title: Theta Oscillations in Visual Cortex Emerge with Experience to Convey Expected Reward Time and Experienced Reward Rate.
abstract: The primary visual cortex (V1) is widely regarded as faithfully conveying the physical properties of visual stimuli. Thus, experience-induced changes in V1 are often interpreted as improving visual perception (i.e., perceptual learning). Here we describe how, with experience, cue-evoked oscillations emerge in V1 to convey expected reward time as well as to relate experienced reward rate. We show, in chronic multisite local field potential recordings from rat V1, that repeated presentation of visual cues induces the emergence of visually evoked oscillatory activity. Early in training, the visually evoked oscillations relate to the physical parameters of the stimuli. However, with training, the oscillations evolve to relate the time in which those stimuli foretell expected reward. Moreover, the oscillation prevalence reflects the reward rate recently experienced by the animal. Thus, training induces experience-dependent changes in V1 activity that relate to what those stimuli have come to signify behaviorally: when to expect future reward and at what rate.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Neurociencia de Sistemas, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica Houssay (CONICET-UBA), Paraguay 2155, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and.
authors.forename: Camila L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Zold
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205 shuler@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Marshall G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hussain Shuler
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D012372:ROC Curve; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012201:Reward; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D013826:Theta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: behavior; local field potential; oscillation; reward; timing; visual cortex