dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaInhibitory synchrony as a mechanism for attentional gain modulation
| Authors | Paul H. E. Tiesinga, Jean-Marc Fellous, Emilio Salinas, Jorge V. Jose, Terrence J. Sejnowski |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0503019 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0503019 |
Abstract
Recordings from area V4 of monkeys have revealed that when the focus of attention is on a visual stimulus within the receptive field of a cortical neuron, two distinct changes can occur: The firing rate of the neuron can change and there can be an increase in the coherence between spikes and the local field potential in the gamma-frequency range (30-50 Hz). The hypothesis explored here is that these observed effects of attention could be a consequence of changes in the synchrony of local interneuron networks. We performed computer simulations of a Hodgkin-Huxley type neuron driven by a constant depolarizing current, I, representing visual stimulation and a modulatory inhibitory input representing the effects of attention via local interneuron networks. We observed that the neuron's firing rate and the coherence of its output spike train with the synaptic inputs was modulated by the degree of synchrony of the inhibitory inputs. The model suggest that the observed changes in firing rate and coherence of neurons in the visual cortex could be controlled by top-down inputs that regulated the coherence in the activity of a local inhibitory network discharging at gamma frequencies.
{
"annotation_id": "f282fb33-3a78-4116-9744-42b434e52170",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:31.156000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:01:31.156000Z",
"file_hash": "c689450a66ae1b8ca642285726d9f69d4e01ad2100d3538921edff165c99e049",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "Recordings from area V4 of monkeys have revealed that when the focus of\nattention is on a visual stimulus within the receptive field of a cortical\nneuron, two distinct changes can occur: The firing rate of the neuron can\nchange and there can be an increase in the coherence between spikes and the\nlocal field potential in the gamma-frequency range (30-50 Hz). The hypothesis\nexplored here is that these observed effects of attention could be a\nconsequence of changes in the synchrony of local interneuron networks. We\nperformed computer simulations of a Hodgkin-Huxley type neuron driven by a\nconstant depolarizing current, I, representing visual stimulation and a\nmodulatory inhibitory input representing the effects of attention via local\ninterneuron networks. We observed that the neuron\u0027s firing rate and the\ncoherence of its output spike train with the synaptic inputs was modulated by\nthe degree of synchrony of the inhibitory inputs. The model suggest that the\nobserved changes in firing rate and coherence of neurons in the visual cortex\ncould be controlled by top-down inputs that regulated the coherence in the\nactivity of a local inhibitory network discharging at gamma frequencies.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0503019",
"authors": [
"Paul H. E. Tiesinga",
"Jean-Marc Fellous",
"Emilio Salinas",
"Jorge V. Jose",
"Terrence J. Sejnowski"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.NC"
],
"title": "Inhibitory synchrony as a mechanism for attentional gain modulation",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0503019"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "9640c5d7-89c6-4951-9a19-3956205bbc75",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}