Unit on Neural Computation and Behavior, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States.
Elife. 2021 Feb 1;10:e62156. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62156.
Primary visual cortex (V1) in the mouse projects to numerous brain areas, including several secondary visual areas, frontal cortex, and basal ganglia. While it has been demonstrated that optogenetic silencing of V1 strongly impairs visually guided behavior, it is not known which downstream areas are required for visual behaviors. Here we trained mice to perform a contrast-increment change detection task, for which substantial stimulus information is present in V1. Optogenetic silencing of visual responses in secondary visual areas revealed that their activity is required for even this simple visual task. In vivo electrophysiology showed that, although inhibiting secondary visual areas could produce some feedback effects in V1, the principal effect was profound suppression at the location of the optogenetic light. The results show that pathways through secondary visual areas are necessary for even simple visual behaviors.
初级视皮层（V1）在老鼠中投射到许多脑区，包括几个次级视觉区、额叶皮层和基底神经节。虽然已经证明 V1 的光遗传学沉默强烈损害了视觉引导行为，但尚不清楚视觉行为需要哪些下游区域。在这里，我们训练老鼠执行对比度增量变化检测任务，该任务在 V1 中有大量的刺激信息。次级视觉区视觉反应的光遗传学沉默表明，即使是这种简单的视觉任务也需要它们的活动。体内电生理学研究表明，尽管抑制次级视觉区可能会在 V1 中产生一些反馈效应，但主要效应是光遗传学光照射位置的深度抑制。结果表明，即使是简单的视觉行为，次级视觉区的通路也是必需的。
