Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neural Circuits
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fncir.2024.1399571
This article is part of the Research Topic Structure, Function and Development of Neural Circuits View all 8 articles

Comparison of Orientation Encoding Across Layers Within Single Columns of Primate V1 Revealed by High-Density Recordings

Provisionally accepted
Shude Zhu Shude Zhu 1,2*Ruobing Xia Ruobing Xia 1,2Xiaomo Chen Xiaomo Chen 3,4Tirin Moore Tirin Moore 1,2
  • 1 Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
  • 2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States
  • 3 Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
  • 4 Center for Neuroscience, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Primary visual cortex (V1) has been the focus of extensive neurophysiological investigations, with its laminar organization serving as a crucial model for understanding the functional logic of neocortical microcircuits. Utilizing newly developed high-density, Neuropixels probes, we measured visual responses from large populations of simultaneously recorded neurons distributed across layers of macaque V1. Within single recordings, myriad differences in the functional properties of neuronal subpopulations could be observed. Notably, while standard measurements of orientation selectivity showed only minor differences between laminar compartments, decoding stimulus orientation from layer 4C responses outperformed both superficial and deep layers within the same cortical column. The superior orientation discrimination within layer 4C was associated with greater response reliability of individual neurons rather than lower correlated activity within neuronal populations. Our results underscore the efficacy of high-density electrophysiology in revealing the functional organization and network properties of neocortical microcircuits within single experiments.

    Keywords: Neocortical circuitry, laminar organization, orientation decoding, cortical column, High-density recording

    Received: 12 Mar 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhu, Xia, Chen and Moore. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shude Zhu, Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5125, California, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.