Peripheral sounds rapidly activate visual cortex: evidence from electrocorticography.
Neurophysiological studies with animals suggest that sounds modulate activity in primary visual cortex in the presence of concurrent visual stimulation. Noninvasive neuroimaging studies in humans have similarly shown that sounds modulate activity in visual areas even in the absence of visual stimuli or visual task demands. However, the spatial and temporal limitations of these noninvasive methods prevent the determination of how rapidly sounds activate early visual cortex and what information about the sounds is relayed there. Using spatially and temporally precise measures of local synaptic activity acquired from depth electrodes in humans, we demonstrate that peripherally presented sounds evoke activity in the anterior portion of the contralateral, but not ipsilateral, calcarine sulcus within 28 ms of sound onset. These results suggest that auditory stimuli rapidly evoke spatially specific activity in visual cortex even in the absence of concurrent visual stimulation or visual task demands. This rapid auditory-evoked activation of primary visual cortex is likely to be mediated by subcortical pathways or direct cortical projections from auditory to visual areas.
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and dbrang@gmail.com.
David
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2706-6777
D
Brang
Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and.
Vernon L
VL
Towle
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
Satoru
S
Suzuki
Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Steven A
SA
Hillyard
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
Senneca
S
Di Tusa
Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and.
Zhongtian
Z
Dai
Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and.
James
J
Tao
Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and.
Shasha
S
Wu
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois;
Marcia
M
Grabowecky
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D000069280:Electrocorticography; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
ECoG; auditory localization; intracranial; multisensory