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Higher-order visual areas broaden stimulus responsiveness in mouse primary visual cortex

oude Lohuis, M. N.; Cerván Cantón, A.; Pennartz, C. M. A.; Olcese, U.

2021-02-17 neuroscience
10.1101/2021.02.16.431393 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Over the past few years, the various areas that surround the primary visual cortex in the mouse have been associated with many functions, ranging from higher-order visual processing to decision making. Recently, some studies have shown that higher-order visual areas influence the activity of the primary visual cortex, refining its processing capabilities. Here we studied how in vivo optogenetic inactivation of two higher-order visual areas with different functional properties affects responses evoked by moving bars in the primary visual cortex. In contrast with the prevailing view, our results demonstrate that distinct higher-order visual areas similarly modulate early visual processing. In particular, these areas broaden stimulus responsiveness in the primary visual cortex, by amplifying sensory-evoked responses for stimuli not moving along the orientation preferred by individual neurons. Thus, feedback from higher-order visual areas amplifies V1 responses to non-preferred stimuli, which may aid their detection.

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