Following neuronal signals of multiple visual stimuli through cortical pathways to identify attentional gating mechanisms
Final Report Abstract
We investigated the neuronal mechanisms underlying selective attention that enable the brain to selectively and efficiently process currently relevant information. Corresponding insights are pivotal for understanding how the brain works, which is the indispensable basis provided by fundamental research for the rational and efficient development of effective new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for treating brain disorders. One of the central aspects of brain function, the selective transmission and processing of relevant information while suppressing irrelevant information, depends in the visual system on selective attention to the currently relevant stimulus. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that attention controls the effective transmission and, consequently, further processing of the relevant information by synchronizing oscillatory activity patterns (50-80 cycles per second) between neurons sending out relevant information and neurons that need to receive it. The rationale is that if neurons deliver their output when receiver neurons are in the most sensitive phase during their oscillatory cycle, the effectiveness of information transmission is maximized. Neurons that do not align their temporal activity patterns with the sensitive phases of receiving neurons would consequently have less influence on them. In our project, we (1) demonstrated the causal relationship between the precise phase at which signals arrive during the oscillatory activity cycle of the receiving neuron and the strength of their effect. This proof of causality allowed us to refute competing hypotheses. Furthermore, we could show that (2) this most sensitive phase relation between the neuronal activities of sender and receiver neurons occurs frequently, persists over relevant periods of time, and during these periods, significantly more information about visual stimuli is transmitted than during periods with other phase relations. We also found evidence supporting the hypothesis that (3) attention elicits this effective phase relation by increasing the activity of sender neurons processing relevant information while simultaneously reducing the activity of sender neurons processing competing, irrelevant information. For our data analysis, we developed a method for removing electrical stimulation artifacts from neuronal data without distorting the neuronal signal. Furthermore, we tested and characterized a method for quantifying spiking activity that supports activity data extraction from noisy data.
Publications
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Optimizing the Yield of Multi-Unit Activity by Including the Entire Spiking Activity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13.
Drebitz, Eric; Schledde, Bastian; Kreiter, Andreas K. & Wegener, Detlef
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Unexpectedly strong attentional modulation of V1/V2 activity implements a robust, contrast-invariant control mechanism for selective information processing. Bernstein Conference 2019, Berlin
Schünemann M., Rausch L. P., Drebitz E., Harnack D., Ernst U. A. & Kreiter A. K.
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A novel approach for removing micro-stimulation artifacts and reconstruction of broad-band neuronal signals. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 332, 108549.
Drebitz, Eric; Rausch, Lukas-Paul & Kreiter, Andreas K.
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Synchrony, flexible network configuration, and linking neural events to behavior. Current Opinion in Physiology, 16, 98-108.
Kreiter, Andreas K.
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Attentional modulations overcome large activity differences between competing neuronal populations in area V1/V2. 14th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society, 2021. Supplement to Neuroforum March 2021 (1), Band 27, eISSN 2363-7013, De Gruyter, Heidelberg, Germany
Rausch L. P., Schünemann M., Drebitz E., Harnack D., Ernst U. A. & Kreiter A. K.
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Information processing in monkey`s visual cortex is causally dependent on precise γ-Synchronization. 14th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society, 2021. Supplement to Neuroforum March 2021 (1), Band 27, eISSN 2363- 7013, De Gruyter, Heidelberg, Germany
Drebitz E., Rausch L.P. & Kreiter A. K.
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Tracking visual stimulus information across cortical layers in macaque’s area V1 for identification of neuronal gating mechanisms. P489.04. 2021 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. Chicago, IL: Society for Neuroscience, 2021. Online (2021)
Drebitz E., Rausch L. P., Domingo Gil E. & Kreiter A. K.
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Attention changes the efficacy of information transfer between layers in visual area V1 by adjusting their gamma-phase relations. Program No. 317.05. 2022 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2022. Online
Drebitz E., Rausch L. P., Domingo Gil E. & Kreiter A. K.
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Information Routing between cortical Layers in Macaque Area V1 depends on the phase relation between their Gamma-Oscillations. In FENS Forum 2022, Paris, France, July 9-13, 2022. Board Number: S04-095
Drebitz E., Rausch L. P., Stemmann H. & Kreiter A. K.
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Neuronal information processing causally depends on gamma phase synchrony. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
Drebitz, Eric; Rausch, Lukas-Paul & Kreiter, Andreas K.
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Strong attentional modulation of V1/V2 activity implements a robust, contrast-invariant control mechanism for selective information processing. (2023)
Rausch L. P., Schünemann M., Drebitz E., Harnack D., Ernst U. A. & Kreiter A. K.
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Three distinct gamma oscillatory networks within cortical columns in macaque monkeys’ area V1. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Drebitz, Eric; Rausch, Lukas-Paul; Gil, Esperanza Domingo & Kreiter, Andreas K.
