. We measured human saccade metrics (saccade curvature, endpoint deviations, saccade frequency, error proportion) as a function of time after abrupt distractor onset. Distractors were novel, visually complex, and had to be discriminated from targets to guide saccades. The earliest saccadic interference latency was ~110 ms, considerably longer than previous experiments, suggesting that sensory representations projected into the oculomotor system are gated to allow for sufficient featural processing to satisfy task demands. Surprisingly, initial oculomotor vector representations encoded features, as we manipulated the visual similarity between targets and distractors and observed increased vector modulation response magnitude and duration when the distractor was highly similar to the target. Oculomotor vector modulation was gradually extinguished over the time course of the experiment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devin Heinze Kehoe
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,VISTA: Vision Science to Applications, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jennifer Lewis
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mazyar Fallah
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,VISTA: Vision Science to Applications, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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30
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Abstract
This study demonstrates evidence for a foundational process underlying active vision in older infants during object play. Using head-mounted eye-tracking and motion capture, looks to an object are shown to be tightly linked to and synchronous with a stilled head, regardless of the duration of gaze, for infants 12 to 24 months of age. Despite being a developmental period of rapid and marked changes in motor abilities, the dynamic coordination of head stabilization and sustained gaze to a visual target is developmentally invariant during the examined age range. The findings indicate that looking with an aligned head and eyes is a fundamental property of human vision and highlights the importance of studying looking behavior in freely moving perceivers in everyday contexts, opening new questions about the role of body movement in both typical and atypical development of visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy I Borjon
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.,
| | - Drew H Abney
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,
| | - Chen Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,
| | - Linda B Smith
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.,School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, East Anglia, UK.,
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31
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Li HH, Hanning NM, Carrasco M. To look or not to look: dissociating presaccadic and covert spatial attention. Trends Neurosci 2021; 44:669-686. [PMID: 34099240 PMCID: PMC8552810 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Attention is a central neural process that enables selective and efficient processing of visual information. Individuals can attend to specific visual information either overtly, by making an eye movement to an object of interest, or covertly, without moving their eyes. We review behavioral, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and computational evidence of presaccadic attentional modulations that occur while preparing saccadic eye movements, and highlight their differences from those of covert spatial endogenous (voluntary) and exogenous (involuntary) attention. We discuss recent studies and experimental procedures on how these different types of attention impact visual performance, alter appearance, differentially modulate the featural representation of basic visual dimensions (orientation and spatial frequency), engage different neural computations, and recruit partially distinct neural substrates. We conclude that presaccadic attention and covert attention are dissociable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Hung Li
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Nina M Hanning
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
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32
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Benavidez NL, Bienkowski MS, Zhu M, Garcia LH, Fayzullina M, Gao L, Bowman I, Gou L, Khanjani N, Cotter KR, Korobkova L, Becerra M, Cao C, Song MY, Zhang B, Yamashita S, Tugangui AJ, Zingg B, Rose K, Lo D, Foster NN, Boesen T, Mun HS, Aquino S, Wickersham IR, Ascoli GA, Hintiryan H, Dong HW. Organization of the inputs and outputs of the mouse superior colliculus. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4004. [PMID: 34183678 PMCID: PMC8239028 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24241-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The superior colliculus (SC) receives diverse and robust cortical inputs to drive a range of cognitive and sensorimotor behaviors. However, it remains unclear how descending cortical input arising from higher-order associative areas coordinate with SC sensorimotor networks to influence its outputs. Here, we construct a comprehensive map of all cortico-tectal projections and identify four collicular zones with differential cortical inputs: medial (SC.m), centromedial (SC.cm), centrolateral (SC.cl) and lateral (SC.l). Further, we delineate the distinctive brain-wide input/output organization of each collicular zone, assemble multiple parallel cortico-tecto-thalamic subnetworks, and identify the somatotopic map in the SC that displays distinguishable spatial properties from the somatotopic maps in the neocortex and basal ganglia. Finally, we characterize interactions between those cortico-tecto-thalamic and cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic subnetworks. This study provides a structural basis for understanding how SC is involved in integrating different sensory modalities, translating sensory information to motor command, and coordinating different actions in goal-directed behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora L Benavidez
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael S Bienkowski
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Muye Zhu
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Luis H Garcia
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Marina Fayzullina
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lei Gao
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ian Bowman
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lin Gou
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Neda Khanjani
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kaelan R Cotter
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Laura Korobkova
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Marlene Becerra
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chunru Cao
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Monica Y Song
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Bin Zhang
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Seita Yamashita
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amanda J Tugangui
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Brian Zingg
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kasey Rose
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Darrick Lo
