Local and global correlations between neurons in the middle temporal area of primate visual cortex

In humans and other primates, the analysis of visual motion includes populations of neurons in the middle-temporal IMT) area of visual cortex. Motion analysis will be constrained by the structure of neural correlations in these populations. Here, we use multi-electrode arrays to measure correlations in anesthetized marmoset a New World monkey where area MT lies exposed on the cortical surface. We measured correlations in the spike count between pairs of neurons and within populations of neurons, for moving dot fields and moving gratings. Correlations were weaker in area MT than in area V1. The magnitude of correlations in area MT diminished with distance between receptive fields, and difference in preferred direction. Correlations during presentation of moving gratings were stronger than those during presentation of moving dot fields, extended further across cortex, and were less dependent on the functional properties of neurons. Analysis of the timescales of correlation suggests presence of 2 mechanisms. A local mechanism, associated with near-synchronous spiking activity, is strongest in nearby neurons with similar direction preference and is independent of visual stimulus. A global mechanism, operating over larger spatial scales and longer timescales, is independent of direction preference and is modulated by the type of visual stimulus presented.