Dopamine is signaled by mid-frequency oscillations and boosts output-layers visual information in visual cortex

Zaldivar, D., Goense, J., Lowe, S. C., Logothetis, N. K. and Panzeri, S. (2018) Dopamine is signaled by mid-frequency oscillations and boosts output-layers visual information in visual cortex. Current Biology, 28(2), 224-235.e5. (doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.006) (PMID:29307559)

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Abstract

Neural oscillations are ubiquitously observed in cortical activity, and are widely believed to be crucial for mediating transmission of information across the cortex. Yet, the neural phenomena contributing to each oscillation band, and their effect on information coding and transmission, are largely unknown. Here, we investigated whether individual frequency bands specifically reflect changes in the concentrations of dopamine, an important neuromodulator, and how dopamine affects oscillatory information processing. We recorded the local field potential (LFP) at different depths of primary visual cortex (V1) in anesthetized monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during spontaneous activity and during visual stimulation with Hollywood movie clips while pharmacologically mimicking dopaminergic neuromodulation by systemic injection of L-DOPA (a metabolic precursor of dopamine). We found that dopaminergic neuromodulation had marked effects on both spontaneous and movie-evoked neural activity. During spontaneous activity, dopaminergic neuromodulation increased the power of the LFP specifically in the [19–38 Hz] band, suggesting that the power of endogenous visual cortex oscillations in this band can be used as a robust marker of dopaminergic neuromodulation. Moreover, dopamine increased visual information encoding over all frequencies during movie stimulation. The information increase due to dopamine was prominent in the supragranular layers of cortex that project to higher cortical areas and in the gamma [50–100 Hz] band that has been previously implicated in mediating feedforward information transfer. These results thus individuate new neural mechanisms by which dopamine may promote the readout of relevant sensory information by strengthening the transmission of information from primary to higher areas.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Goense, Dr Jozien and Panzeri, Professor Stefano
Authors: Zaldivar, D., Goense, J., Lowe, S. C., Logothetis, N. K., and Panzeri, S.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
Journal Name:Current Biology
Publisher:Elsevier (Cell Press)
ISSN:0960-9822
ISSN (Online):1879-0445
Published Online:04 January 2018
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.
First Published:First published in Current Biology 28(2):224-235.e5
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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