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas N Foster
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Tyler Boesen
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hyun-Seung Mun
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sarvia Aquino
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ian R Wickersham
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Giorgio A Ascoli
- Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Houri Hintiryan
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hong-Wei Dong
- Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- UCLA Brain Research & Artificial Intelligence Nexus, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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33
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Wollenberg L, Hanning NM, Deubel H. Visual attention and eye movement control during oculomotor competition. J Vis 2021; 20:16. [PMID: 32976594 PMCID: PMC7521175 DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.9.16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Saccadic eye movements are typically preceded by selective shifts of visual attention. Recent evidence, however, suggests that oculomotor selection can occur in the absence of attentional selection when saccades erroneously land in between nearby competing objects (saccade averaging). This study combined a saccade task with a visual discrimination task to investigate saccade target selection during episodes of competition between a saccade target and a nearby distractor. We manipulated the spatial predictability of target and distractor locations and asked participants to execute saccades upon variably delayed go-signals. This allowed us to systematically investigate the capacity to exert top-down eye movement control (as reflected in saccade endpoints) based on the spatiotemporal dynamics of visual attention during movement preparation (measured as visual sensitivity). Our data demonstrate that the predictability of target and distractor locations, despite not affecting the deployment of visual attention prior to movement preparation, largely improved the accuracy of short-latency saccades. Under spatial uncertainty, a short go-signal delay likewise enhanced saccade accuracy substantially, which was associated with a more selective deployment of attentional resources to the saccade target. Moreover, we observed a systematic relationship between the deployment of visual attention and saccade accuracy, with visual discrimination performance being significantly enhanced at the saccade target relative to the distractor only before the execution of saccades accurately landing at the saccade target. Our results provide novel insights linking top-down eye movement control to the operation of selective visual attention during movement preparation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Wollenberg
- Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.,Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Department Biologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Planegg, Germany
| | - Nina M Hanning
- Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.,Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Heiner Deubel
- Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
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34
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Basso MA, Bickford ME, Cang J. Unraveling circuits of visual perception and cognition through the superior colliculus. Neuron 2021; 109:918-937. [PMID: 33548173 PMCID: PMC7979487 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The superior colliculus is a conserved sensorimotor structure that integrates visual and other sensory information to drive reflexive behaviors. Although the evidence for this is strong and compelling, a number of experiments reveal a role for the superior colliculus in behaviors usually associated with the cerebral cortex, such as attention and decision-making. Indeed, in addition to collicular outputs targeting brainstem regions controlling movements, the superior colliculus also has ascending projections linking it to forebrain structures including the basal ganglia and amygdala, highlighting the fact that the superior colliculus, with its vast inputs and outputs, can influence processing throughout the neuraxis. Today, modern molecular and genetic methods combined with sophisticated behavioral assessments have the potential to make significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the evolution and conservation of neuronal cell types and circuits in the superior colliculus that give rise to simple and complex behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele A Basso
- Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | | | - Jianhua Cang
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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35
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Messinger A, Cirillo R, Wise SP, Genovesio A. Separable neuronal contributions to covertly attended locations and movement goals in macaque frontal cortex. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/14/eabe0716. [PMID: 33789893 PMCID: PMC8011963 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe0716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the spatial representation of covert attention and movement planning in monkeys performing a task that used symbolic cues to decouple the locus of covert attention from the motor target. In the three frontal areas studied, most spatially tuned neurons reflected either where attention was allocated or the planned saccade. Neurons modulated by both covert attention and the motor plan were in the minority. Such dual-purpose neurons were especially rare in premotor and prefrontal cortex but were more common just rostral to the arcuate sulcus. The existence of neurons that indicate where the monkey was attending but not its movement goal runs counter to the idea that the control of spatial attention is entirely reliant on the neuronal circuits underlying motor planning. Rather, the presence of separate neuronal populations for each cognitive process suggests that endogenous attention is under flexible control and can be dissociated from motor intention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Messinger
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Rossella Cirillo
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Aldo Genovesio
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
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36
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Herman JP, Arcizet F, Krauzlis RJ. Attention-related modulation of caudate neurons depends on superior colliculus activity. eLife 2020; 9:e53998. [PMID: 32940607 PMCID: PMC7544506 DOI: 10.7554/elife.53998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work has implicated the primate basal ganglia in visual perception and attention, in addition to their traditional role in motor control. The basal ganglia, especially the caudate nucleus 'head' (CDh) of the striatum, receive indirect anatomical connections from the superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure that is known to play a crucial role in the control of visual attention. To test the possible functional relationship between these subcortical structures, we recorded CDh neuronal activity of macaque monkeys before and during unilateral SC inactivation in a spatial attention task. SC inactivation significantly altered the attention-related modulation of CDh neurons and strongly impaired the classification of task-epochs based on CDh activity. Only inactivation of SC on the same side of the brain as recorded CDh neurons, not the opposite side, had these effects. These results demonstrate a novel interaction between SC activity and attention-related visual processing in the basal ganglia.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Herman
