Gamma oscillations in the superior colliculus and pulvinar in response to faces support discrimination performance in monkeys

Publication date: Available online 20 October 2017 Source:Neuropsychologia Author(s): Quan Van Le, Hiroshi Nishimaru, Jumpei Matsumoto, Yusaku Takamura, Minh Nui Nguyen, Can Van Mao, Etsuro Hori, Rafael S. Maior, Carlos Tomaz, Taketoshi Ono, Hisao Nishijo The subcortical visual pathway including the superior colliculus (SC), pulvinar, and amygdala has been implicated in unconscious visual processing of faces, eyes, and gaze direction in blindsight. Our previous studies reported that monkey SC and pulvinar neurons responded preferentially to images of faces while performing a delayed non-matching to sample (DNMS) task to discriminate different visual stimuli (Nguyen et al., 2013, 2014). However, the contribution of SC and pulvinar neurons to the discrimination of the facial images and subsequent behavioral performance remains unknown. Since gamma oscillations have been implicated in sensory and cognitive processes as well as behavioral execution, we hypothesized that gamma oscillations during neuronal responses might contribute to achieving the appropriate behavioral performance (i.e., a correct response). In the present study, we re-analyzed those neuronal responses in the monkey SC and pulvinar to investigate possible relationships between gamma oscillations in these neurons and behavioral performance (correct response ratios) during the DNMS task. Gamma oscillations of SC and pulvinar neuronal activity were analyzed in three phases around the stimulus onset [in...

Source: Neuropsychologia - October 21, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research