Coherent neuronal dynamics driven by optogenetic stimulation in the primate brain

Coherent neuronal dynamics play an important role in complex cognitive functions, but the causal role of neuronal coherence is unclear. Optogenetic stimulation allows causal tests of the functional significance of coherent neuronal activity. While non-human primates are important for studying the neural mechanisms of complex cognitive functions, optogenetic perturbation of neuronal dynamics has had limited application in this animal model. Here, we develop a computational framework and perform experiments to test how optogenetic stimulation perturbs coherent neuronal dynamics. We show that stimulation-evoked neural responses arise from temporal windows of excitatory and inhibitory activity that vary parametrically with optogenetic stimulation parameters. We experimentally identify the effective temporal window of excitation and inhibition and use the window in a computational model to design model-based stimulation sequences. These results demonstrate optogenetic perturbations of coherent neuronal dynamics and advance the use of optogenetic tools to study complex cognitive functions in the primate brain.