Laminar Dynamics of Target Selection in the Posterior Parietal Cortex of the Common Marmoset

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 44; no. 21; p. e1583232024
• Main Authors: Selvanayagam, Janahan, Johnston, Kevin D, Everling, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society for Neuroscience 22.05.2024
• Subjects: Attention; Cortex (parietal); Electrophysiology; Interneurons; Neurons; Pyramidal cells; Visual discrimination; Visual observation; Visual perception; Visual tasks
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1583-23.2024

The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) plays a crucial role in target selection and attention in primates, but the laminar microcircuitry of this region is largely unknown. To address this, we used ultra-high density laminar electrophysiology with Neuropixels probes to record neural activity in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of two adult marmosets while they performed a simple visual target selection task. Our results reveal neural correlates of visual target selection in the marmoset, similar to those observed in macaques and humans, with distinct timing and profiles of activity across cell types and cortical layers. Notably, a greater proportion of neurons exhibited stimulus related activity in superficial layers whereas a greater proportion of infragranular neurons exhibited significant post-saccadic activity. Stimulus-related activity was first observed in granular layer putative interneurons, whereas target discrimination activity emerged first in supragranular layers putative pyramidal neurons, supporting a canonical laminar circuit underlying visual target selection in marmoset PPC. These findings provide novel insights into the neural basis of visual attention and target selection in primates. The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) is a critical cortical region for target selection and spatial attention. The microcircuitry of this region remains poorly understood as in the macaque, the most prevalent model, it is embedded within a sulcus and is inaccessible to laminar electrophysiological techniques. The common marmoset however is a promising alternative model due to its lissencephalic cortex and homologous frontoparietal network. Here, we conducted ultra-high density laminar electrophysiology in area LIP of marmosets performing a visual target selection task. We observed interlaminar dynamics consistent with previous observations of a canonical circuit in primary visual cortex and proposed models for the frontal eye fields, extending the concept of a canonical circuit to primate association cortex.