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⇱ Cortical feedback improves discrimination between figure and background by V1, V2 and V3 neurons | Nature

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Abstract

A single visual stimulus activates neurons in many different cortical areas. A major challenge in cortical physiology is to understand how the neural activity in these numerous active zones leads to a unified percept of the visual scene. The anatomical basis for these interactions is the dense network of connections that link the visual areas. Within this network, feedforward connections transmit signals from lower-order areas such as V1 or V2 to higher-order areas. In addition, there is a dense web of feedback connections which, despite their anatomical prominence1,2,3,4, remain functionally mysterious5,6,7,8. Here we show, using reversible inactivation of a higher-order area (monkey area V5/MT), that feedback connections serve to amplify and focus activity of neurons in lower-order areas, and that they are important in the differentiation of figure from ground, particularly in the case of stimuli of low visibility. More specifically, we show that feedback connections facilitate responses to objects moving within the classical receptive field; enhance suppression evoked by background stimuli in the surrounding region; and have the strongest effects for stimuli of low salience.

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Figure 1: Effect of V5 inactivation on responses of neurons in areas V1, V2, V3.
Figure 2: Effect of bar salience.
Figure 3: Effect of V5 inactivation on foreground–background interactions in V3 neurons.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Henry Kennedy, Ken Knoblauch, Jonathan Levitt and Matthias Munk for fruitful discussions and a careful reading of the manuscript, and Susan Hockfield for providing us the CAT301 antibody. This work was supported by NIH, NATO, Biomed, and GIS contract ‘Perception visuelle’.

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. C. James

    Present address: Mammalian Neurobiology and Reproduction, RSBS ANU, GPO Box 475, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

  2. B. R. Payne & S. G. Lomber

    Present address: Laboratory of Visual Perception and Cognition, Center for Advanced Biomedical Research, Boston University School of Medicine, 700 Albany Street, Massachusetts, 02118, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cerveau et Vision INSERM 371, 18 avenue du Doyen Lépine, Bron, 69675, Céde, France

    J. M. Hupé, P. Girard & J. Bullier

  2. Mammalian Neurobiology and Reproduction, RSBS ANU, GPO Box 475, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    B. R. Payne & S. G. Lomber

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Bullier.

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Hupé, J., James, A., Payne, B. et al. Cortical feedback improves discrimination between figure and background by V1, V2 and V3 neurons. Nature 394, 784–787 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29537

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