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Visual receptive field structure of cortical inhibitory neurons revealed by two-photon imaging guided recording.

ABSTRACT: Synaptic inhibition plays an important role in shaping receptive field (RF) properties in the visual cortex. However, the underlying mechanisms remain not well understood, partly because of difficulties in systematically studying functional properties of cortical inhibitory neurons in vivo. Here, we established two-photon imaging guided cell-attached recordings from genetically labeled inhibitory neurons and nearby "shadowed" excitatory neurons in the primary visual cortex of adult mice. Our results revealed that in layer 2/3, the majority of excitatory neurons exhibited both On and Off spike subfields, with their spatial arrangement varying from being completely segregated to overlapped. In contrast, most layer 4 excitatory neurons exhibited only one discernable subfield. Interestingly, no RF structure with significantly segregated On and Off subfields was observed for layer 2/3 inhibitory neurons of either the fast-spike or regular-spike type. They predominantly possessed overlapped On and Off subfields with a significantly larger size than the excitatory neurons and exhibited much weaker orientation tuning. These results from the mouse visual cortex suggest that different from the push-pull model proposed for simple cells, layer 2/3 simple-type neurons with segregated spike On and Off subfields likely receive spatially overlapped inhibitory On and Off inputs. We propose that the phase-insensitive inhibition can enhance the spatial distinctiveness of On and Off subfields through a gain control mechanism.

SUBMITTER: Liu BH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2779138 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Visual receptive field structure of cortical inhibitory neurons revealed by two-photon imaging guided recording.

Liu Bao-hua BH Li Pingyang P Li Ya-tang YT Sun Yujiao J YJ Yanagawa Yuchio Y Obata Kunihiko K Zhang Li I LI Tao Huizhong W HW

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 20090801 34

Synaptic inhibition plays an important role in shaping receptive field (RF) properties in the visual cortex. However, the underlying mechanisms remain not well understood, partly because of difficulties in systematically studying functional properties of cortical inhibitory neurons in vivo. Here, we established two-photon imaging guided cell-attached recordings from genetically labeled inhibitory neurons and nearby "shadowed" excitatory neurons in the primary visual cortex of adult mice. Our res ...[more]

PMID: 19710305

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Project description:ImportanceThe neuronal mechanism of visual agnosia and foveal crowding that underlies the behavioral symptoms of several classic neurodegenerative diseases, including impaired holistic perception, navigation, and reading, is still unclear. A better understanding of this mechanism is expected to lead to better treatment and rehabilitation.ObjectiveTo use state-of-the-art neuroimaging protocols to assess a hypothesis that abnormal population receptive fields (pRF) in the visual cortex underlie high-order visual impairments.Design, setting, and participantsBetween April 26 and November 21, 2016, patients and controls were recruited from the Hadassah-Hebrew University medical center in a cross-sectional manner. Six patients with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) were approached and 1 was excluded because of an inability to perform the task. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging-based cortical visual field mapping and pRF evaluation and performed a masked repetition priming task to evaluate visuospatial perception along the eccentricity axis. The association between pRF sizes and behavioral impairments was assessed to evaluate the role of abnormal pRF sizes in impaired visual perception. Posterior cortical atrophy is a visual variant of Alzheimer disease that is characterized by progressive visual agnosia despite almost 20/20 visual acuity. Patients with PCA are rare but invaluable for studying visual processing abnormalities following neurodegeneration, as atrophy begins in visual cortices but initially spares other brain regions involved in memory and verbal communication.ExposuresParticipants underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan.Main outcomes and measuresPopulation receptive field sizes and their association with visual processing along the fovea-to-periphery gradient.ResultsFive patients with PCA (4 men [80%]; mean [SEM] age, 62.9 [3.5] years) were compared with 8 age-matched controls (1 man [25%]; mean [SEM] age, 63.7 [3.7] years) and demonstrated an atypical pRF mapping that varied along the eccentricity axis, which presented as abnormally small peripheral and large foveal pRFs sizes. Abnormality was seen in V1 (peripheral, 4.4° and 5.5°; foveal, 5.5° and 4.5° in patients and controls, respectively; P < .05) as well as in higher visual regions, but not in intermediate ones. Behaviorally, an atypical fovea-to-periphery gradient in visual processing was found that correlated with their pRF properties (r = 0.8; P < .01 for the correlation between pRF and behavioral fovea-to-periphery slopes).Conclusions and relevanceHigh-order visuocognitive functions may depend on abnormalities in basic cortical characteristics. These results may fundamentally change approaches to rehabilitation in such conditions, emphasizing the potential of low-level visual interventions.

Dataset Information

Visual receptive field structure of cortical inhibitory neurons revealed by two-photon imaging guided recording.

Publications

Visual receptive field structure of cortical inhibitory neurons revealed by two-photon imaging guided recording.

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