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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alexander Thiele
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2021, The Author(s).Context affects the salience and visibility of image elements in visual scenes. Collinear flankers can enhance or decrease the perceptual and neuronal sensitivity to flanked stimuli. These effects are mediated through lateral interactions between neurons in the primary visual cortex (area V1), in conjunction with feedback from higher visual areas. The strength of lateral interactions is affected by cholinergic neuromodulation. Blockade of muscarinic receptors should increase the strength of lateral intracortical interactions, while nicotinic blockade should reduce thalamocortical feed-forward drive. Here we test this proposal through local iontophoretic application of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine and the nicotinic receptor antagonist mecamylamine, while recording single cells in parafoveal representations in awake fixating macaque V1. Collinear flankers generally reduced neuronal contrast sensitivity. Muscarinic and nicotinic receptor blockade equally reduced neuronal contrast sensitivity. Contrary to our hypothesis, flanker interactions were not systematically affected by either receptor blockade.
Author(s): Herrero JL, Thiele A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Scientific Reports
Year: 2021
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 16/04/2021
Acceptance date: 05/04/2021
Date deposited: 04/05/2021
ISSN (electronic): 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Research
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88044-7
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88044-7
PubMed id: 33863988
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