Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences

Johanna Bergmann; Lucy S. Petro; Clement Abbatecola; Min S. Li; A. Tyler Morgan; Lars Muckli

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w

Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences

Johanna Bergmann^*, Lucy S. Petro, Clement Abbatecola, Min S. Li, A. Tyler Morgan, Lars Muckli^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Visual illusions and mental imagery are non-physical sensory experiences that involve cortical feedback processing in the primary visual cortex. Using laminar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two studies, we investigate if information about these internal experiences is visible in the activation patterns of different layers of primary visual cortex (V1). We find that imagery content is decodable mainly from deep layers of V1, whereas seemingly ‘real’ illusory content is decodable mainly from superficial layers. Furthermore, illusory content shares information with perceptual content, whilst imagery content does not generalise to illusory or perceptual information. Together, our results suggest that illusions and imagery, which differ immensely in their subjective experiences, also involve partially distinct early visual microcircuits. However, overlapping microcircuit recruitment might emerge based on the nuanced nature of subjective conscious experience.

Original language	English
Article number	1002
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w
Publication status	Published - 2 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 720270 (Human Brain Project SGA1): awarded to L.M., 785907 (Human Brain Project SGA2): awarded to L.M., and 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3): awarded to L.M, and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC BBN010956/1) ‘Layer-specific cortical feedback’ awarded to LM (with LSP). We thank Anna Makova for her assistance in the data acquisition for the second fMRI experiment. We thank Jane Alfred for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-024-45065-wLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

BergmannJ2024CorticalFinal published version, 1.32 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

@article{3e803165d3e04c2194753a458e9cd7d5,

title = "Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences",

abstract = "Visual illusions and mental imagery are non-physical sensory experiences that involve cortical feedback processing in the primary visual cortex. Using laminar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two studies, we investigate if information about these internal experiences is visible in the activation patterns of different layers of primary visual cortex (V1). We find that imagery content is decodable mainly from deep layers of V1, whereas seemingly {\textquoteleft}real{\textquoteright} illusory content is decodable mainly from superficial layers. Furthermore, illusory content shares information with perceptual content, whilst imagery content does not generalise to illusory or perceptual information. Together, our results suggest that illusions and imagery, which differ immensely in their subjective experiences, also involve partially distinct early visual microcircuits. However, overlapping microcircuit recruitment might emerge based on the nuanced nature of subjective conscious experience.",

author = "Johanna Bergmann and Petro, {Lucy S.} and Clement Abbatecola and Li, {Min S.} and Morgan, {A. Tyler} and Lars Muckli",

note = "Acknowledgments: This project has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 720270 (Human Brain Project SGA1): awarded to L.M., 785907 (Human Brain Project SGA2): awarded to L.M., and 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3): awarded to L.M, and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC BBN010956/1) {\textquoteleft}Layer-specific cortical feedback{\textquoteright} awarded to LM (with LSP). We thank Anna Makova for her assistance in the data acquisition for the second fMRI experiment. We thank Jane Alfred for helpful comments on the manuscript.",

year = "2024",

month = feb,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences

AU - Bergmann, Johanna

AU - Petro, Lucy S.

AU - Abbatecola, Clement

AU - Li, Min S.

AU - Morgan, A. Tyler

AU - Muckli, Lars

N1 - Acknowledgments: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 720270 (Human Brain Project SGA1): awarded to L.M., 785907 (Human Brain Project SGA2): awarded to L.M., and 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3): awarded to L.M, and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC BBN010956/1) ‘Layer-specific cortical feedback’ awarded to LM (with LSP). We thank Anna Makova for her assistance in the data acquisition for the second fMRI experiment. We thank Jane Alfred for helpful comments on the manuscript.

PY - 2024/2/2

Y1 - 2024/2/2

N2 - Visual illusions and mental imagery are non-physical sensory experiences that involve cortical feedback processing in the primary visual cortex. Using laminar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two studies, we investigate if information about these internal experiences is visible in the activation patterns of different layers of primary visual cortex (V1). We find that imagery content is decodable mainly from deep layers of V1, whereas seemingly ‘real’ illusory content is decodable mainly from superficial layers. Furthermore, illusory content shares information with perceptual content, whilst imagery content does not generalise to illusory or perceptual information. Together, our results suggest that illusions and imagery, which differ immensely in their subjective experiences, also involve partially distinct early visual microcircuits. However, overlapping microcircuit recruitment might emerge based on the nuanced nature of subjective conscious experience.

AB - Visual illusions and mental imagery are non-physical sensory experiences that involve cortical feedback processing in the primary visual cortex. Using laminar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two studies, we investigate if information about these internal experiences is visible in the activation patterns of different layers of primary visual cortex (V1). We find that imagery content is decodable mainly from deep layers of V1, whereas seemingly ‘real’ illusory content is decodable mainly from superficial layers. Furthermore, illusory content shares information with perceptual content, whilst imagery content does not generalise to illusory or perceptual information. Together, our results suggest that illusions and imagery, which differ immensely in their subjective experiences, also involve partially distinct early visual microcircuits. However, overlapping microcircuit recruitment might emerge based on the nuanced nature of subjective conscious experience.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w

DO - 10.1038/s41467-024-45065-w

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 15

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 1002

ER -

Cortical depth profiles in primary visual cortex for illusory and imaginary experiences

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this