Distinct Laminar Processing of Local and Global Context in Primate Primary Visual Cortex

Visual perception is profoundly affected by spatial context. In visual cortex, neuronal responses to stimuli inside their receptive field (RF) are suppressed by contextual stimuli in the RF surround (surround suppression). How do neuronal RFs integrate information across visual space, and what role do different cortical layers play in the processing of spatial context? By recording simultaneously across all layers of macaque primary visual cortex, while presenting visual stimuli at increasing distances from the recorded cells RF, we find that near vs. far stimuli activate distinct layers. Stimuli in the near-surround evoke the earliest subthreshold responses in superficial and deep layers, and cause the earliest surround suppression of spiking responses in superficial layers. Instead, far-surround stimuli evoke the earliest subthreshold responses in feedback-recipient layers, i.e. 1 and the lower half of the deep layers, and suppress visually-evoked spiking responses almost simultaneously in all layers, except 4C, where suppression emerges latest. Our results reveal unique contributions of the cortical layers to the processing of local and global spatial context, and suggest distinct underlying circuits for local and global signal integration.