Subunit-specific behavioral modulation of sensory tuning in the visual cortex
Fig 9
Hypothetical mechanisms of differential modulation.
a) Top: a schematic of excitatory convergence of two neurons (A and B) on the third neuron (C). Bottom: Example direction-speed tuning curves of neurons A and B (left, smaller panels) - subunits of both neurons share a common speed modulator. Resulting tuning curve of the neuron C (right) shows differential tuning. b) Same as a but for an example excitatory-inhibitory convergence of two orientation-selective neurons with shared modulation of subunits. c) Schematic of a complex tuning. Top: a 3D tuning curve - in addition to direction and speed, the neuron is tuned to a third variable. This other variable could be either sensory (e.g., temporal frequency), or behavioral (e.g., head movements). Different values of the additional variable are denoted by letters A-D. Bottom: direction-speed tuning changes with the third tuning variable (left; small panels, blue frames). Right: the resulting direction-speed tuning curve shows differential modulation. Mouse image was taken from: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3925949.