Imagery neurons in the human brain
Imagery neurons in the human brain
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DOI：
10.1038/35042575
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发表时间：
2000-11-16
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Fried, I
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kreiman, G;Koch, C;Fried, I
在没有同步视觉输入的情况下，生动的视觉图像可以在我们的脑海中自动生成。在试图数出梵高的《向日葵》中的花的数量、理解其中的描述或回忆一条路径时，被试者会在他们的“心灵之眼”中形成一幅图像(1)。这个过程是否由与视觉感知相同的神经元机制完成一直是争论的问题（1-3）。来自功能成像（1.4-8）、心理物理学（1.9）、神经学研究(2)和猴子电生理学（10-12）的证据表明存在一个共同的过程，但仍有患者在一个方面有缺陷，而在另一个方面没有缺陷（3,13）。在这里，我们通过记录人类内侧颞叶的单个神经元来直接研究视觉回忆的神经元基质（14,15），同时要求受试者想象先前看过的图像。我们发现海马体、杏仁核、内嗅皮层和海马体旁回中的单个神经元会根据受试者想象的刺激选择性地改变它们的放电速率。在视觉和想象过程中选择性放电的神经元中，大多数（88%）具有相同的选择性。我们的研究揭示了人类意志视觉意象的单个神经元相关性，并提出了处理传入视觉信息和视觉回忆的共同基础。
Vivid visual images can be voluntarily generated in our minds in the absence of simultaneous visual input. While trying to count the number of flowers in Van Gogh's Sunflowers, understanding a description or recalling a path, subjects report forming an image in their "mind's eye''(1). Whether this process is accomplished by the same neuronal mechanisms as visual perception has long been a matter of debate(1-3). Evidence from functional imaging(1.4-8), psychophysics(1.9), neurological studies(2) and monkey electrophysiology(10-12) suggests a common process, yet there are patients with deficits in one but not the other(3,13). Here we directly investigated the neuronal substrates of visual recall by recording from single neurons in the human medial temporal lobe(14,15) while the subjects were asked to imagine previously viewed images. We found single neurons in the hippocampus, amygdala, entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus that selectively altered their firing rates depending on the stimulus the subjects were imagining. Of the neurons that fired selectively during both vision and imagery, the majority (88%) had identical selectivity. Our study reveals single neuron correlates of volitional visual imagery in humans and suggests a common substrate for the processing of incoming visual information and visual recall.