Biology subjects

McClure, J. P.

Publications and source records attributed to McClure, J. P..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Distinct response selectivity changes in primary visual and parietal cortex during visual discrimination learning

When animals learn the behavioral relevance of sensory features, response selectivity in primary sensory areas increases for those features. However, the effect of learning on neuronal activity in higher-level areas associated with decision-making in the parietal cortex, compared to primary sensory cortex, is not yet known. We used two-photon calcium imaging to determine how learning modifies neural representations in primary visual cortex (V1) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in a visual go/no-go orientation discrimination task. We found that behavior improvements after learning were associated with increased neuronal selectivity in both V1 and PPC. The increased selectivity in PPC was mainly driven by neurons preferring the rewarded go stimulus, while, in V1, neurons increased their selectivity for both the rewarded go and unrewarded no-go stimulus. Furthermore, feature preference was robust in V1 neurons but reorganized in PPC after learning. Finally, feature preference was preserved across contexts in V1 but not in PPC after learning, where many neurons switched their preference to the rewarded feature during active task engagement. Our results demonstrate that learning a visually-guided discrimination task increased information about relevant sensory features through distinct changes in the bottom and top levels of the visual cortical hierarchy. Visual cortex neurons encode visual features with increased reliability but with preserved feature preferences, while parietal neurons reorganize their feature preferences in a task-specific manner. HighlightsO_LIV1 and PPC response selectivity increases after visual discrimination learning. C_LIO_LISelectivity increase in PPC for rewarded features, but in V1 for both rewarded and unrewarded features. C_LIO_LIFeature preference robust in V1 but altered in PPC across learning. C_LIO_LIFeature preference after learning preserved across contexts in V1 but not PPC. C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Category representations in the primary visual cortex support orientation discrimination

Neuronal population activity in sensory cortices is the substrate for perceptual decisions. Yet, we still do not understand how neuronal information content in sensory cortices relates to behavioral reports. To reconcile neurometric and psychometric performance, we recorded the activity of V1 neurons in mice performing a Go/NoGo orientation discrimination task. We found that, around the discrimination threshold, V1 does not represent the orientation of the stimuli as canonically expected. Instead, it forms categorical representations characterized by a relocation of activity at task-relevant domains of the orientation representational space. The relative neuronal activity at those discrete domains accurately predicted the probabilities of the animals decisions. Our results thus suggest that the categorical integration of discretized feature representations from sensory cortices explains perceptual decisions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Dynamic distortion of the orientation representational space after learning in the mouse primary visual cortex

Learning is an essential cognitive mechanism allowing behavioral adaptation through adjustments in neuronal processing. It is associated with changes in the activity of sensory cortical neurons evoked by task-relevant stimuli. However, the exact nature of those modifications and the computational advantages they may confer are still debated. Here, we investigated how learning an orientation discrimination task alters the neuronal representations of the cues orientations in the primary visual cortex (V1) of male and female mice. When comparing the activity evoked by the task stimuli in naive mice and mice performing the task, we found that the representations of the orientation of the rewarded and non-rewarded cues were more accurate and stable in trained mice. This better cue representation in trained mice was associated with a distortion of the orientation representation space such that stimuli flanking the task-relevant orientations were represented as the task stimuli themselves, suggesting that those stimuli were generalized as the task cues. This distortion was context dependent as it was absent in trained mice passively viewing the task cues and enhanced in the behavioral sessions where mice performed best. Those modifications of the V1 population orientation representation in performing mice were supported by a suppression of the activity of neurons tuned for orientations neighboring the orientations of the task cues. Thus, visual processing in V1 is dynamically adapted to enhance the reliability of the representation of the learned cues and favor generalization in the task-relevant computational space. Significance statementPerformance improvement in a task often requires facilitating the extraction of the information necessary to its execution. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a suppression mechanism that improves the representation of the orientations of the task stimuli in the V1 of mice performing an orientation discrimination task. We also show that this mechanism distorts the V1 orientation representation space, leading stimuli flanking the task stimuli orientations to be generalized as the task stimuli themselves.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Pure tones modulate the representation of orientation and direction in the primary visual cortex

Multimodal sensory integration facilitates the generation of a unified and coherent perception of the environment. It is now well established that unimodal sensory perceptions, such as vision, are improved in multisensory contexts. While multimodal integration is primarily performed by dedicated multisensory brain regions such as the association cortices or the superior colliculus, recent studies have shown that multisensory interactions also occur in primary sensory cortices. In particular, sounds were shown to modulate the responses of neurons located in layers 2/3 (L2/3) of the mouse primary visual cortex (V1). Yet, the net effect of sound modulation at the V1 population level remained unclear. Here, we performed two-photon calcium imaging in awake mice to compare the representation of the orientation and the direction of drifting gratings by V1 L2/3 neurons in unimodal (visual only) or multi-modal (audiovisual) conditions. We found that sound modulation depended on the tuning properties (orientation and direction selectivity) and response amplitudes of V1 L2/3 neurons. Sounds potentiated the responses of neurons that were highly tuned to the cue orientation and direction but weakly active in the unimodal context, following the principle of inverse effectiveness of multimodal integration. Moreover, sound suppressed the responses of neurons untuned for the orientation and/or the direction of the visual cue. Altogether, sound modulation improved the representation of the orientation and direction of the visual stimulus in V1 L2/3. Namely, visual stimuli presented with auditory stimuli recruited a neuronal population better tuned to the visual stimulus orientation and direction than when presented alone.

neuroscience↗