Dataset Information

Effects of sustained spatial attention in the human lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus.

ABSTRACT: The role of subcortical visual structures such as the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the superior colliculus (SC) in the control of visual spatial attention remains poorly understood. Here, we used high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure responses in the human LGN and SC during sustained spatial attention. Subjects covertly and continuously tracked one of two segments that rotated through the visual field, composed of either moving dots or transient colored shapes. Activity in both nuclei was generally enhanced by attention, independent of the stimulus type, with the voxels responding more sensitively to stimulus contrast (those dominated by magnocellular input) exhibiting greater attentional enhancement. The LGN contained clusters of voxels exhibiting attentional enhancement or weak suppression, whereas the SC exhibited predominantly attentional enhancement, which was significantly stronger than in the LGN. The spatial distribution of the attentional effects was unrelated to the retinotopic organization in either structure. The results demonstrate that each of the major subcortical visual pathways participates in attentional selection, and their differential magnitudes of modulation suggest distinct roles.

SUBMITTER: Schneider KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2676894 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of sustained spatial attention in the human lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus.

Schneider Keith A KA Kastner Sabine S

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 20090201 6

The role of subcortical visual structures such as the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the superior colliculus (SC) in the control of visual spatial attention remains poorly understood. Here, we used high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure responses in the human LGN and SC during sustained spatial attention. Subjects covertly and continuously tracked one of two segments that rotated through the visual field, composed of either moving dots or transient colored shapes. ...[more]

PMID: 19211885

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Project description:In both dichromats and trichromats, cone opsin signals are maintained independently in cones and combined at the bipolar and retinal ganglion cell level, creating parallel color opponent pathways to the central visual system. Like other dichromats, the mouse retina expresses a short-wavelength (S) and a medium-wavelength (M) opsin, with the S-opsin shifted to peak sensitivity in the ultraviolet (UV) range. Unlike in primates, nonuniform opsin expression across the retina and coexpression in single cones creates a mostly mixed chromatic signal. Here, we describe the visuotopic and chromatic organization of spiking responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate and of the local field potentials in their recipient zone in primary visual cortex (V1). We used an immersive visual stimulus dome that allowed us to present spatiotemporally modulated UV and green luminance in any region of the visual field of an awake, head-fixed mouse. Consistent with retinal expression of opsins, we observed graded UV-to-green dominated responses from the upper to lower visual fields, with a smaller difference across azimuth. In addition, we identified a subpopulation of cells (<10%) that exhibited spectrally opponent responses along the S-M axis. Luminance signals of each wavelength and color signals project to the middle layers of V1.Significance statementIn natural environments, color information is useful for guiding behavior. How small terrestrial mammals such as mice use graded expression of cone opsins to extract visual information from their environments is not clear, even as the use of mice for studying visually guided behavior grows. In this study, we examined the color signals that the retina sends to the visual cortex via the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. We found that green dominated responses in the lower and nasal visual field and ultraviolet dominated responses in the upper visual field. We describe a subset of cells that exhibit color opponent responses.

Dataset Information

Effects of sustained spatial attention in the human lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus.

Publications

Effects of sustained spatial attention in the human lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus.

Similar Datasets

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