Visual Perception and Gamma Oscillations in Cat V1 are Dynamically Correlated in Contrast Sensitivity Functions
Zheng Ye1,2,3,4 · Jian Ding3 · Changning Cheng2 · Hao Yu3,6 · Fei Xu2 · Qingyan Sun2 · Hongbin Yang1 · Tianmiao Hua2 · Hao Wang4,5
1 Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain‑Machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain‑machine Intelligence, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 311121, China
2 College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, China
3 School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wannan Medical University, Wuhu 241002, China
4 Nanhu Brain-computer Interface Institute, Hangzhou 311100, China
5 NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain Machine Integration, Key Laboratory of Precise Treatment and Clinical Translational Research of Neurological Diseases, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
6 Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Abstract
Local field potentials (LFPs) encode visual information through power variations across multiple frequencies. However, the mechanism through which LFPs encode visual contrast sensitivity during visual perception remains unclear. Herein, we developed a method to decode visual perception levels using LFPs and found that gamma oscillations exhibited the best performance in the detection of visual contrast. Furthermore, gamma power and theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling employed different strategies to code contrast sensitivity. Subsequently, suppressing the top-down influence from area 21a lowered both behavioral and gamma power-measured contrast sensitivity across the same spatial frequencies. Model analysis revealed that gamma oscillations modulated contrast-tuning responses via a contrast gain mechanism and were involved in the external noise exclusion mechanism through a top-down influence. Our findings reveal a link between gamma oscillations and visual contrast sensitivity and demonstrate that a reduction in gamma oscillation power through the suppression of top-down influences impairs perception of visual contrast.
Keywords
Visual perception; Gamma oscillations; Contrast sensitivity functions; Primary visual cortex; Topdown influence
