Orientation specificity of contrast adaptation in mouse primary visual cortex

Abstract

Contrast adaptation is a commonly studied phenomenon in vision, where prolonged exposure to spatial contrast alters perceived stimulus contrast and produces characteristic shifts in the contrast response functions of primary visual cortex neurons in cats and primates. In this study we investigated contrast adaptation in mouse primary visual cortex with two goals in mind. First, we sought to establish a quantitative description of contrast adaptation in an animal model, where genetic tools are more readily applicable to this phenomenon. Second, the orientation specificity of contrast adaptation was studied to comparatively assess the possible role of local cortical networks in contrast adaptation. In cats and primates, predictable differences in visual processing across the cortical surface are thought to be caused by inhomogeneous local network membership that arises from the pinwheel organization of orientation columns. Because mice lack this pinwheel organization, we predicted that local cortical networks would have access to a broad spectrum of orientation signals, and contrast adaptation in mice would not be specific to the recorded cell's preferred orientation. We found that most mouse V1 neurons showed contrast adaptation that was robust regardless of whether the adapting stimulus matched the cell's preferred orientation or was orthogonal to it.

Spatiotemporal specificity of contrast adaptation in mouse primary visual cortex

“…Mouse V1 neurons showed robust contrast adaptation when the adapting grating matched the neuron's preferred stimulus, which confirms earlier findings (Stroud et al, 2012). Furthermore, in the top-up protocol contrast adaptation was diminished or absent when the SF or TF of the adaptor did not match the neuron's preference, indicating that mouse V1 neurons show adaptation specificity similar to that observed in cats and primates.…”

“…The spatiotemporal tuning of each unit was then examined online and appropriate adaptors were selected for the subsequently presented contrast adaptation protocols. Two stimulus protocols that have previously been used to investigate contrast adaptation in mice, cats, and primates were modified to study the spatiotemporal specificity of contrast adaptation in mouse V1: top-up adaptation (Sclar et al, 1989; Duong and Freeman, 2007; Stroud et al, 2012), and contrast ramps (Crowder et al, 2008; Stroud et al, 2012). …”

“…Several recent studies of mouse V1 have revealed similarities between mice and higher mammals, including tuning for spatial and temporal frequencies, selectivity for orientation and direction, and the presence of simple and complex cells (Niell and Stryker, 2008; Gao et al, 2010; Van den Bergh et al, 2010). However, contrast adaptation in mouse V1 has been reported in only two studies (Niell and Stryker, 2008; Stroud et al, 2012). Stroud et al (2012) investigated the orientation specificity of contrast adaptation, but the other two aspects of the pattern-specificity of contrast adaptation that have been so important for linking electrophysiological studies in higher mammals to human psychophysical observations, namely specificity for SF and TF, remain unexplored.…”

“…However, contrast adaptation in mouse V1 has been reported in only two studies (Niell and Stryker, 2008; Stroud et al, 2012). Stroud et al (2012) investigated the orientation specificity of contrast adaptation, but the other two aspects of the pattern-specificity of contrast adaptation that have been so important for linking electrophysiological studies in higher mammals to human psychophysical observations, namely specificity for SF and TF, remain unexplored. Therefore, we examined the spatiotemporal specificity of contrast adaptation in mouse V1 using a top-up adaptation protocol that was comparable with previous studies in cat and monkey (Movshon and Lennie, 1979; Duong and Freeman, 2007; Dhruv et al, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, we examined the spatiotemporal specificity of contrast adaptation in mouse V1 using a top-up adaptation protocol that was comparable with previous studies in cat and monkey (Movshon and Lennie, 1979; Duong and Freeman, 2007; Dhruv et al, 2011). We also used dynamic contrast ramp stimuli of varying SF and TF to obtain rapid measures of contrast adaptation with a wide variety of adaptors (Crowder et al, 2008; Stroud et al, 2012). …”