Causal Oscillations in the Visual Thalamo-cortical Network in Sustained Attention in Ferrets

Overview

Journal Curr Biol

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 Jan 23

PMID 38262418

Authors

Wei A Huang

Zhe C Zhou

Iain M Stitt

Nivetha S Ramasamy

Susanne Radtke-Schuller

Flavio Frohlich

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sustained visual attention allows us to process and react to unpredictable, behaviorally relevant sensory input. Sustained attention engages communication between the higher-order visual thalamus and its connected cortical regions. However, it remains unclear whether there is a causal relationship between oscillatory circuit dynamics and attentional behavior in these thalamo-cortical circuits. By using rhythmic optogenetic stimulation in the ferret, we provide causal evidence that higher-order visual thalamus coordinates thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical functional connectivity during sustained attention via spike-field phase locking. Increasing theta but not alpha power in the thalamus improved accuracy and reduced omission rates in a sustained attention task. Further, the enhancement of effective connectivity by stimulation was correlated with improved behavioral performance. Our work demonstrates a potential circuit-level causal mechanism for how the higher-order visual thalamus modulates cortical communication through rhythmic synchronization during sustained attention.

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