TY - JOUR
T1 - A theory of direction selectivity for macaque primary visual cortex
AU - Chariker, Logan
AU - Shapley, Robert
AU - Hawken, Michael
AU - Young, Lai Sang
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by NIH Grant R01 EY001472 (R.S.), NIH Grants R01 EY008300 and NIH R01 EY 15549 (M.H.), NSF Grant 1734854 (R.S. and L.-S.Y.), NIH Core Grant P30 EY13079, and NIH Training Grant T32 EY7136. We thank the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who participated in the experiments-Dario Ringach, Michael Sceniak, Elizabeth Johnson, Siddhartha Joshi, J. A. Henrie, Patrick Williams, Dajun Xing, Christopher Henry, and Anita Disney-and Madhura Joglekar for early numerical explorations.
Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This research was supported by NIH Grant R01 EY001472 (R.S.), NIH Grants R01 EY008300 and NIH R01 EY 15549 (M.H.), NSF Grant 1734854 (R.S. and L.-S.Y.), NIH Core Grant P30 EY13079, and NIH Training Grant T32 EY7136. We thank the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who participated in the experiments—Dario Ringach, Michael Sceniak, Elizabeth Johnson, Siddhartha Joshi, J. A. Henrie, Patrick Williams, Dajun Xing, Christopher Henry, and Anita Disney—and Madhura Joglekar for early numerical explorations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/8/10
Y1 - 2021/8/10
N2 - This paper offers a theory for the origin of direction selectivity (DS) in the macaque primary visual cortex, V1. DS is essential for the perception of motion and control of pursuit eye movements. In the macaque visual pathway, neurons with DS first appear in V1, in the Simple cell population of the Magnocellular input layer 4Cα. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells that project to these cortical neurons, however, are not direction selective. We hypothesize that DS is initiated in feed-forward LGN input, in the summed responses of LGN cells afferent to a cortical cell, and it is achieved through the interplay of 1) different visual response dynamics of ON and OFF LGN cells and 2) the wiring of ON and OFF LGN neurons to cortex. We identify specific temporal differences in the ON/OFF pathways that, together with item 2, produce distinct response time courses in separated subregions; analysis and simulations confirm the efficacy of the mechanisms proposed. To constrain the theory, we present data on Simple cells in layer 4Cα in response to drifting gratings. About half of the cells were found to have high DS, and the DS was broadband in spatial and temporal frequency (SF and TF). The proposed theory includes a complete analysis of how stimulus features such as SF and TF interact with ON/OFF dynamics and LGN-to-cortex wiring to determine the preferred direction and magnitude of DS.
AB - This paper offers a theory for the origin of direction selectivity (DS) in the macaque primary visual cortex, V1. DS is essential for the perception of motion and control of pursuit eye movements. In the macaque visual pathway, neurons with DS first appear in V1, in the Simple cell population of the Magnocellular input layer 4Cα. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells that project to these cortical neurons, however, are not direction selective. We hypothesize that DS is initiated in feed-forward LGN input, in the summed responses of LGN cells afferent to a cortical cell, and it is achieved through the interplay of 1) different visual response dynamics of ON and OFF LGN cells and 2) the wiring of ON and OFF LGN neurons to cortex. We identify specific temporal differences in the ON/OFF pathways that, together with item 2, produce distinct response time courses in separated subregions; analysis and simulations confirm the efficacy of the mechanisms proposed. To constrain the theory, we present data on Simple cells in layer 4Cα in response to drifting gratings. About half of the cells were found to have high DS, and the DS was broadband in spatial and temporal frequency (SF and TF). The proposed theory includes a complete analysis of how stimulus features such as SF and TF interact with ON/OFF dynamics and LGN-to-cortex wiring to determine the preferred direction and magnitude of DS.
KW - Direction selectivity
KW - ON/OFF pathways
KW - Primary visual cortex
KW - Spatial frequency
KW - Temporal frequency
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2105062118
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2105062118
M3 - Article
C2 - 34353906
AN - SCOPUS:85112483210
VL - 118
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 32
M1 - e2105062118
ER -