Neuronal Population Activity in Macaque Visual Cortices Dynamically Changes through Repeated Fixations in Active Free Viewing

eNeuro, vol. 10, pp. ENEURO.0086–23.2023

Abstract

Abstract During free viewing, we move our eyes and fixate on objects to recognize the visual scene of our surroundings. To investigate the neural representation of objects in this process, we studied individual and population neuronal activity in three different visual regions of the brains of macaque monkeys (Macaca fuscata): the primary and secondary visual cortices (V1, V2) and the inferotemporal cortex (IT). We designed a task where the animal freely selected objects in a stimulus image to fixate on while we examined the relationship between spiking activity, the order of fixations, and the fixated objects. We found that activity changed across repeated fixations on the same object in all three recorded areas, with observed reductions in firing rates. Furthermore, the responses of individual neurons became sparser and more selective with individual objects. The population activity for individual objects also became distinct. These results suggest that visual neurons respond dynamically to repeated input stimuli through a smaller number of spikes, thereby allowing for discrimination between individual objects with smaller energy.

Authors 7

1. Y. Yamane

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University · The University of Osaka

   Affiliation as printed

   Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan yukako.yamane@oist.jp

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

   Osaka University

2. Junji Ito

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6 and INM-10) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich 52425, Germany

   Jülich Research Centre

3. Cristian Joana

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Theoretical Physics · UCLouvain

   Affiliation as printed

   CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6 and INM-10) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich 52425, Germany

   Jülich Research Centre

   University of Louvain

4. Ichiro Fujita

   National Institute of Information and Communications Technology · The University of Osaka

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

   Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

   Osaka University

5. Pedro Esteban Maldonado

   Instituto de Neurociencia Biomédica · University of Chile

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neuroscience and Instituto de Neurosciencia Biomedica (BNI), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8380453, Chile

   Universidad de Chile

6. Kenji Doya

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

   Affiliation as printed

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan

   Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

7. Sonja Grün Aachen Theoretical Systems Neurobiology

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6 and INM-10) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich 52425, Germany

   Theoretical Systems Neurobiology, Rheinisch Westfaelische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Aachen 52056, Germany

   Jülich Research Centre

   RWTH Aachen University