PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Thomas Pfeffer
AU  - Arthur-Ervin Avramiea
AU  - Guido Nolte
AU  - Andreas K. Engel
AU  - Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen
AU  - Tobias H. Donner
TI  - Catecholamines, not acetylcholine, alter cortical and perceptual dynamics in line with increased excitation-inhibition ratio
AID  - 10.1101/170613
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 170613
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/04/170613.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/04/170613.full
AB  - The ratio between excitatory and inhibitory neurons (E/I ratio) is vital for cortical circuit dynamics, computation, and behavior. This ratio may be under the dynamic control of neuromodulatory systems, which are in turn implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular, the catecholaminergic (dopaminergic and noradrenergic) and cholinergic systems have highly specific effects on excitatory and inhibitory cortical neurons, which might translate into changes in the local net E/I ratio. Here, we assessed and compared their net effects on net E/I ratio in human cortex, through an integrated application of computational modeling, placebo-controlled pharmacological intervention, magnetoencephalographic recordings of cortical activity dynamics, and perceptual psychophysics. We found that catecholamines, but not acetylcholine, altered both the temporal structure of intrinsic activity fluctuations in visual and parietal cortex, and the volatility of perceptual inference based on ambiguous visual input. Both effects indicate that catecholamines increase the net E/I ratio in visual and parietal cortex.