Pupil fluctuations track fast switching of cortical states during quiet wakefulness

By Jacob Reimer, Emmanouil Froudarakis, C. Cadwell, Dimitri Yatsenko, George H. Denfield, Andreas S. Tolias. Neuron, 2014

687 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Neural responses are modulated by brain state, which varies with arousal, attention, and behavior. In mice, running and whisking desynchronize the cortex and enhance sensory responses, but the quiescent periods between bouts of exploratory behaviors have not been well-studied. We found that these periods of “quiet wakefulness” were characterized by state fluctuations on a timescale of 1–2 seconds. Small fluctuations in pupil diameter tracked these state transitions in multiple cortical areas. During dilation, the intracellular membrane potential was desynchronized, sensory responses were enhanced, and population activity was less correlated. In contrast, constriction was characterized by increased low-frequency oscillations and higher ensemble correlations. Specific subtypes of cortical interneurons were differentially activated during dilation and constriction, consistent with their participation in the observed state changes. Pupillometry has been used to index attention and mental effort in humans, but the intracellular dynamics and differences in population activity underlying this phenomenon were previously unknown.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c42b19c190601e6c982683ff4168ceb167e0b3ca

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In Cognitive Neuroscience

Citations in the corpus

Waking State: Rapid Variations Modulate Neural and Behavioral Responses (2015, positive): “…et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2013; McGinley et al., 2015; Nelson et al., 2013; Niell and Stryker, 2010; Polack et al., 2013; Poulet and Petersen, 2008; Reimer et al., 2014; Schölvinck et al., 2015; Vinck et al., 2015; Zagha et al., 2013; 1146 Neuron 87, September 23, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Inc. Zhouet…”
Relationships between pupil diameter and neuronal activity in the locus coeruleus, colliculi, and cingulate cortex (2015, background): “Pupil diameter also can covary with neuronal activity in cortex, which is thought to reflect, at least in part, modulation by the LC-NE system (Vinck et al., 2015; Reimer et al., 2014; Ebitz and Platt, 2015; Eldar et al., 2013; McGinley et al., 2015).”
Principles of connectivity among morphologically defined cell types in adult neocortex (2015, positive): “In addition, it has been increasingly recognized that the SOM-Cre driver line (SOM-IRESCre) (31) labels a population of neurons that can be grouped into distinct types both functionally (19, 32) andmorphologically (fig.”
Pupillometry: Psychology, Physiology, and Function (2018, background): “generated by an internal cognitive event) and its size and profile are therefore highly variable, presumably reflecting how mental effort and arousal evolve over time (e.g. Mathôt, Siebold, Donk, & Vitu, 2015a; Reimer et al., 2014).”
Cortical membrane potential signature of optimal states for sensory signal detection (2015, methodology): “…(e.g., movement) states (Bennett et al., 2013; Erisken et al., 2014; Fontanini and Katz, 2008; Polack et al., 2013; Poulet and Petersen, 2008; Reimer et al., 2014; Schneider et al., 2014; Schö lvinck et al., 2015; Vinck et al., 2015; Vyazovskiy et al., 2011; Zagha et al., 2013; Zhou et al.,…”
Safe and sensible preprocessing and baseline correction of pupil-size data (2018, background): “For example, although in the absence of direct external stimulation the size of the pupil fluctuates in cycles of 1 – 2 s (Mathôt, Siebold, Donk, & Vitu, 2015a; Reimer et al., 2014), it does not show the slow systematic drift shown by EEG/MEG voltages (Tanner et al., 2016).”
Neural Circuitry of Wakefulness and Sleep (2017, positive): “In addition, levels of arousal vary during wake and correlate with pupil diameter, eyelid position, and sharp wave ripples in hippocampus (Eldar et al., 2013; McGinley et al., 2015; Reimer et al., 2014).”