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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 98/5/2842    most recent 00800.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Simons, D. J. Articles by Bruno, R. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Simons, D. J. Articles by Bruno, R. M.

Thalamocortical Conduction Times and Stimulus-Evoked Responses in the Rat Whisker-to-Barrel System

¹Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and ²Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Submitted 18 July 2007; accepted in final form 31 August 2007

Studies of the rodent whisker system indicate that somatosensory cortical circuitry operates at a millisecond timescale to transform sensory afferent signals from the thalamus. We measured axon conduction times and whisker-evoked responses of 48 thalamocortical (TC) neurons in the rat whisker-to-barrel pathway. Conduction times were derived from spike-triggered averages of local field potentials evoked in layer 4 cortical whisker-related barrels by the spontaneous firing of individual topographically aligned neurons in the ventral posterior medial thalamus. Conduction times varied fourfold, from 0.31 to 1.34 ms, and faster conducting TC neurons responded earlier and more robustly to controlled whisker deflections. Early arrival of highly responsive TC inputs, thought to contact inhibitory barrel neurons preferentially, could prime the cortical network, rendering it more selective for later-arriving signals.