Neural Correlates of Multisensory Detection Behavior in Primary and Higher-Order Visual Cortex

The brain acts on the environment by gathering multisensory information. The information from multiple senses is combined effectively in the mammalian brain to form one unified perceptual experience. This process of multisensory integration has been linked to multimodal activity in sensory areas of the neocortex, but the precise mechanisms and relevant areas are still not fully elucidated. In this work, we imaged neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex (V1) and Anterolateral visual cortex (AL) of the mouse during a visual, auditory and audiovisual detection task. Animals were trained to respond by licking a lickspout if a stimulus was perceived, and withhold licking if there was no stimulus. This paradigm provides us with the chance to see enhanced responses in multisensory conditions. The task information is saved in MATLAB files holding relevant information such as animals response information (such as correct/incorrect, response time) and stimulus information (such as modality, contrast or loudness). Two-photon data were collected and processed; individual cells’ dF/F traces have been extracted and are presented in the same MATLAB files (see Usage notes for more details about the data layout). With these data, we found that AL neurons are more sensitive to weak stimuli compared to V1. Both V1 and AL cells showed modulation of visual responses in the multisensory condition, meaning the addition of an auditory stimulus to the visual one changed the cell responses. For multisensory stimuli, area AL showed stronger responses when the animal reported to have seen a stimulus, versus when it did not. Results indicate area AL correlated more with multisensory detection than V1.