[en] Sensory perception emerges from the integration of multiple inputs from different sensory modalities, a process previously attributed to higher-order cortices. However, increasing evidence suggests that the primary visual cortex also processes nonvisual stimuli. Here, we investigated the response of the primary visual cortex to visual, auditory and somatosensory stimuli in awake, head-fixed mice using evoked local field potentials, multi- and single-unit recordings. Our results demonstrate that the primary visual cortex responds to auditory and somatosensory inputs with distinct frequency band modulations and firing rate patterns across monocular and binocular regions. Notably, somatosensory stimuli elicited the fastest response latencies, suggesting a privileged role in murine sensory processing. Auditory and somatosensory stimuli modulated the primary visual cortex activity similarly to contralateral visual inputs, whereas ipsilateral visual stimulation resulted in weaker responses. These findings indicate that the primary visual cortex is not solely dedicated to vision but also responds to auditory and somatosensory stimuli, supporting a potential role in multisensory processing.
Disciplines :
Neurology
Author, co-author :
Caballero Tapia, Antonio ; Neurosciences Laboratory, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium
Cheron, Guy ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie et Sciences Biomédicales > Service de Neurosciences ; Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics (LNMB), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Ristori, Dominique; Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics (LNMB), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Arckens, Lutgarde ; Research group of Neuroplasticity and Neuroproteomics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Ris, Laurence ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie > Service de Neurosciences
Language :
English
Title :
Beyond Vision: Response of the Mouse Visual Cortex to Multimodal Stimulation.
Publication date :
August 2025
Journal title :
European Journal of Neuroscience
ISSN :
0953-816X
eISSN :
1460-9568
Publisher :
Blackwell, Oxford, Gb
Volume :
62
Issue :
3
Pages :
e70225
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Research unit :
M119 - Neurosciences
Research institute :
R550 - Institut des Sciences et Technologies de la Santé
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