A Mouse Model of Visual Perceptual Learning Reveals Alterations in Neuronal Coding and Dendritic Spine Density in the Visual Cortex

Wang, Yan; Wu, Wei; Zhang, Xian; Hu, Xu; Li, Yue; Lou, Sha; Ma, Xiao; An, Xu; Liu, Hui; Peng, Jing; Ma, Dongsheng; Zhou, Yifeng; Yang, Yupeng

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00042

Cited by 18 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…It has been described that prolonged training near the individual visual threshold can improve vision, a phenomenon broadly referred to as perceptual learning (Schoups et al ., ; Wang et al ., ). Hence, we further investigated whether WD acted to facilitate perceptual learning and thereby sharpened visual acuity in the VWT experiments.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Cross‐modal refinement of visual performance after brief somatosensory deprivation in adult mice

Teichert¹,

Isstas²,

Wenig³

et al. 2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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It is well established that the congenital lack of one sensory modality enhances functionality in the spared senses. However, whether a late onset deprivation of one sense leads to such alterations is largely unknown. Here, we investigated whether a somatosensory deprivation induced by bilateral whisker removal affects visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in fully adult mice. Using the visual cortex-dependent visual water task, we found that a brief somatosensory deprivation markedly improved behavioral visual acuity and contrast sensitivity by about 40%. Determining these attributes of vision using periodic optical imaging of intrinsic signals in the same mice revealed that visual cortex responses elicited by weak visual stimuli were massively increased after somatosensory deprivation. Strikingly, comparison of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity values determined by the visual water task and intrinsic signal imaging revealed that these measurements were almost identical, even at the level of individual animals. In summary, our results suggest that a brief manipulation of somatosensory experience profoundly boosts visual cortex-dependent vision in adults.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Cross‐modal refinement of visual performance after brief somatosensory deprivation in adult mice

Teichert¹,

Isstas²,

Wenig³

et al. 2018

Eur J of Neuroscience

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“…For example, moment-to-moment changes in arousal level produce robust modulation of neuronal firing in V1 and alterations in perceptual ability [1][2][3][4] . Additionally, learning associations between sensory stimuli and behaviorally relevant outcomes can drive changes in neuronal structure, activity patterns, and perceptual ability [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NMDAR-dependent emergence of behavioral representation in primary visual cortex

Puścian

Benisty

Higley

2019

Preprint

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Neocortical sensory areas are generally thought to faithfully represent external stimuli. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that cortical networks exhibit considerable functional plasticity over multiple temporal scales, allowing them to modify their output to reflect ongoing behavioral demands. Nevertheless, the dynamics of sensory and non-sensory representations during acquisition of stimulus-guided behavior are not well understood. We performed longitudinal 2-photon imaging of activity in primary visual cortex (V1) of mice learning a conditioned eyeblink task. We found that both excitatory and inhibitory neurons robustly encode the visual stimulus throughout training despite a significant experience-dependent reduction in response magnitude. In contrast, both pyramidal neurons and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons exhibit emergence of behavioral representation during learning. The plasticity of visual response magnitude and behavioral representation is abolished following loss of NMDA-type glutamate receptors. Overall, our findings demonstrate that V1 networks can dynamically multiplex distinct behaviorally relevant representations over the course of learning.

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“…Performance on our head-fixed version of the acuity task was comparable to the more 84 commonly used 2-alternative forced-choice visual water task (Hosang et al, 2018;Prusky and 85 Douglas, 2004; Wang et al, 2016) in which mice are required to be in motion during acuity 86 assessment. In addition, similar to the visual water task, we found that daily participation in the 87 head-fixed acuity task resulted in improved spatial acuity.…”

Section: Introduction 64mentioning

confidence: 62%

“…This demonstrates that the mice 126 learned to lick in response to vertical gratings in general, and were capable of reporting the 127 presence of gratings when perceived. 128 Prusky and Douglas, 2004;Stephany et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2016). In addition to 133 performance accuracy, hit rate relative to the false alarm rate can be a useful indicator of 134 performance when the false alarm rate is low.…”

Section: Results 90mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual acuity performance level is independent of locomotion

Park

Cheng

et al. 2019

Preprint

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45Locomotion has a global impact on circuit function throughout the cortex, including regulation of 46 spatiotemporal dynamics in primary visual cortex (V1). The mechanisms driving state-changes 47 in V1 result in a 2-3 fold gain of responsiveness to visual stimuli. To determine whether 48 locomotion-mediated increases in response gain improve the perception of spatial acuity we 49 developed a head-fixed task in which mice were free to run or sit still during acuity testing. 50 Spatial acuity, ranging from 0.1 to 0.7 cycles/°, was assessed before and after 3-4 weeks of 51 reward-based training in adult mice. Training on vertical orientations once a day improved the 52 average performance across mice by 22.5 ± 0.05%. Improvement transferred to non-trained 53 orientations presented at 45°, indicating that the improvement in acuity generalized. 54Furthermore we designed a second closed-loop task in which acuity threshold could be directly 55 assessed in a single session. Using this design, we established that acuity threshold matched 56 the upper limit of the trained spatial frequency; in two mice spatial acuity threshold reached as 57 high as 1.5 cycles/°. During the 3-4 weeks of training we collected a sufficient number of 58 stimulus trials in which mice performed above chance but below 100% accuracy. Using this 59 subset of stimulus trials, we found that perceptual acuity was not enhanced on trials in which 60 mice were running compared to trials in which mice were still. Our results demonstrate that 61 perception of spatial acuity is not improved by locomotion. 62 63In the acuity task, performance accuracy averaged across the first two baseline sessions 129 was greater than 0.7 at 0.46 cycles/° for all mice, and greater than 0.7 for half of the mice at 130 0.58 cycles/°, and less than 0.7 for all mice except one at 0.7 cycles/°. These performance 131 values are consistent with values obtained using the visual water task (Hosang et al., 2018; 132

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A Mouse Model of Visual Perceptual Learning Reveals Alterations in Neuronal Coding and Dendritic Spine Density in the Visual Cortex

Cited by 18 publications

References 78 publications

Cross‐modal refinement of visual performance after brief somatosensory deprivation in adult mice

Cross‐modal refinement of visual performance after brief somatosensory deprivation in adult mice

NMDAR-dependent emergence of behavioral representation in primary visual cortex

Visual acuity performance level is independent of locomotion

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