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye InstituteBethesdaUnited States
| | | | - Richard J Krauzlis
- Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye InstituteBethesdaUnited States
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37
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Michalczyk Ł, Bielas J, Schab A. Preparation of saccade sequences and eye programming affect endogenous covert attention. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 52:3419-3433. [PMID: 32386087 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Endogenous attention can be allocated in parallel to at least two saccade target locations of a planned sequence, but attentional resources are larger in the location of the first than the second saccade. The meridian effect that is observed in endogenous attention can be explained by eye programming, but it is not known how eye-movement preparation and eye programming can together affect endogenous attention during sequential saccades. We used a double-task paradigm to investigate this issue. In two experiments, we confirmed the relation between the preparation of sequential saccades and attentional selection and also showed that eye programming could eliminate deterioration of attentional resources in the second saccade location. The finding of the meridian effect in both the saccadic task and the target discrimination task additionally indicates the important role of eye programming in endogenous attention. The results were discussed in terms of the Premotor Theory of Attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Łukasz Michalczyk
- Institute of Psychology, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
| | - Jacek Bielas
- Institute of Psychology, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
| | - Anna Schab
- Institute of Psychology, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
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38
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Gharaei S, Honnuraiah S, Arabzadeh E, Stuart GJ. Superior colliculus modulates cortical coding of somatosensory information. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1693. [PMID: 32245963 PMCID: PMC7125203 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15443-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The cortex modulates activity in superior colliculus via a direct projection. What is largely unknown is whether (and if so how) the superior colliculus modulates activity in the cortex. Here, we investigate this issue and show that optogenetic activation of superior colliculus changes the input-output relationship of neurons in somatosensory cortex, enhancing responses to low amplitude whisker deflections. While there is no direct pathway from superior colliculus to somatosensory cortex, we found that activation of superior colliculus drives spiking in the posterior medial (POm) nucleus of the thalamus via a powerful monosynaptic pathway. Furthermore, POm neurons receiving input from superior colliculus provide monosynaptic excitatory input to somatosensory cortex. Silencing POm abolished the capacity of superior colliculus to modulate cortical whisker responses. Our findings indicate that the superior colliculus, which plays a key role in attention, modulates sensory processing in somatosensory cortex via a powerful di-synaptic pathway through the thalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Gharaei
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, The Australian National University Node, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
| | - Suraj Honnuraiah
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, The Australian National University Node, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Ehsan Arabzadeh
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, The Australian National University Node, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Greg J Stuart
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, The Australian National University Node, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
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39
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Abstract
In this article, we challenge the usefulness of "attention" as a unitary construct and/or neural system. We point out that the concept has too many meanings to justify a single term, and that "attention" is used to refer to both the explanandum (the set of phenomena in need of explanation) and the explanans (the set of processes doing the explaining). To illustrate these points, we focus our discussion on visual selective attention. It is argued that selectivity in processing has emerged through evolution as a design feature of a complex multi-channel sensorimotor system, which generates selective phenomena of "attention" as one of many by-products. Instead of the traditional analytic approach to attention, we suggest a synthetic approach that starts with well-understood mechanisms that do not need to be dedicated to attention, and yet account for the selectivity phenomena under investigation. We conclude that what would serve scientific progress best would be to drop the term "attention" as a label for a specific functional or neural system and instead focus on behaviorally relevant selection processes and the many systems that implement them.
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40
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Ultra High Field fMRI of Human Superior Colliculi Activity during Affective Visual Processing. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1331. [PMID: 31992744 PMCID: PMC6987103 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-57653-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 12/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on rodents and non-human primates has established the involvement of the superior colliculus in defensive behaviours and visual threat detection. The superior colliculus has been well-studied in humans for its functional roles in saccade and visual processing, but less is known about its involvement in affect. In standard functional MRI studies of the human superior colliculus, it is challenging to discern activity in the superior colliculus from activity in surrounding nuclei such as the periaqueductal gray due to technological and methodological limitations. Employing high-field strength (7 Tesla) fMRI techniques, this study imaged the superior colliculus at high (0.75 mm isotropic) resolution, which enabled isolation of the superior colliculus from other brainstem nuclei. Superior colliculus activation during emotionally aversive image viewing blocks was greater than that during neutral image viewing blocks. These findings suggest that the superior colliculus may play a role in shaping subjective emotional experiences in addition to its visuomotor functions, bridging the gap between affective research on humans and non-human animals.
