Reward Timing and Its Expression by Inhibitory Interneurons in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: The primary sensory cortex has historically been studied as a low-level feature detector, but has more recently been implicated in many higher-level cognitive functions. For instance, after an animal learns that a light predicts water at a fixed delay, neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) can produce "reward timing activity" (i.e., spike modulation of various forms that relate the interval between the visual stimulus and expected reward). Local manipulations to V1 implicate it as a site of learning reward timing activity (as opposed to simply reporting timing information from another region via feedback input). However, the manner by which V1 then produces these representations is unknown. Here, we combine behavior, in vivo electrophysiology, and optogenetics to investigate the characteristics of and circuit mechanisms underlying V1 reward timing in the head-fixed mouse. We find that reward timing activity is present in mouse V1, that inhibitory interneurons participate in reward timing, and that these representations are consistent with a theorized network architecture. Together, these results deepen our understanding of V1 reward timing and the manner by which it is produced.
Source: Cerebral Cortex
Authors: Kevin J Monk, Simon Allard, Marshall G Hussain Shuler
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: The production, learning, and behavioral significance of reward prediction signaling in cortex, JHU Center for Neuroscience Research, Learning temporal representations in cortex; mechanism and behavioral correlate, G6773989330, Neuroscience Training Program, Training Program in Neuroscience, Visual Science Training Program
OpenAlex ID: W3012630904