HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 100/1/358    most recent 90538.2008v1 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 Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hirata, A. Articles by Castro-Alamancos, M. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hirata, A. Articles by Castro-Alamancos, M. A.

Cortical Transformation of Wide-Field (Multiwhisker) Sensory Responses

Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Submitted 7 May 2008; accepted in final form 9 May 2008

In the barrel cortex of rodents, cells respond to a principal whisker (PW) and more weakly to several adjacent whiskers (AWs). Here we show that compared with PW responses, simultaneous wide-field stimulation of the PW and several AWs enhances short-latency responses and suppresses long-latency responses. Multiwhisker enhancement and suppression is first seen at the level of the cortex in layer 4 and not in the ventroposterior medial thalamus. Within the cortex, enhancement is manifested as a reduction in spike latency in layer 4 but also as an increase in spike probability in layer 2/3. Intracellular recordings revealed that multiwhisker enhancement of short-latency responses is caused by synaptic summation that can be explained by synaptic cooperativity (i.e., convergence of synaptic inputs activated by different whiskers). Conversely, multiwhisker suppression of long-latency responses is due to increased recruitment of inhibition in cortical cells. Interestingly, the ability to differentiate multiwhisker and PW responses is lost during rapid sensory adaptation caused by high-frequency whisker stimulation. The results reveal that simultaneous and temporally dispersed wide-field sensory inputs are discriminated at the level of single cells in barrel cortex with high temporal resolution, but the ability to compute this difference is highly dynamic and dependent on the level of adaptation in the thalamocortical network.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Rigas and M. A. Castro-Alamancos Impact of Persistent Cortical Activity (Up States) on Intracortical and Thalamocortical Synaptic Inputs J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2009; 102(1): 119 - 131. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Hirata, J. Aguilar, and M. A. Castro-Alamancos Influence of Subcortical Inhibition on Barrel Cortex Receptive Fields J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2009; 102(1): 437 - 450. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. E. Heiss, Y. Katz, E. Ganmor, and I. Lampl Shift in the Balance between Excitation and Inhibition during Sensory Adaptation of S1 Neurons J. Neurosci., December 3, 2008; 28(49): 13320 - 13330. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. D. Cohen, A. Hirata, and M. A. Castro-Alamancos Vibrissa Sensation in Superior Colliculus: Wide-Field Sensitivity and State-Dependent Cortical Feedback J. Neurosci., October 29, 2008; 28(44): 11205 - 11220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]