Cortical State Fluctuations across Layers of V1 during Visual Spatial Perception

Summary: Many factors modulate the state of cortical activity, but the importance of cortical state variability for sensory perception remains debated. We trained mice to detect spatially localized visual stimuli and simultaneously measured local field potentials and excitatory and inhibitory neuron populations across layers of primary visual cortex (V1). Cortical states with low spontaneous firing and correlations in excitatory neurons, and suppression of 3- to 7-Hz oscillations in layer 4, accurately predicted single-trial visual detection. Our results show that cortical states exert strong effects at the initial stage of cortical processing in V1 and can play a prominent role for visual spatial behavior in mice. : Speed et al. show that visual behavior in mice is strongly influenced by the state of activity in primary visual cortex (V1). Single-trial perceptual accuracy was highly predictable from oscillations in the input layers and from correlations between excitatory neurons. Keywords: visual cortex, mouse behavior, oscillations, correlations, inhibitory neuron