Input-dependent directionality of interactions between cortical areas
- 1Champalimaud Foundation
Abstract
Studying the temporal coordination of activity signals across areas is essential for understanding brain function. Recent studies using cross-covariances show that activity directionality can shift rapidly with behavioral or task demands; yet, the circuit mechanisms underlying these changes remain unclear. Here, we use recurrent network models to investigate how directional interactions emerge and are flexibly reconfigured in multi-area cortical circuits. We show that, for fixed connectivity, directionality is shaped by how common inputs align with recurrent connectivity and the associated internal timescales of activity. In multi-area circuits with locally balanced excitation and inhibition, this reveals a predominant role for inputs to excitatory over inhibitory populations in controlling directionality. These inputs govern the directionality of the latent signals that account for most of the shared activity across areas, predominantly reflecting widespread and coherent activity fluctuations. Our models capture key features of cross-covariances from primate areas V1 and V2 and suggest parsimonious candidate mechanisms for the shift in directionality reported in these areas. This work establishes a mechanistic framework for understanding dynamic changes in temporal coordination across brain areas.
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BibTeX
@misc{mastrogiuseppe2026inputdependent,
title = {{Input-dependent directionality of interactions between cortical areas}},
author = {F. Mastrogiuseppe and J. Carmona and B. M. Yu and A. Kohn and C. K. Machens},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.64898/2026.05.18.725829},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.18.725829v2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Input-dependent directionality of interactions between cortical areas
AU - F. Mastrogiuseppe
AU - J. Carmona
AU - B. M. Yu
AU - A. Kohn
AU - C. K. Machens
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.05.18.725829
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.18.725829v2
AB - Studying the temporal coordination of activity signals across areas is essential for understanding brain function. Recent studies using cross-covariances show that activity directionality can shift rapidly with behavioral or task demands; yet, the circuit mechanisms underlying these changes remain unclear. Here, we use recurrent network models to investigate how directional interactions emerge and are flexibly reconfigured in multi-area cortical circuits. We show that, for fixed connectivity, directionality is shaped by how common inputs align with recurrent connectivity and the associated internal timescales of activity. In multi-area circuits with locally balanced excitation and inhibition, this reveals a predominant role for inputs to excitatory over inhibitory populations in controlling directionality. These inputs govern the directionality of the latent signals that account for most of the shared activity across areas, predominantly reflecting widespread and coherent activity fluctuations. Our models capture key features of cross-covariances from primate areas V1 and V2 and suggest parsimonious candidate mechanisms for the shift in directionality reported in these areas. This work establishes a mechanistic framework for understanding dynamic changes in temporal coordination across brain areas.
ER -