Abstract
Neuronal responses to visual stimuli depend on both the nature of the stimulus and brain state. Here we examined the contrast sensitivity of visual thalamic neurons as awake rabbits shifted between alert and nonalert states. We found that despite a large increase in response gain with alertness, contrast sensitivity remained nearly constant. This accurate scaling might be achieved through a balanced increase in excitation and inhibition with alertness.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Eye Institute (grant EY13788) and the National Institute of Mental Health (grant MH-64024), and by the Formación de Personal Investigador, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain (FPI, MEC).
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Fig. 1
Measurements of LGN responses to visual contrast at two different brain states, alert and nonalert. (PDF 129 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 2
Each contrast response function was measured twice at each state to verify repeatability. (PDF 115 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 3
Neuronal reponses to the different visual contrasts were quantified as the first Fourier harmonic of the response (F1) or as the mean firing rate (F0) and then, the F1 or F0 values were fit with a hyperbolic ratio function. (PDF 92 kb)
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Cano, M., Bezdudnaya, T., Swadlow, H. et al. Brain state and contrast sensitivity in the awake visual thalamus. Nat Neurosci 9, 1240–1242 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1760
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1760
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