Size tuning of neural response variability in laminar circuits of macaque primary visual cortex

A defining feature of the cortex is its laminar organization, which is likely critical for cortical information processing. For example, visual stimuli of different size evoke distinct patterns of laminar activity. Visual information processing is also influenced by the response variability of individual neurons and the degree to which this variability is correlated among neurons. To elucidate laminar processing, we studied how neural response variability across the layers of macaque primary visual cortex is modulated by visual stimulus size. Our laminar recordings revealed that single neuron response variability and the shared variability among neurons are tuned for stimulus size, and this size-tuning is layer-dependent. In all layers, stimulation of the receptive field (RF) reduced single neuron variability, and the shared variability among neurons, relative to their pre-stimulus values. As the stimulus was enlarged beyond the RF, both single neuron and shared variability increased in supragranular layers, but either did not change or decreased in other layers. Surprisingly, we also found that small visual stimuli could increase variability relative to baseline values. Our results suggest multiple circuits and mechanisms as the source of variability in different layers and call for the development of new models of neural response variability.