Flicker light stimulation induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity with LGN and higher-order thalamic nuclei.
Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) January 1, 2023 Ioanna A Amaya, Marianna E Schmidt, Marie T Bartossek et al.
Flicker light stimulation (FLS) induces hyperconnectivity between the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and early visual areas, as well as proximal upstream areas of the ventral visual stream (e.g., hV4, VO1). An exploratory analysis indicates that higher-order thalamic nuclei, such as the anterior and mediodorsal nuclei, are strongly affected by FLS, with connectivity changes to upstream cortical visual areas directly reflecting a frequency-dependent increase in experienced visual phenomena. These findings help identify specific thalamocortical interactions involved in the emergence of visual hallucinations.