Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.

A major debate in the field of consciousness pertains to whether neuronal activity or rather the causal structure of neural circuits underlie the generation of conscious experience. The former position is held by theoretical accounts of consciousness based on the predictive processing framework (suc...

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Main Authors: Kengo Takahashi, Samuel Pontes Quero, Julien Fiorilli, Davide Benedetti, Rafael Yuste, Karl J Friston, Giulio Tononi, Cyriel M A Pennartz, Umberto Olcese, TWCF: INTREPID Consortium
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318863
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author Kengo Takahashi
Samuel Pontes Quero
Julien Fiorilli
Davide Benedetti
Rafael Yuste
Karl J Friston
Giulio Tononi
Cyriel M A Pennartz
Umberto Olcese
TWCF: INTREPID Consortium
author_facet Kengo Takahashi
Samuel Pontes Quero
Julien Fiorilli
Davide Benedetti
Rafael Yuste
Karl J Friston
Giulio Tononi
Cyriel M A Pennartz
Umberto Olcese
TWCF: INTREPID Consortium
author_sort Kengo Takahashi
collection DOAJ
description A major debate in the field of consciousness pertains to whether neuronal activity or rather the causal structure of neural circuits underlie the generation of conscious experience. The former position is held by theoretical accounts of consciousness based on the predictive processing framework (such as neurorepresentationalism and active inference), while the latter is posited by the integrated information theory. This protocol describes an experiment, part of a larger adversarial collaboration, that was designed to address this question through a combination of behavioral tests in mice, functional imaging, patterned optogenetics and electrophysiology. The experiment will directly test if optogenetic inactivation of a portion of the visual cortex not responding to behaviorally relevant stimuli will affect the perception of the spatial distribution of these stimuli, even when the neurons being inactivated display no or very low spiking activity, so low that it does not induce a significant effect on other cortical areas. The results of the experiment will be compared against theoretical predictions, and will provide a major contribution towards understanding what the neuronal substrate of consciousness is.
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issn 1932-6203
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spelling doaj-art-e73077315b534b7db6906903fe84b83c2025-08-20T03:52:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031886310.1371/journal.pone.0318863Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.Kengo TakahashiSamuel Pontes QueroJulien FiorilliDavide BenedettiRafael YusteKarl J FristonGiulio TononiCyriel M A PennartzUmberto OlceseTWCF: INTREPID ConsortiumA major debate in the field of consciousness pertains to whether neuronal activity or rather the causal structure of neural circuits underlie the generation of conscious experience. The former position is held by theoretical accounts of consciousness based on the predictive processing framework (such as neurorepresentationalism and active inference), while the latter is posited by the integrated information theory. This protocol describes an experiment, part of a larger adversarial collaboration, that was designed to address this question through a combination of behavioral tests in mice, functional imaging, patterned optogenetics and electrophysiology. The experiment will directly test if optogenetic inactivation of a portion of the visual cortex not responding to behaviorally relevant stimuli will affect the perception of the spatial distribution of these stimuli, even when the neurons being inactivated display no or very low spiking activity, so low that it does not induce a significant effect on other cortical areas. The results of the experiment will be compared against theoretical predictions, and will provide a major contribution towards understanding what the neuronal substrate of consciousness is.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318863
spellingShingle Kengo Takahashi
Samuel Pontes Quero
Julien Fiorilli
Davide Benedetti
Rafael Yuste
Karl J Friston
Giulio Tononi
Cyriel M A Pennartz
Umberto Olcese
TWCF: INTREPID Consortium
Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
PLoS ONE
title Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
title_full Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
title_fullStr Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
title_full_unstemmed Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
title_short Testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics.
title_sort testing the role of spontaneous activity in visuospatial perception with patterned optogenetics
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318863
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