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An inhibitory brainstem pathway reduces visual detection during background motion.

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Paper

Loaded from Europe PMC by your browser, not stored by OSCR: doi.org · Europe PMC

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The authors' code

Markdown · 19 lines · 390 B · no license

  1. Arduino code for controlling the active avoidance behaviour
  3. System requirements:
  5. Arduino2.0.2 on Windows10
  7. Installation guide:
  9. No specific requirements. Follow normal installation guide for Arduino2.0.2.
  10. Install time: few minutes.
  12. Demo:
  14. No Demo applicable.
  15. Run time: Infinite.
  17. Instruction for use:
  19. Upload the Arduino code to Arduino DUE board. Connect the wires to proper hardware.

README.md at commit 44328ec, no license · at the source

Overview

Authors: Xiao-lin Chou1, Milena Russo1,2, Yingtian He1,2, Loridee De Villa1, Sabrina Amato1, Bao-hua Liu1,2
ORCID iDs: Xiao-lin Chou, Bao-hua Liu
  1. Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON Canada
  2. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
Institutions: University of Toronto (Canada)
Journal: Nature communications, volume 17, issue 1, article 6168
Dates: received 23 January 2025; accepted 20 April 2026; published online 7 May 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x · PMID 42098111 · PMCID PMC13365429 · OpenAlex W7160543380
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code verified
Categories: mouse (organism), systems (subfield)
Methods: Statistics, Preprocessing, Evoked potentials, Single-unit activity, calcium imaging, Physiology & signal measures, Connectivity
Keywords: Motion detection, Sensory processing, Neural circuits, Inhibition
MeSH: Brain Stem*, Motion Perception*, Superior Colliculi*, Visual Pathways*, Visual Perception*, Animals, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Optic Tract, Photic Stimulation, Visual Cortex (* major topic)
Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms (Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 172 references in the paper

Abstract

Moving backgrounds profoundly impact object perception, a crucial process for parsing complex visual scenes. This motion-induced modulation has traditionally been attributed to visual cortical circuits. However, recent evidence that brainstem activity is also influenced by background motion raises the intriguing question of whether subcortical circuits play a role in this perceptual phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate that inhibitory projections from mouse nucleus of the optic tract (NOT)—a brainstem structure mediating reflexive behaviors—impair superior colliculus (SC)-dependent visual detection during background motion. Specifically, the inhibitory NOT projections to SC are selectively activated by global, but not local, background motion to suppress SC activity. Remarkably, silencing this NOT-SC pathway relieves the suppression of SC activity in such motional context and alleviates the motion-induced impairments in visual detection. Our findings reveal that motion-sensitive brainstem circuits suppress subcortical processing to shape visual perception, underscoring the underappreciated role of the brainstem in visual cognition.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Repositories

Its files are read in the Code ↔ Paper reader above.

xiaolinchou/active-avoidance-task-and-create-spikes-after-Kilosort

License: none: the authors keep all their rights
State: the link answers, verified on 28 September 2026
Evidence: files inventoried
Commit: 44328ec9fbd15a1787e6a2e189c15cb95f562a9a, 13 October 2025
Size: 2 files, 0 scripts
Software Heritage: not archived
Found in: “Code availability”
Holds: README
Not found: license file, CITATION.cff, environment file, tests, continuous integration, documentation
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 28 September 2026: the link answers
  • 28 September 2026: the link answers
1 file
At the source: github.com/xiaolinchou/active-avoidance-task-and-create-spikes-after-Kilosort

Zenodo 18879694

License: CC-BY-4.0
State: the link answers, verified on 28 September 2026
Evidence: files inventoried
Size: 1 file
Software Heritage: not checked
Found in: the references
Not found: README, license file, CITATION.cff, environment file, tests, continuous integration, documentation
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 28 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
  • 28 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
1 file
At the source:

Code availability

The code for the analyses can be accessed from the following repository: https://github.com/xiaolinchou/active-avoidance-task-and-create-spikes-after-Kilosort172.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Tracing map

Proposed by the machine: these links were found in the paper and verified at the source, without human review. The map will receive a Zenodo DOI once one of the paper's authors has validated it with their ORCID.

What the map holds:

  • 2 repositories of the authors' code, each at its verified commit, with its license and how the link was found in the paper;
  • 0 scripts, each with its path and the digest of its content;
  • no match between paragraphs and code yet;
  • neither the text of the paper nor the code itself.

Its JSON (tracing-map.json) is deposited on Zenodo with its DOI once the map is validated.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data availability

All original datasets generated and/or analyzed in this study are not deposited in online repositories due to their enormous size (over 5 TB), but available from the corresponding author upon request. All data used to generate the figures and statistics are provided in the source data file. Source data are provided with this paper.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 4 keywords, 12 MeSH terms, 165 references.

Cite

This paper

Chou, X.-l., Russo, M., He, Y., De Villa, L., Amato, S., & Liu, B.-h. (2026). An inhibitory brainstem pathway reduces visual detection during background motion. Nature communications, 17(1), 6168. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x

BibTeX

@article{chou2026inhibitory,
author = {Chou, Xiao-lin and Russo, Milena and He, Yingtian and De Villa, Loridee and Amato, Sabrina and Liu, Bao-hua},
title = {{An inhibitory brainstem pathway reduces visual detection during background motion}},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2026},
month = may,
volume = {17},
number = {1},
pages = {6168},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
issn = {2041-1723},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x},
pmid = {42098111},
pmcid = {PMC13365429}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Chou, Xiao-lin
AU - Russo, Milena
AU - He, Yingtian
AU - De Villa, Loridee
AU - Amato, Sabrina
AU - Liu, Bao-hua
TI - An inhibitory brainstem pathway reduces visual detection during background motion
T2 - Nature communications
J2 - Nat Commun
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/07
VL - 17
IS - 1
SP - 6168
SN - 2041-1723
PB - Nature Publishing Group
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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The tracing map gets a citation of its own once an author has validated it and it has a DOI.

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