A Disinhibitory Circuit for Contextual Modulation in Primary Visual Cortex.

ABSTRACT: Context guides perception by influencing stimulus saliency. Accordingly, in visual cortex, responses to a stimulus are modulated by context, the visual scene surrounding the stimulus. Responses are suppressed when stimulus and surround are similar but not when they differ. The underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we use optical recordings, manipulations, and computational modeling to show that disinhibitory circuits consisting of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing and somatostatin (SOM)-expressing inhibitory neurons modulate responses in mouse visual cortex depending on similarity between stimulus and surround, primarily by modulating recurrent excitation. When stimulus and surround are similar, VIP neurons are inactive, and activity of SOM neurons leads to suppression o

SUBMITTER: Keller AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7850578 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature