Laminar microcircuitry of visual cortex producing attention-associated electric fields

Cognitive operations are widely studied by measuring electric fields through EEG and ECoG. However, despite their widespread use, the neural circuitry giving rise to these signals remains unknown because the functional architecture of cortical columns producing attention-associated electric fields has not been explored. Here, we detail the laminar cortical circuitry underlying an attention-associated electric field measured over posterior regions of the brain in humans and monkeys. First, we identified visual cortical area V4 as one plausible contributor to this attention-associated electric field through inverse modeling of cranial EEG in macaque monkeys performing a visual attention task. Next, we performed laminar neurophysiological recordings on the prelunate gyrus and identified the electric-field-producing dipoles as synaptic activity in distinct cortical layers of area V4. Specifically, activation in the extragranular layers of cortex resulted in the generation of the attention-a...认知操作的研究通常通过脑电图（EEG）与皮层脑电（ECoG）测量电场的方式开展。尽管此类技术应用广泛，但产生此类信号的神经环路仍未被探明，原因在于尚未对生成注意相关电场的皮层柱功能架构展开探索。本研究详细阐明了在人类与猕猴大脑后部区域测得的注意相关电场背后的分层皮层环路机制。首先，我们通过对执行视觉注意任务的猕猴的颅内脑电图（cranial EEG）进行逆建模，确定视觉皮层V4区是该注意相关电场的潜在来源之一。随后，我们在月状回开展了分层神经生理记录，将产生电场的偶极子定位为V4区不同皮层层内的突触活动。具体而言，大脑皮层粒上层的激活可产生该注意相关……