Brief Stimuli Cast a Persistent Long-Term Trace in Visual Cortex

Journal article

Efficient sensory processing requires the nervous system to adjust to ongoing features of the environment. In primary visual cortex (V1), neuronal activity strongly depends on recent stimulus history. Existing models can explain effects of prolonged stimulus presentation but remain insufficient for explaining effects observed after shorter durations commonly encountered under natural conditions. We investigated the mechanisms driving adaptation in response to brief (100 ms) stimuli in L2/3 V1 neurons by performing in vivo whole-cell recordings to measure membrane potential and synaptic inputs. We find that rapid adaptation is generated by stimulus-specific suppression of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. Targeted optogenetic experiments reveal that these synaptic effects are due to input-specific short-term depression of transmission between layers 4 and 2/3. Thus, brief stimulus presentation engages a distinct adaptation mechanism from that previously reported in response to prolonged stimuli, enabling flexible control of sensory encoding across a wide range of timescales

Authors: Fritsche, M; Solomon, SG; de Lange, FP

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
• Journal: The Journal of Neuroscience
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 1999-2010
• Publication date: 2022-01-21
• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1350-21.2021
• EISSN: 1529-2401
• ISSN: 0270-6474
• Language: English
• Keywords: Neuroscience; Engram; Visual cortex; Working memory; Cognition; Sensory system; Visual perception; Cognitive psychology; Computer science; Sensory memory; Psychology; Adaptation (eye); Stimulus (psychology); Perception