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Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:26187-26194. [PMID: 31871179 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902286116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention is a common but highly complex term associated with a large number of distinct behavioral and perceptual phenomena. In the brain, attention-related changes in neuronal activity are observed in widespread structures. The many distinct behavioral and neuronal phenomena related to attention suggest that it might be subdivided into components corresponding to distinct biological mechanisms. Recent neurophysiological studies in monkeys have isolated behavioral changes related to attention along the 2 indices of signal detection theory and found that these 2 behavioral changes are associated with distinct neuronal changes in different brain areas. These results support the view that attention is made up of distinct neurobiological mechanisms.
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Faust NT, Chatterjee A, Christopoulos GI. Beauty in the eyes and the hand of the beholder: Eye and hand movements' differential responses to facial attractiveness. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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Hu F, Kamigaki T, Zhang Z, Zhang S, Dan U, Dan Y. Prefrontal Corticotectal Neurons Enhance Visual Processing through the Superior Colliculus and Pulvinar Thalamus. Neuron 2019; 104:1141-1152.e4. [PMID: 31668485 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2019] [Revised: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Top-down modulation of visual processing is mediated in part by direct prefrontal to visual cortical projections. Here, we show that the mouse cingulate cortex (Cg) regulates visual processing not only through corticocortical neurons projecting to the visual cortex but also through corticotectal neurons projecting subcortically. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulation demonstrated a prominent contribution of Cg corticotectal neurons to visually guided behavior, which is mediated by their collateral projections to both the motor-related layers of the superior colliculus (SC) and the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus (LP, analogous to the primate pulvinar). Whereas the Cg innervates the anterior LP (LPa), the SC innervates the posterior LP (LPp). Activating each stage of the Cg→SC→LPp or the Cg→LPa pathway strongly enhanced visual performance of the mouse and the sensory responses of visual cortical neurons. These results delineate two subcortical pathways by which a subtype of prefrontal pyramidal neurons exerts a powerful top-down influence on visual processing. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Hu
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Tsukasa Kamigaki
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Siyu Zhang
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Usan Dan
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Yang Dan
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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Hanning NM, Deubel H, Szinte M. Sensitivity measures of visuospatial attention. J Vis 2019; 19:17. [DOI: 10.1167/19.12.17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Nina M. Hanning
- Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Department Biologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Planegg, Germany
| | - Heiner Deubel
- Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Department Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
| | - Martin Szinte
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Marseille, France
- Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- ://www.martinszinte.net
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Jonikaitis D, Moore T. The interdependence of attention, working memory and gaze control: behavior and neural circuitry. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 29:126-134. [PMID: 30825836 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Revised: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Visual attention, visual working memory, and gaze control are basic functions that all select a subset of visual input to guide immediate or subsequent behavior. In this review, we focus on the relationship between these three functions and describe evidence, both at the behavioral and neural circuit levels that they are heavily interdependent. We start with the demonstration that gaze control - or saccade preparation in particular - leads to spatial attention. Next, we show that spatial attention and working memory interact at the behavioral level and rely on a common set of neural mechanisms. Next, we discuss the evidence that gaze control mechanisms are involved in spatial working memory. Lastly, we highlight the links between gaze control and non-spatial memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donatas Jonikaitis
- Department of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.
| | - Tirin Moore
- Department of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.
