Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time
Abstract Stably representing recurring visual scenes is crucial for behavior. However, previous studies report varying degrees of gradual neural activity changes over time in slow dynamic (1-5 seconds) firing rate code. Here we show that temporal codes, which capture structures in visually evoked fa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62069-2 |
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| _version_ | 1849332536342216704 |
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| author | Hanlin Zhu Fei He Pavlo Zolotavin Saumil Patel Andreas S. Tolias Lan Luan Chong Xie |
| author_facet | Hanlin Zhu Fei He Pavlo Zolotavin Saumil Patel Andreas S. Tolias Lan Luan Chong Xie |
| author_sort | Hanlin Zhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Stably representing recurring visual scenes is crucial for behavior. However, previous studies report varying degrees of gradual neural activity changes over time in slow dynamic (1-5 seconds) firing rate code. Here we show that temporal codes, which capture structures in visually evoked fast (tens of milliseconds) spiking patterns, support the stability of visual representations. We tracked the spiking responses of the same visual cortical populations in male mice for 15 consecutive days using custom-developed, large-scale, ultraflexible electrode arrays. Across various stimuli, neurons exhibited different day-to-day stability in their firing rate-based tuning. The across day stability correlated with tuning reliability. Notably, temporal codes increased single neuron tuning stability, especially for less reliable neurons. Temporal coding further improved population representation discriminability and decoding accuracy. The stability of temporal codes was more correlated with network functional connectivity than rate coding. Thus, temporal coding may be essential in ensuring consistent sensory experiences over time. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7ce3e666af384bffb0ac9b421abb3de4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-7ce3e666af384bffb0ac9b421abb3de42025-08-20T03:46:09ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-0116112010.1038/s41467-025-62069-2Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over timeHanlin Zhu0Fei He1Pavlo Zolotavin2Saumil Patel3Andreas S. Tolias4Lan Luan5Chong Xie6Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice UniversityDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice UniversityDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice UniversityDepartment of Ophthalmology, Stanford UniversityDepartment of Ophthalmology, Stanford UniversityDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice UniversityDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice UniversityAbstract Stably representing recurring visual scenes is crucial for behavior. However, previous studies report varying degrees of gradual neural activity changes over time in slow dynamic (1-5 seconds) firing rate code. Here we show that temporal codes, which capture structures in visually evoked fast (tens of milliseconds) spiking patterns, support the stability of visual representations. We tracked the spiking responses of the same visual cortical populations in male mice for 15 consecutive days using custom-developed, large-scale, ultraflexible electrode arrays. Across various stimuli, neurons exhibited different day-to-day stability in their firing rate-based tuning. The across day stability correlated with tuning reliability. Notably, temporal codes increased single neuron tuning stability, especially for less reliable neurons. Temporal coding further improved population representation discriminability and decoding accuracy. The stability of temporal codes was more correlated with network functional connectivity than rate coding. Thus, temporal coding may be essential in ensuring consistent sensory experiences over time.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62069-2 |
| spellingShingle | Hanlin Zhu Fei He Pavlo Zolotavin Saumil Patel Andreas S. Tolias Lan Luan Chong Xie Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time Nature Communications |
| title | Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| title_full | Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| title_fullStr | Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| title_short | Temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| title_sort | temporal coding carries more stable cortical visual representations than firing rate over time |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62069-2 |
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