Synchronization in monkey visual cortex analyzed with an information-theoretic measure

摘要

We apply an information-theoretic measure for phase synchrony to local field potentials recorded with a multi-electrode array implanted in area V4 of the monkey visual cortex during a reinforcement pairing experiment. We show for the first time that (1) the phase synchrony is significantly higher for the rewarded stimulus than the unrewarded one, after training the monkey; (2) just after the stimuli reversal, the difference in phase synchronization is due to the stimuli, not the reward; (3) the difference between reward and no reward is most clear in two disconnected time intervals between stimuli onset and the expected delivery of the reward; and (4) synchronous activity appears in waves running over the array, and their timing correlates well with the time intervals where the difference between reward and no reward is most prominent. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.