Work

Neural substrates for saccadic modulation of visual representations in mouse superior colliculus

Year: 2024

Type: preprint

Abstract: How do sensory systems account for stimuli generated by natural behavior? We addressed this question by examining how an ethologically relevant class of saccades modulates visual representations in the mouse superior colliculus (SC), a key region for sensorimotor integration. We quantified saccadic modulation by recording SC responses to visual probes presented at stochastic saccade-probe latencies. Saccades significantly impacted population representations of the probes, with early enhancement that began prior to saccades and pronounced suppression for several hundred milliseconds following saccades, independent of units' visual response properties or directional tuning. To determine the cause of saccadic modulation, we presented fictive saccades that simulated the visual experience during saccades without motor output. Some units exhibited similar modulation by fictive and real saccades, suggesting a sensory-driven origin of saccadic modulation, while others had dissimilar modulation, indicating a motor contribution. These findings advance our understanding of the neural basis of natural visual coding.

Source: bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.21.613770

Authors: Joshua B. Hunt, Anna Buteau, Spencer Hanson, Alon Poleg-Polsky, Gidon Felsen

Institutions: University of Colorado Anschutz, University of Colorado Denver

Language: English

Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado, National Eye Institute, National Center for Research Resources