Sequential transmission of task-relevant information in cortical neuronal networks

Francis, Nikolas A.; Mukherjee, Shoutik; Koçillari, Loren; Panzeri, Stefano; Babadi, Behtash

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110878

Cited by 36 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Moreover, we plan to test the performance of other bivariate (e.g., Granger Causality) and multivariate measures for estimating DSC. These measures include using Granger Causality estimates based on Generalized Linear Models [40][41][42] and maximum entropy models [43,44]. Such multivariate measures could be useful to alleviate the effect of confounders such as common inputs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from dynamic functional connectivity

2022

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How to capture the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from measures of dynamic functional connectivity between the activity of different simultaneously recorded neurons is an important and open problem in systems neuroscience. Here, we report methodological progress to address this issue. We first simulated recurrent neural network models of spiking neurons with spike timing-dependent plasticity mechanisms that generate time-varying synaptic and functional coupling. We then used these simulations to test analytical approaches that infer fixed and time-varying properties of synaptic connectivity from directed functional connectivity measures, such as cross-covariance and transfer entropy. We found that, while both cross-covariance and transfer entropy provide robust estimates of which synapses are present in the network and their communication delays, dynamic functional connectivity measured via cross-covariance better captures the evolution of synaptic weights over time. We also established how measures of information transmission delays from static functional connectivity computed over long recording periods (i.e., several hours) can improve shorter time-scale estimates of the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from dynamic functional connectivity. These results provide useful information about how to accurately estimate the temporal variation of synaptic strength from spiking activity measures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from dynamic functional connectivity

2022

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“…𝐼𝐼 has been used in several studied to determine the behavioral relevance of aspects of neural population codes (e.g. [39,54,83]). NIT has a specifically built module for the calculation of 𝐼𝐼 with the plug-in probability estimation method.…”

Section: Intersection Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A comparison of non-parametric copula and binned plug-in methods for computing information from calcium imaging traces All above examples computed information using the plug-in binned methods, a choice that has been widely used due to its ease of implementation, robustness and fast computational time [25,27,38,54]. However, other more computational demanding but potentially more accurate methods are also available to compute information from limited experimental samples.…”

Section: Effect Of Neuronal Firing and Experimental Conditions On Inf...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, II can be interpreted as the part of stimulus information carried by neural activity that is also choice information. In this interpretation, II has been applied to sensory neuron to investigate the extent to which the information encoded in sensory areas is relevant to form behavioral choices [39,54,83]. For example, it has been used to investigate whether in primary and secondary…”

Section: As Markers Of Preparatory Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, neuroscientific IT has also been used to measure the information carried by neural activity not only about sensory stimuli, as in traditional studies, but also about behaviorally relevant signals such as choice and reward [45]. Moreover, Partial Information Decompositions (PID) [52] has extended Shannon's IT to quantify how much of the information encoded in neural activity is used to inform behavioral choices during perceptual discriminations [53,54] and synergistic or redundant transfer of information across brain regions [49]. However, progress in using latest IT advances in neuroscience to address large populations, behavioral relevance and information transmission, synergy and redundancy with PID, has been slowed by the absence of comprehensive toolboxes including all or most these recent tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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NIT: an open-source tool for information theoretic analysis of neural population data

Maffulli

Casal

Celotto

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Information theory provides a popular and principled framework for the analysis of neural data. It allows to uncover in an assumption-free way how neurons encode and transmit information, capturing both linear and non-linear coding mechanisms and including the information carried by interactions of any order. To facilitate its application, here we present Neuroscience Information Toolbox (NIT), a new toolbox for the accurate information theoretical analysis of neural data. NIT contains widely used tools such as limited sampling bias corrections and discretization of neural probabilities for the calculation of stimulus coding in low-dimensional representation of neural activity (e.g. Local Field Potentials or the activity of small neural population).Importantly, it adds a range of recent tools for quantifying information encoding by large populations of neurons or brain areas, for the directed transmission of information between neurons or areas, and for the calculation of Partial Information Decompositions to quantify the behavioral relevance of neural information and the synergy and redundancy among neurons and brain areas. Further, because information theoretic algorithms have been previously validated mainly with electrophysiological recordings, here we used realistic simulations and analysis of real data to study how to optimally apply information theory to the analysis of two-photon calcium imaging data, which are particularly challenging due to their lower signal-to-noise and temporal resolution. We also included algorithms (based on parametric and non-parametric copulas) to compute robustly information specifically with analog signals such as calcium traces. We provide indications on how to best process calcium imaging traces and to apply NIT depending on the type of calcium indicator, imaging frame rate and firing rate levels. In sum, NIT provides a toolbox for the comprehensive and effective information theoretic analysis of all kinds of neural data, including calcium imaging.

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Organization of orbitofrontal‐auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

Ying

Hamlette

Nikoobakht

et al. 2023

J of Comparative Neurology

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Sound perception is highly malleable, rapidly adjusting to the acoustic environment and behavioral demands. This flexibility is the result of ongoing changes in auditory cortical activity driven by fluctuations in attention, arousal, or prior expectations. Recent work suggests that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) may mediate some of these rapid changes, but the anatomical connections between the OFC and the auditory system are not well characterized. Here, we used virally mediated fluorescent tracers to map the projection from OFC to the auditory midbrain, thalamus, and cortex in a classic animal model for auditory research, the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). We observed no connectivity between the OFC and the auditory midbrain, and an extremely sparse connection between the dorsolateral OFC and higher order auditory thalamic regions. In contrast, we observed a robust connection between the ventral and medial subdivisions of the OFC and the auditory cortex, with a clear bias for secondary auditory cortical regions. OFC axon terminals were found in all auditory cortical lamina but were significantly more concentrated in the infragranular layers. Tissue‐clearing and lightsheet microscopy further revealed that auditory cortical‐projecting OFC neurons send extensive axon collaterals throughout the brain, targeting both sensory and non‐sensory regions involved in learning, decision‐making, and memory. These findings provide a more detailed map of orbitofrontal‐auditory connections and shed light on the possible role of the OFC in supporting auditory cognition.

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Sequential transmission of task-relevant information in cortical neuronal networks

Cited by 36 publications

References 83 publications

Inferring the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from dynamic functional connectivity

Inferring the temporal evolution of synaptic weights from dynamic functional connectivity

NIT: an open-source tool for information theoretic analysis of neural population data

Organization of orbitofrontal‐auditory pathways in the Mongolian gerbil

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