Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Optogenetically induced low-frequency correlations impair perception

View ORCID ProfileAnirvan S. Nandy, Jonathan J. Nassi, John H. Reynolds
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/252841
Anirvan S. Nandy
1Systems Neurobiology Laboratories The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037
2Present address: Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Anirvan S. Nandy
  • For correspondence: anirvan.nandy@yale.edu
Jonathan J. Nassi
1Systems Neurobiology Laboratories The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037
3Present address: Inscopix Inc., Palo Alto, CA 94303
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John H. Reynolds
1Systems Neurobiology Laboratories The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Deployment of covert attention to a spatial location can cause large decreases in low-frequency correlated variability among neurons in macaque area V4 whose receptive-fields lie at the attended location. It has been estimated that this reduction accounts for a substantial fraction of the attention-mediated improvement in sensory processing. These estimates depend on assumptions about how population signals are decoded and the conclusion that correlated variability impairs perception, is purely hypothetical. Here we test this proposal directly by optogenetically inducing low-frequency fluctuations, to see if this interferes with performance in an attention-demanding task. We find that low‐ frequency optical stimulation of neurons in V4 elevates correlations among pairs of neurons and impairs the animal’s ability to make fine sensory discriminations. Stimulation at higher frequencies does not impair performance, despite comparable modulation of neuronal responses. These results support the hypothesis that attention-dependent reductions in correlated variability contribute to improved perception of attended stimuli.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 24, 2018.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Optogenetically induced low-frequency correlations impair perception
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Optogenetically induced low-frequency correlations impair perception
Anirvan S. Nandy, Jonathan J. Nassi, John H. Reynolds
bioRxiv 252841; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/252841
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Optogenetically induced low-frequency correlations impair perception
Anirvan S. Nandy, Jonathan J. Nassi, John H. Reynolds
bioRxiv 252841; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/252841

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4079)
  • Biochemistry (8750)
  • Bioengineering (6467)
  • Bioinformatics (23314)
  • Biophysics (11719)
  • Cancer Biology (9135)
  • Cell Biology (13227)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7404)
  • Ecology (11360)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15078)
  • Genetics (10390)
  • Genomics (14001)
  • Immunology (9109)
  • Microbiology (22025)
  • Molecular Biology (8773)
  • Neuroscience (47317)
  • Paleontology (350)
  • Pathology (1419)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2480)
  • Physiology (3701)
  • Plant Biology (8044)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1427)
  • Synthetic Biology (2206)
  • Systems Biology (6009)
  • Zoology (1247)