Heij Jurjen, Raimondo Luisa, Siero Jeroen C W, van der Zwaag Wietske, Knapen Tomas, Dumoulin Serge O
Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
iScience. 2025 Jun 19;28(7):112967. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112967. eCollection 2025 Jul 18.
Neuronal populations in visual cortex integrate stimulus-driven input from the retina with contextual input from neighboring neurons, each targeting distinct cortical layers. Using line-scanning fMRI with precise targeting, we recorded depth-resolved responses in human visual cortex to stimuli tailored to each participant's population receptive field (pRF) of the target patch. Stimuli in the center of the pRF evoked increasing responses toward the pial surface with a small peak at middle depths, consistent with feedforward input. Large stimuli in the surround elicited activity in superficial and deep layers, where descending connections terminate. Unexpectedly, medium-sized stimuli produced a complex pattern, possibly due to overlap from neuronal populations involved in stimulus- and context-related processes. Additionally, large surround stimuli evoked a negative deflection at middle depths, potentially reflecting suppression from lateral inhibitory circuits. These findings bridge invasive animal studies with human neuroimaging and highlight the potential for manipulating cortical computations non-invasively in cognitive neuroscience.
视觉皮层中的神经元群体将来自视网膜的刺激驱动输入与来自相邻神经元的上下文输入整合在一起，每个输入针对不同的皮层层。使用具有精确靶向的线扫描功能磁共振成像，我们记录了人类视觉皮层中针对目标斑块的每个参与者群体感受野（pRF）量身定制的刺激的深度分辨反应。pRF中心的刺激引起向软脑膜表面的反应增加，在中间深度处有一个小峰值，这与前馈输入一致。周围的大刺激在浅层和深层引发活动，下行连接在这些层终止。出乎意料的是，中等大小的刺激产生了复杂的模式，这可能是由于参与刺激和上下文相关过程的神经元群体的重叠所致。此外，大的周围刺激在中间深度引起负向偏转，这可能反映了来自侧向抑制回路的抑制作用。这些发现将侵入性动物研究与人类神经成像联系起来，并突出了在认知神经科学中无创操纵皮层计算的潜力。
