Gamma rhythms and visual information in mouse V1 specifically modulated by somatostatin-positive neurons in reticular thalamus

ABSTRACT Visual perception in natural environments depends on the ability to focus on salient stimuli while ignoring distractions. This kind of selective visual attention is associated with gamma activity in the visual cortex. While the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT) has been implicated in selective attention, its role in modulating visual perception remains unknown. Here we show that somatostatin-(SOM) but not parvalbumin-expressing (PV) neurons in the nRT preferentially project to visual thalamic nuclei. In freely behaving mice, single-unit and field recordings reveal powerful modulation of both visual information transmission and gamma activity in primary visual cortex (V1), as well as in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). These findings pinpoint the SOM neurons in nRT as powerful modulators of the visual information encoding accuracy in V1, and represent a novel circuit through which the nRT can influence representation of visual information.