The brain functions as a prediction machine, utilizing an internal model of the world to anticipate sensations and the outcomes of our actions. Discrepancies between expected and actual events, referred to as prediction errors, are leveraged to update the internal model and guide our attention towards unexpected events^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}. Despite the importance of prediction-error signals for various neural computations across the brain, surprisingly little is known about the neural circuit mechanisms responsible for their implementation. Here we describe a thalamocortical disinhibitory circuit that is required for generating sensory prediction-error signals in mouse primary visual cortex (V1). We show that violating animals’ predictions by an unexpected visual stimulus preferentially boosts responses of the layer 2/3 V1 neurons that are most selective for that stimulus. Prediction errors specifically amplify the unexpected visual input, rather than representing non-specific surprise or difference signals about how the visual input deviates from the animal’s predictions. This selective amplification is implemented by a cooperative mechanism requiring thalamic input from the pulvinar and cortical vasoactive-intestinal-peptide-expressing (VIP) inhibitory interneurons. In response to prediction errors, VIP neurons inhibit a specific subpopulation of somatostatin-expressing inhibitory interneurons that gate excitatory pulvinar input to V1, resulting in specific pulvinar-driven response amplification of the most stimulus-selective neurons in V1. Therefore, the brain prioritizes unpredicted sensory information by selectively increasing the salience of unpredicted sensory features through the synergistic interaction of thalamic input and neocortical disinhibitory circuits.

大脑充当预测机器，利用世界的内部模型来预测我们的感觉和行为的结果。预期事件与实际事件之间的差异（称为预测误差）用于更新内部模型并引导我们对意外事件的注意力^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} 。尽管预测误差信号对于大脑中的各种神经计算很重要，但令人惊讶的是，人们对负责其实现的神经回路机制知之甚少。在这里，我们描述了在小鼠初级视觉皮层（V1）中产生感觉预测误差信号所需的丘脑皮质去抑制电路。我们发现，通过意想不到的视觉刺激来违反动物的预测会优先增强对该刺激最具选择性的 2/3 V1 层神经元的反应。预测错误专门放大了意外的视觉输入，而不是代表关于视觉输入如何偏离动物预测的非特定惊喜或差异信号。这种选择性放大是通过协作机制实现的，需要丘脑输入来自丘脑和皮质血管活性肠肽表达（VIP）抑制性中间神经元。为了响应预测错误，VIP 神经元会抑制表达生长抑素的抑制性中间神经元的特定亚群，这些中间神经元门控 V1 的兴奋性枕脉输入，导致 V1 中最具刺激选择性的神经元出现特定的枕脉驱动的反应放大。 因此，大脑通过丘脑输入和新皮质去抑制回路的协同相互作用，选择性地增加不可预测的感觉特征的显着性，从而优先处理不可预测的感觉信息。