Shoichi Okamura

Surround suppression in the human visual cortex: an analysis using magnetoencephalography

The responses of neurons in the primate and cat primary visual cortices (V1s) to the stimuli within their classical receptive fields (CRFs) are markedly suppressed by the surrounding stimuli outside CRFs. In the present study, we show that a similar suppressive effect occurs for visually evoked magnetic responses in the human visual cortex. The initial peak amplitude of the magnetic response (at a latency of around 90 ms) to a test grating accompanied by high-contrast surround gratings was smaller than that for the test without the surround. Current source localization with a single dipole model indicated that the initial response originated from cortical activity near the occipital pole in the contralateral hemisphere to the visual stimulation. The peak amplitude for the test decreased with increasing surround contrast, and increased with increasing test contrast. The contrast dependence and the early development of the surround suppression were in agreement with the results of the V1 single-cell studies of monkeys and cats. We suggest that the surround suppression of the initial peak amplitude of the magnetic response may be ascribed to the inhibition of the neural activity at the early processing stage(s), presumably at V1, in the human visual cortex.

Magnetic responses of human visual cortex to illusory contours.

To examine the neural mechanism underlying illusory-contour perception, we measured the magnetic responses of the human visual cortex to an abutting-line grating inducing illusory contours (test stimulus) and a non-abutting-line grating (control stimulus) using the technique of magnetoencephalography (MEG). In the initial latency period of 60-80 ms, the MEG response to the test stimulus was nearly identical with that to the control stimulus, but in the subsequent period of 80-150 ms, the former was larger than the latter. The origin of the peak MEG response to the test stimulus was estimated to be in the vicinity of striate cortex/extrastriate visual cortex for two of the four subjects. These results suggest that, in accord with those of the previous electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, illusory-contour signals are generated in the very early stage(s) of processing in the primate visual cortex.

Amorphous Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide Thin-Film Transistors Fabricated by Direct Transfer Printing

This letter describes the fabrication of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) by direct transfer printing. An a-IGZO layer and a silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer were sequentially sputtered on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamp; the stamp was then pressed onto a glass substrate on which a gate metal had been previously deposited. Then, a-IGZO/SiO2 layers were successfully transferred by simply releasing the stamp from the substrate; a bottom-gate TFT was finally constructed. The measured current–voltage characteristics exhibited good field-effect mobility exceeding 10 cm2 V-1 s-1. The on/off current ratio and subthreshold slope were 4×105 and 0.86 V/decade, respectively.

A 128-Channel CMOS Charge Readout ASIC for Flat-Panel X-Ray Detectors

A CMOS charge readout ASIC (SD7110) for flat-panel X-ray detectors was designed and tested. This ASIC contains 128 readout channels, with each channel consisting of a charge sensitive amplifier, a correlated double sampler, and a track-and-hold circuit. Channel outputs are read out via a 128:1 analog multiplexer and fed into an external 16-bit A/D converter. Conversion gain can be selected from 0.25 V/pC to 8 V/pC. The ASIC operates using a +5.0 V single power supply, with power dissipation of 1.8 mW/channel. The equivalent noise charge (ENC) measured was 400 + 18.9 e-/pF.

Temporal summation of magnetic response to chromatic stimulus in the human visual cortex.

The temporal-summation characteristics of the human visual cortex were investigated by recording the magnetic responses to isoluminant red–green gratings. In one condition, exposure duration (ED) of a single-pulse stimulus was varied between 16.7 ms and 200 ms, and in the other, stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) of a double-pulse (presented for 16.7 ms each) stimulus was varied between 16.7 ms and 200 ms. The magnetic responses showed an initial peak at a latency of around 100 ms, the origin of which was estimated to be in the vicinity of the striate cortex. The peak amplitude increased with increasing ED and decreased with increasing SOA, showing a clear sign of temporal summation. The critical ED and SOA estimated from the peak amplitude vs. ED/SOA functions were about 50 ms. These values indicate the upper limit of temporal summation for chromatic stimuli in the human early visual cortex.