Contextual modulation emerges by integrating feedforward and feedback processing in mouse visual cortex

Serena Di Santo; Mario Dipoppa; Andreas Keller; Morgane Roth; Massimo Scanziani; Kenneth D Miller

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115088

Contextual modulation emerges by integrating feedforward and feedback processing in mouse visual cortex

Cell Rep. 2024 Dec 20;44(1):115088. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115088. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Serena Di Santo¹, Mario Dipoppa², Andreas Keller³, Morgane Roth³, Massimo Scanziani⁴, Kenneth D Miller⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, USA; Departamento de Electromagnetismo y Física de la Materia and Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
⁴ Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
⁵ Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Swartz Program in Theoretical Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Brain Science, College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY 10027, USA.

PMID: 39709599
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115088

Abstract

Sensory systems use context to infer meaning. Accordingly, context profoundly influences neural responses to sensory stimuli. However, a cohesive understanding of the circuit mechanisms governing contextual effects across different stimulus conditions is still lacking. Here we present a unified circuit model of mouse visual cortex that accounts for the main standard forms of contextual modulation. This data-driven and biologically realistic circuit, including three primary inhibitory cell types, sheds light on how bottom-up, top-down, and recurrent inputs are integrated across retinotopic space to generate contextual effects in layer 2/3. We establish causal relationships between neural responses, geometrical features of the inputs, and the connectivity patterns. The model not only reveals how a single canonical cortical circuit differently modulates sensory response depending on context but also generates multiple testable predictions, offering insights that apply to broader neural circuitry.

Keywords: CP: Neuroscience; contextual modulation; cortical microcircuitry; feedback; higher visual areas; inhibitory subclasses; perception; surround facilitation; surround suppression; visual cortex.