Distinct superficial and deep laminar domains of activity in the visual cortex during rest and stimulation
- 1
Unit on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- 2
Neurophysiology Imaging Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Spatial patterns of spontaneous neural activity at rest have previously been associated with specific networks in the brain, including those pertaining to the functional architecture of the primary visual cortex (V1). However, despite the prominent anatomical differences between cortical layers, little is known about the laminar pattern of spontaneous activity in V1. We address this topic by investigating the amplitude and coherence of ongoing local field potential (LFP) signals measured from different layers in V1 of macaque monkeys during rest and upon presentation of a visual stimulus. We used a linear microelectrode array to measure LFP signals at multiple, evenly spaced positions throughout the cortical thickness. Analyzing both the mean LFP amplitudes and between-contact LFP coherences, we identified two distinct zones of activity, roughly corresponding to superficial and deep layers, divided by a sharp transition near the bottom of layer 4. The LFP signals within each laminar zone were highly coherent, whereas those between zones were not. This functional compartmentalization was found not only during rest, but also when the receptive field was stimulated during a visual task. These results demonstrate the existence of distinct superficial and deep functional domains of coherent LFP activity in V1 that may reflect the intrinsic interplay of V1 microcircuitry with cortical and subcortical targets, respectively.
Keywords:
resting state, V1, laminae, gamma, LFP, coherence, layers, visual perception
Citation:
Maier A, Adams GK, Aura C and Leopold DA (2010) Distinct Superficial and deep laminar domains of activity in the visual cortex during rest and stimulation. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 4:31. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2010.00031
Received: 19 February 2010;
Paper pending published: 26 March 2010;
Accepted: 18 June 2010;
Published online: 10 August 2010
Edited by:
Lucina Q. Uddin, Stanford University, USA
Reviewed by:
Thomas Radman, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, USA
Mark Roberts, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Netherlands
Alex Thiele, Newcastle University, UK
Copyright:
© 2010 Maier, Adams, Aura and Leopold. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence:
Alexander Maier, Unit on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, MSC-4400, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. e-mail: maiera@mail.nih.gov