Two-dimensional pattern motion analysis uses local features.

Extensive research suggests that the visual system computes the direction of motion of a two-dimensional pattern from the motion of its oriented spatial frequency components. However, there is some evidence to suggest that the local features in a pattern are also important. In order to demonstrate that the local features contribute to motion perception we have created complex stimuli in which the oriented spatial frequency components have the same direction of motion but the local features move in different directions. The stimuli are multi-component plaid patterns with alternating high and low contrast rows. An analysis based on the oriented spatial frequency components predicts a uniform motion percept for the whole pattern. However, an analysis based on the local features in the pattern predicts that the high-contrast and low-contrast rows would be perceived to move in opposite directions. In a direction discrimination task, observers reported opposite directions of motion for small patches of the pattern that were centred on high and low contrast rows. This supports the hypothesis that the visual system uses local features when computing pattern motion. We show that a simple energy model with localised motion sensors that are broadly tuned for orientation could explain our results.

Stimulus-induced dissociation of neuronal firing rates and local field potential gamma power and its relationship to the resonance blood oxygen level-dependent signal in macaque primary visual cortex.

The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal is regularly used to assign neuronal activity to cognitive function. Recent analyses have shown that the local field potential (LFP) gamma power is a better predictor of the fMRI BOLD signal than spiking activity. However, LFP gamma power and spiking activity are usually correlated, clouding the analysis of the neural basis of the BOLD signal. We show that changes in LFP gamma power and spiking activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of the awake primate can be dissociated by using grating and plaid pattern stimuli, which differentially engage surround suppression and cross-orientation inhibition/facilitation within and between cortical columns. Grating presentation yielded substantial V1 LFP gamma frequency oscillations and significant multi-unit activity. Plaid pattern presentation significantly reduced the LFP gamma power while increasing population multi-unit activity. The fMRI BOLD activity followed the LFP gamma power changes, not the multi-unit activity. Inference of neuronal activity from the fMRI BOLD signal thus requires detailed a priori knowledge of how different stimuli or tasks activate the cortical network.

Acetylcholine contributes through muscarinic receptors to attentional modulation in V1.

Attention exerts a strong influence over neuronal processing in cortical areas. It selectively increases firing rates and affects tuning properties, including changing receptive field locations and sizes. Although these effects are well studied, their cellular mechanisms are poorly understood. To study the cellular mechanisms, we combined iontophoretic pharmacological analysis of cholinergic receptors with single cell recordings in V1 while rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performed a task that demanded top-down spatial attention. Attending to the receptive field of the V1 neuron under study caused an increase in firing rates. Here we show that this attentional modulation was enhanced by low doses of acetylcholine. Furthermore, applying the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine reduced attentional modulation, whereas the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine had no systematic effect. These results demonstrate that muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms play a central part in mediating the effects of attention in V1.

A novel electrode-pipette design for simultaneous recording of extracellular spikes and iontophoretic drug application in awake behaving monkeys.

We developed a novel design of an electrode-pipette combination (EPC) which allows access to brain structures in awake behaving primates without the need for guide tubes or to mechanically open the dura prior to electrode insertion. The EPC consists of an etched tungsten in glass electrode flanked by two pipettes which allow for local and highly controlled iontophoretic administration of neuroactive substances. These EPCs have excellent single cell isolation properties and are sturdy enough to penetrate the primate dura for up to 8 weeks following either a craniotomy or a dura scrape (i.e. even after substantial built up of fibrous scar tissue). We show that the EPCs can be used to selectively manipulate the cholinergic system in primate V1 during passive fixation and while animals perform an attentionally demanding task.