The neuronal mechanisms of Steady State Visually Evoked Potential (SSVEP) studied in the fly brains with multi-contact electrodes

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The neuronal mechanisms of Steady State Visually Evoked Potential (SSVEP) studied in the fly brains with multi-contact electrodes Dror Cohen1*, Angelique Christine Paulk2, Bruno Van Swinderen2 and Naotsugu Tsuchiya1 1 School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Australia 2 Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia Background Flickering stimuli that induce Steady State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEP) have been successfully used to study cognitive processes in humans and animals. In particular, covert shifts of attention have been shown to enhance the SSVEP responses for the attended flickers and to reduce those for the ignored flickers. Surprisingly, homologous attentional modulation has been reported in fruit flies using SSVEP. The SSVEP, combined with the genetic manipulations available for flies, opens up possible dissection of high-level cognitive processes such as attention at the neuro-circuit level. Here, we investigated the neuronal mechanisms of SSVEP in flies using electrophysiological techniques. Methods We recorded local neural activity (Local Field Potentials, LFP) in the brains of fruit flies (Drosophila Melanogaster), using a 16-channel micro linear array inserted laterally across the fly brain. During recording, a flicker stimulus was presented either at the left, right or the both sides of the visual field. The flicker frequency was either 13Hz or 16Hz. We characterised the physiological response properties of SSVEP by analysing the LFPs in time and frequency domains. To quantify the information about the stimulus represented in the fly brain, we used a multi-variate decoding technique; specifically, we investigated when, where, and at which frequencies, the information about the flickers was encoded in the LFPs. Results The analysis in time and frequency revealed precise and consistent responses to the flickers in the peripheral visual systems. However, significant responses were also observed in central brain areas. Notably, in addition to the expected SSVEP response at the flicker frequencies we observed strong responses at the harmonics (up to 7th harmonic) and inter-modulatory frequencies (e.g., 29Hz = 13Hz+16Hz). Decoding analyses confirmed highly localized information both in space and frequency and nearly perfect accuracy in classifying the stimuli. Discussion Our initial step towards understanding SSVEP in files is highly promising. Ongoing experiments will test the neuronal basis of attentional modulation using various paradigms. For example, we will make one flickering stimuli more salient by pairing it with reward/punishment. By combining with genetic manipulations of local neural circuits, we will extend our analysis to quantify how information about the attended and ignored flickers is represented in the brains. Keywords: SSVEP, Drosophila melanogaster, Attention, Decoding, local field potential (LFP), Intermodulation, multi-channel recording Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Sensation and Perception Citation: Cohen D, Paulk A, Van Swinderen B and Tsuchiya N (2013). The neuronal mechanisms of Steady State Visually Evoked Potential (SSVEP) studied in the fly brains with multi-contact electrodes. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00038 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Oct 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Mr. Dror Cohen, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, dror.cohen@monash.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Dror Cohen Angelique Christine Paulk Bruno Van Swinderen Naotsugu Tsuchiya Google Dror Cohen Angelique Christine Paulk Bruno Van Swinderen Naotsugu Tsuchiya Google Scholar Dror Cohen Angelique Christine Paulk Bruno Van Swinderen Naotsugu Tsuchiya PubMed Dror Cohen Angelique Christine Paulk Bruno Van Swinderen Naotsugu Tsuchiya Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.