瑞士弗里德里希·米舍生物医学研究所Aleena R. Garner与Georg B. Keller合作发现一个视听预测的皮层回路。相关论文于2021年12月2日在线发表在《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

研究人员描述了一种神经机制，通过小鼠听觉和视觉皮层之间的直接互动，听觉输入可以塑造行为上相关刺激的视觉表征。结果表明，在行为相关的背景下，听觉刺激与视觉刺激的关联会导致初级视觉皮层（V1）的视觉反应受到经验依赖性的抑制。听觉皮层轴突将听觉和视网膜匹配的视觉输入混合到V1，对这些轴突的光遗传学刺激选择性地抑制V1神经元，这些神经元在学习后对相关的视觉刺激有反应，但在学习前没有。

结果表明，跨模式的关联可以通过长距离的皮层连接来传达，并且随着学习的进行，这些跨模式的连接可以抑制对可预测输入的反应。

据悉，不同感觉模式中的刺激物之间习得的关联可以塑造人们对这些刺激物的感知方式。然而，人们并不清楚这些互动是如何介导的，也不清楚它们发生在处理层次的哪个层面。

附：英文原文

Title: A cortical circuit for audio-visual predictions

Author: Garner, Aleena R., Keller, Georg B.

Issue&Volume: 2021-12-02

Abstract: Learned associations between stimuli in different sensory modalities can shape the way we perceive these stimuli. However, it is not well understood how these interactions are mediated or at what level of the processing hierarchy they occur. Here we describe a neural mechanism by which an auditory input can shape visual representations of behaviorally relevant stimuli through direct interactions between auditory and visual cortices in mice. We show that the association of an auditory stimulus with a visual stimulus in a behaviorally relevant context leads to experience-dependent suppression of visual responses in primary visual cortex (V1). Auditory cortex axons carry a mixture of auditory and retinotopically matched visual input to V1, and optogenetic stimulation of these axons selectively suppresses V1 neurons that are responsive to the associated visual stimulus after, but not before, learning. Our results suggest that cross-modal associations can be communicated by long-range cortical connections and that, with learning, these cross-modal connections function to suppress responses to predictable input.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00974-7

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-021-00974-7