Direction of magnetoencephalography sources associated with feedback and feedforward contributions in a visual object recognition task

Abstract

Identifying inter-area communication in terms of the hierarchical organization of functional brain areas is of considerable interest in human neuroimaging. Previous studies have suggested that the direction of magneto- and electroencephalography (MEG, EEG) source currents depends on the layer-specific input patterns into a cortical area. We examined the direction in MEG source currents in a visual object recognition experiment in which there were specific expectations of activation in the fusiform region being driven by either feedforward or feedback inputs. The source for the early non-specific visual evoked response, presumably corresponding to feedforward driven activity, pointed outward, i.e., away from the white matter. In contrast, the source for the later, object-recognition related signals, expected to be driven by feedback inputs, pointed inward, toward the white matter. Associating specific features of the MEG/EEG source waveforms to feedforward and feedback inputs could provide unique information about the activation patterns within hierarchically organized cortical areas.

Electrophysiological correlates of cocktail-party listening

“…It is possible that this finding reflects a summation of bottom-up excitatory processes of neural activity. This conclusion is in accordance with recent evidence from magnetoencephalography in the visual modality, suggesting that the P1 response corresponds to feedforward driven (bottom-up) activity, whereas the later N1 response might reflect feedback (top-down) effects [32]. At the time of the P1, sLORETA revealed largely identical areas in both tasks, namely a region around auditory cortex, posterior superior temporal gyrus, insula, and inferior parietal lobule (cf.…”

The neuroelectric dynamics of the emotional anticipation of other people’s pain

“…The different sources of the brain component are consistent with the path analysis we conducted in order to investigate the spatio-temporal unfolding of the mismatch effect. In our modeling approach, we assumed that visual object recognition is hierarchically organized in a sequence of cortical activation involving both (feedforward) input from early to higher-level areas, and top-down facilitation (feedback) from frontal regions to temporal regions [ 78 , 79 ] and even occipital regions [ 80 ]. This hypothesis has already been validated using dipole modeling of EEG/MEG data [ 79 ], or dynamic causal modeling of fMRI data [ 81 ].…”

“…In our modeling approach, we assumed that visual object recognition is hierarchically organized in a sequence of cortical activation involving both (feedforward) input from early to higher-level areas, and top-down facilitation (feedback) from frontal regions to temporal regions [ 78 , 79 ] and even occipital regions [ 80 ]. This hypothesis has already been validated using dipole modeling of EEG/MEG data [ 79 ], or dynamic causal modeling of fMRI data [ 81 ]. Along those lines, Garrido et al, [ 78 ] showed that backward connections mediate late components of event-related mismatch responses in an oddball paradigm.…”

Frontal Brain Asymmetry and Willingness to Pay

“…Gamma synchrony is thought to represent a specific kind of activation, and is believed to play an important role in the synchronization within functional units, integrating proximate or distant functional units, and can do so in a time-locked or phase-locked manner (Başar et al, 1999 ). Gamma activation has been shown to relate to a number of cognitive processes, including object recognition (Schadow et al, 2009 ; Castelhano et al, 2014 ; Ahlfors et al, 2015 ), memory types (Başar et al, 1999 , 2001 ; Nyhus and Curran, 2010 ; Roux and Uhlhaas, 2014 ; Heusser et al, 2016 ; Després et al, 2017 ), and conscious processing (Aru and Bachmann, 2009 ; Doesburg et al, 2009 ; Luo et al, 2009 ; Steinmann et al, 2014 ; Cabral-Calderin et al, 2015 ; Tu et al, 2016 ). Most notably, gamma has been linked to the functional coupling—or binding—of brain regions that ensures integration and appropriate processing of information (Klimesch et al, 2010 ; Ehm et al, 2011 ; Schneider et al, 2011 ).…”