Cortical BOLD responses to moderate- and high-speed motion in the human visual cortex

Anno: 2018

Autori: Mikellidou K., Frijia F., Montanaro D., Greco V., Burr D. C., Morrone M. C.

Affiliazione autori: Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa,
Italy; Unit of Neuroradiology, Fondazione CNR/Regione Toscana G. Monasterio, Pisa, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di
Ottica, CNR, Florence, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University
of Florence, Florence, Italy; Neuroscience Institute, CNR, Pisa, Italy; Stella Maris Scientific Institute, Pisa, Italy

Abstract: We investigated the BOLD response of visual cortical and sub-cortical regions to fast drifting motion presented over wide fields, including the far periphery. Stimuli were sinusoidal gratings of 50% contrast moving at moderate and very high speeds (38 and 570 degrees/s), projected to a large field of view (similar to 60 degrees). Both stimuli generated strong and balanced responses in the lateral geniculate nucleus and the superior colliculus. In visual cortical areas, responses were evaluated at three different eccentricities: central 0-15 degrees; peripheral 20-30 degrees; and extreme peripheral 30-60 degrees. Ventral stream areas (V2, V3, V4) preferred moderate-speeds in the central visual field, while motion area MT+ responded equally well to both speeds at all eccentricities. In all other areas and eccentricities BOLD responses were significant and equally strong for both types of moving stimuli. Support vector machine showed that the direction of the fast-speed motion could be successfully decoded from the BOLD response in all visual areas, suggesting that responses are mediated by motion mechanisms rather than being an unspecific preference for fast rate of flicker. The results show that the visual cortex responds to very fast motion, at speeds generated when we move our eyes rapidly, or when moving objects pass by closely.

Giornale/Rivista: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

Volume: 8      Da Pagina: 8357-1  A: 8357-12

Maggiori informazioni: This research was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FPT/2007-2013) under grant agreement #338866 ESCPLAIN (M.C.M., D.C.B and K.M.) and by the Fondazione Roma under the Grants for Biomedical Research: Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)-Call for proposals 2013, Project title: Cortical Plasticity in Retinitis Pigmentosa: an Integrated Study from Animal Models to Humans. (M.C.M.). We would like to thank Niccolo Calcini for help with cortex segmentations, Guido Marco Cicchini for help with stimuli setup and Andre Gouws for advice on fMRI sequences for sub-cortical structure scanning.
Parole chiavi: Receptive-field Size; Superior Colliculus; Functional-analysis; Map Clusters; Area; Sensitivity; Suppression; Perception; Organization; Selectivity
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26507-0

Citazioni: 9
dati da “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) aggiornati al: 2024-10-27
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