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Donato F. Motor Control: Head-Turning Modular Organization of the Superior Colliculus. Curr Biol 2019; 29:R829-R831. [PMID: 31505179 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The superior colliculus supports an animal's ability to orient itself toward objects of interest. A new study suggests that the clustered anatomical organization of a genetically distinct class of neurons provides the substrate for a modular representation of motor space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavio Donato
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
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Subcortical connectivity correlates selectively with attention's effects on spatial choice bias. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:19711-19716. [PMID: 31492811 PMCID: PMC6765279 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902704116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Forebrain mechanisms of visuospatial attention have been widely studied. Yet, how the midbrain contributes to attention remains comparatively unknown. Here, we examined the role of the superior colliculus (SC), a vertebrate midbrain structure, in attention. Does the SC control sensitivity to attended information, or enable biasing choices toward attended information, or both? We mapped structural connections of the human SC with neocortical regions and found that the strengths of these connections correlated with, and were strongly predictive of, individuals’ choice bias, but not sensitivity. Taken together with previous animal studies, our results suggest that the human SC may play an evolutionarily conserved role in controlling choice bias during visual attention. Neural mechanisms of attention are extensively studied in the neocortex; comparatively little is known about how subcortical regions contribute to attention. The superior colliculus (SC) is an evolutionarily conserved, subcortical (midbrain) structure that has been implicated in controlling visuospatial attention. Yet how the SC contributes mechanistically to attention remains unknown. We investigated the role of the SC in attention, combining model-based psychophysics, diffusion imaging, and tractography in human participants. Specifically, we asked whether the SC contributes to enhancing sensitivity (d′) to attended information, or whether it contributes to biasing choices (criteria) in favor of attended information. We tested human participants on a multialternative change detection task, with endogenous spatial cueing, and quantified sensitivity and bias with a recently developed multidimensional signal detection model (m-ADC model). At baseline, sensitivity and bias exhibited complementary patterns of asymmetries across the visual hemifields: While sensitivity was consistently higher for detecting changes in the left hemifield, bias was higher for reporting changes in the right hemifield. Remarkably, white matter connectivity of the SC with the neocortex mirrored this pattern of asymmetries. Specifically, the asymmetry in SC–cortex connectivity correlated with the asymmetry in choice bias, but not in sensitivity. In addition, SC–cortex connectivity strength could predict cueing-induced modulation of bias, but not of sensitivity, across individuals. In summary, the SC may be a key node in an evolutionarily conserved network for controlling choice bias during visuospatial attention.
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Crapse TB, Lau H, Basso MA. A Role for the Superior Colliculus in Decision Criteria. Neuron 2019; 97:181-194.e6. [PMID: 29301100 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Simple decisions arise from the evaluation of sensory evidence. But decisions are determined by more than just evidence. Individuals establish internal decision criteria that influence how they respond. Where or how decision criteria are established in the brain remains poorly understood. Here, we show that neuronal activity in the superior colliculus (SC) predicts changes in decision criteria. Using a novel "Yes-No" task that isolates changes in decision criterion from changes in decision sensitivity, and computing neuronal measures of sensitivity and criterion, we find that SC neuronal activity correlates with the decision criterion regardless of the location of the choice report. We also show that electrical manipulation of activity within the SC produces changes in decisions consistent with changes in decision criteria and are largely independent of the choice report location. Our correlational and causal results together provide strong evidence that SC activity signals the position of a decision criterion. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trinity B Crapse
- Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurobiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Hakwan Lau
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Michele A Basso
- Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurobiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute , UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Updating spatial working memory in a dynamic visual environment. Cortex 2019; 119:267-286. [PMID: 31170650 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The present review describes recent developments regarding the role of the eye movement system in representing spatial information and keeping track of locations of relevant objects. First, we discuss the active vision perspective and why eye movements are considered crucial for perception and attention. The second part focuses on the question of how the oculomotor system is used to represent spatial attentional priority, and the role of the oculomotor system in maintenance of this spatial information. Lastly, we discuss recent findings demonstrating rapid updating of information across saccadic eye movements. We argue that the eye movement system plays a key role in maintaining and rapidly updating spatial information. Furthermore, we suggest that rapid updating emerges primarily to make sure actions are minimally affected by intervening eye movements, allowing us to efficiently interact with the world around us.
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Brissenden JA, Somers DC. Cortico-cerebellar networks for visual attention and working memory. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 29:239-247. [PMID: 31202085 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Revised: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Cerebellar cortex, which is cytoarchitectonically homogenous, can be functionally differentiated by connectivity differences across the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortical dorsal attention network exhibits strong, selective connectivity with a set of cerebellar circuits, including lobule VIIb/VIIIa. Recent findings demonstrate that lobule VIIb/VIIIa exhibits functional properties characteristic of the cortical dorsal attention network: task-specific activation; working memory load-dependent responses; and the representation of visuospatial location. Moreover, functional cortico-cerebellar subnetworks exhibit topographic specialization for different aspects of visual attentional processing. Thus, cerebellar lobule VIIb/VIIIa, rather than simply supporting motor functions, appears to be an integral part of the brain's visual attentional circuitry. More generally, these findings suggest that parallel cortico-cerebellar networks may play highly specific functional roles in a broad range of cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A Brissenden
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States
| | - David C Somers
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States.
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