title: Selective modulation of cortical state during spatial attention.
abstract: Neocortical activity is permeated with endogenously generated fluctuations, but how these dynamics affect goal-directed behavior remains a mystery. We found that ensemble neural activity in primate visual cortex spontaneously fluctuated between phases of vigorous (On) and faint (Off) spiking synchronously across cortical layers. These On-Off dynamics, reflecting global changes in cortical state, were also modulated at a local scale during selective attention. Moreover, the momentary phase of local ensemble activity predicted behavioral performance. Our results show that cortical state is controlled locally within a cortical map according to cognitive demands and reveal the impact of these local changes in cortical state on goal-directed behavior.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. tatiana.engel@stanford.edu.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tatiana A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Steinmetz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gieselmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thiele
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tirin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kwabena
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boahen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006040:Goals; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*