Gamma oscillations mediate stimulus competition and attentional selection in a cortical network model

Simultaneous presentation of multiple stimuli can reduce the firing rates of neurons in extrastriate visual cortex below the rate elicited by a single preferred stimulus. We describe computational results suggesting how this remarkable effect may arise from strong excitatory drive to a substantial local population of fast-spiking inhibitory interneurons, which can lead to a loss of coherence in that population and thereby raise the effectiveness of inhibition. We propose that in attentional states fast-spiking interneurons may be subject to a bath of inhibition resulting from cholinergic activation of a second class of inhibitory interneurons, restoring conditions needed for gamma rhythmicity. Oscillations and coherence are emergent features, not assumptions, in our model. The gamma oscillations in turn support stimulus competition. The mechanism is a form of oscillatory selection, in which neural interactions change phase relationships that regulate firing rates, and attention shapes those neural interactions.