Distinct learning-induced changes in stimulus selectivity and interactions of GABAergic interneuron classes in visual cortex

Abstract

<p id="P1">Learning increases the selectivity of cortical representations for behaviorally relevant stimuli, but how this occurs through changes in activity of different cell types remains unclear. We imaged simultaneously responses of pyramidal cells (PYR), and parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SOM), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) inhibitory interneurons in primary visual cortex while mice learned to discriminate two visual patterns. Learning increased the selectivity for both stimuli in subsets of PYR, PV and SOM cells but not VIP cells. Strikingly, PV neurons became as selective as PYR cells and less correlated with stimulus preference of the local network. A linear dynamical system model revealed that PYR to PV interactions reorganized such that stimulus selective PYR-PV subnetworks emerged during learning. In contrast, SOM cells became decorrelated from the local network and may gate selectivity changes. Thus, learning shapes the activity and interactions of multiple cell classes as the network becomes more selective for processing of behaviorally relevant stimuli. </p>