Early visual cortex reflects initiation and maintenance of task set

Elkhetali, Abdurahman S.; Vaden, Ryan J.; Pool, Sean; Visscher, Kristina

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.061

Cited by 8 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Sustained signals from the cingulo-opercular network are related to the maintenance of task sets (Dosenbach et al 2008; Nelson et al, 2010), though their precise function remains unclear (Dubis et al 2014). Recent work by our lab has demonstrated that sustained task-driven responses occur in early visual areas including V1 (Elkhetali et al 2015), but do not show the spatial specificity of cue-driven and stimulus-driven responses (Griffis et al 2015b). While we have interpreted these sustained V1 responses as reflecting ongoing task maintenance signals that are likely to have originated in the cingulo-opercular network, it is unclear why this network would show preferential connectivity to the near-periphery of V1 during fixation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Task and stimulus details have been described in detail elsewhere (Elkhetali et al 2015; Griffis et al 2015b), and will only be briefly described here, as current analyses focus on the rest periods only. Task blocks consisted of unimodal and bimodal visual and auditory attention tasks.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While retinotopic localizers were performed during the first scan session as described in our previous publications (Elkhetali et al 2015; Griffis et al 2015b), they were not used to define the primary V1 regions of interest in the current study for several reasons. Primarily, the retinotopic localizers obtained for these participants only mapped to approximately 8° visual angle, whereas using the Freesurfer anatomical template enables the inclusion of the entirety of V1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retinotopic patterns of functional connectivity between V1 and large-scale brain networks during resting fixation

et al. 2017

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Psychophysical and neurobiological evidence suggests that central and peripheral vision are specialized for different functions. This specialization of function might be expected to lead to differences in the large-scale functional interactions of early cortical areas that represent central and peripheral visual space. Here, we characterize differences in whole-brain functional connectivity among sectors in primary visual cortex (V1) corresponding to central, near-peripheral, and far-peripheral vision during resting fixation. Importantly, our analyses reveal that eccentricity sectors in V1 have different functional connectivity with non-visual areas associated with large-scale brain networks. Regions associated with the fronto-parietal control network are most strongly connected with central sectors of V1, regions associated with the cingulo-opercular control network are most strongly connected with near-peripheral sectors of V1, and regions associated with the default mode and auditory networks are most strongly connected with far-peripheral sectors of V1. Additional analyses suggest that similar patterns are present during eyes-closed rest. These results suggest that different types of visual information may be prioritized by large-scale brain networks with distinct functional profiles, and provide insights into how the small-scale functional specialization within early visual regions such as V1 relates to the large-scale organization of functionally distinct whole-brain networks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retinotopic patterns of functional connectivity between V1 and large-scale brain networks during resting fixation

et al. 2017

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“…In a previous study, participants performed discrimination tasks on unimodal stimuli (visual or auditory) or bimodal stimuli (intermodal attention to only the visual or auditory portion of simultaneously presented visual and auditory stimuli). We found that trial-driven activity in V1 depended on presented stimuli, while activity related to the initiation and maintenance of task sets depended instead on the attended modality of the task regardless of presence or absence of intermodal distractors (Elkhetali et al, 2015). This suggests that even at the level of primary visual cortex, task-appropriate visual processing may be accomplished by the joint action of temporally distinct top-down control processes that differ in their stimulus-dependence vs. task-dependence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…In our previous study, we observed that trial-driven and task-set related responses in V1 varied in different ways depending on a participant’s task (Elkhetali et al, 2015). Task set-related activity in V1 was greater during visual attention than auditory attention for a task with simultaneous visual and auditory stimuli, whereas this was not true for trial-driven activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct effects of trial-driven and task Set-related control in primary visual cortex

et al. 2015

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Task sets are task-specific configurations of cognitive processes that facilitate task-appropriate reactions to stimuli. While it is established that the trial-by-trial deployment of visual attention to expected stimuli influences neural responses in primary visual cortex (V1) in a retinotopically specific manner, it is not clear whether the mechanisms that help maintain a task set over many trials also operate with similar retinotopic specificity. Here, we address this question by using BOLD fMRI to characterize how portions of V1 that are specialized for different eccentricities respond during distinct components of an attention-demanding discrimination task: cue-driven preparation for a trial, trial-driven processing, task-initiation at the beginning of a block of trials, and task-maintenance throughout a block of trials. Tasks required either unimodal attention to an auditory or a visual stimulus or selective intermodal attention to the visual or auditory component of simultaneously presented visual and auditory stimuli. We found that while the retinotopic patterns of trial-driven and cue-driven activity depended on the attended stimulus, the retinotopic patterns of task-initiation and task-maintenance activity did not. Further, only the retinotopic patterns of trial-driven activity were found to depend on the presence of intermodal distraction. Participants who performed well on the intermodal selective attention tasks showed strong task-specific modulations of both trial-driven and task-maintenance activity. Importantly, task-related modulations of trial-driven and task-maintenance activity were in opposite directions. Together, these results confirm that there are (at least) two different processes for top-down control of V1: One, working trial-by-trial, differently modulates activity across different eccentricity sectors—portions of V1 corresponding to different visual eccentricities. The second process works across longer epochs of task performance, and does not differ among eccentricity sectors. These results are discussed in the context of previous literature examining top-down control of visual cortical areas.

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Background connectivity between frontal and sensory cortex depends on task state, independent of stimulus modality

et al. 2019

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The human brain has the ability to process identical information differently depending on the task. In order to perform a given task, the brain must select and react to the appropriate stimuli while ignoring other irrelevant stimuli. The dynamic nature of environmental stimuli and behavioral intentions requires an equally dynamic set of responses within the brain. Collectively, these responses act to set up and maintain states needed to perform a given task. However, the mechanisms that allow for setting up and maintaining a task state are not fully understood. Prior evidence suggests that one possible mechanism for maintaining a task state may be through altering 'background connectivity,' connectivity that exists independently of the trials of a task. Although previous studies have suggested that background connectivity contributes to a task state, these studies have typically not controlled for stimulus characteristics, or have focused primarily on relationships among areas involved with visual sensory processing. In the present study we examined background connectivity during tasks involving both visual and auditory stimuli. We examined the connectivity profiles of both visual and auditory sensory cortex that allow for selection of task-relevant stimuli, demonstrating the existence of a potentially universal pattern of background connectivity underlying attention to a stimulus. Participants were presented with simultaneous auditory and visual stimuli and were instructed to respond to only one, while ignoring the other. Using functional MRI, we observed task-based modulation of the background connectivity profile for both the auditory and visual cortex to certain brain regions. There was an increase in background connectivity between the task-relevant sensory cortex and control areas in the frontal cortex. This increase in synchrony when receiving the task-relevant stimulus as compared to the task irrelevant stimulus may be maintaining paths for passing information within the cortex. These task-based modulations of connectivity occur independently of stimuli and could be one way the brain sets up and maintains a task state.

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Early visual cortex reflects initiation and maintenance of task set

Cited by 8 publications

References 59 publications

Retinotopic patterns of functional connectivity between V1 and large-scale brain networks during resting fixation

Retinotopic patterns of functional connectivity between V1 and large-scale brain networks during resting fixation

Distinct effects of trial-driven and task Set-related control in primary visual cortex

Background connectivity between frontal and sensory cortex depends on task state, independent of stimulus modality

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