Direction-dependence of inter- and intra-vibrissa adaptation in rat primary somatosensory cortex
Sensory adaptation has been reported across multiple modalities and species, however its mechanisms are still poorly understood. Primary somatosensory cortical neurons in rats respond to stimulation of their primary vibrissa and several surround vibrissae. In addition, these neurons exhibit direction preferences. Preliminary data indicate that this direction tuning becomes more pronounced with increased stimulus frequency.
We performed whole-cell in vivo recordings in layers 2/3 and 4 of rat primary somatosensory cortex while stimulating the primary and up to two surround vibrissae in multiple directions at varying frequencies.
Our results indicate that intra-vibrissa adaptation is strong and direction-dependent, i.e. if the same vibrissa is deflected repeatedly, the suppression of the subsequent stimulus response depends strongly on the directional similarity between the two stimuli. In contrast, inter-vibrissa suppression depends on the strength of the preceding stimulus response but does not show directional dependence.
Intracellular in vivo recording provides unique access to the synaptic currents underlying these apparently distinct forms of tuning modulation, providing substantial constraints on the functional connectivity of rodent primary somatosensory cortex. We are combining this data with realistic biophysical modeling to delineate underlying biological mechanisms, and to examine the computational impact of these distinct dynamics.
Conference:
Computational and systems
neuroscience 2009, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, 26 Feb - 3 Mar, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Presentations
Citation:
(2009). Direction-dependence of inter- and intra-vibrissa adaptation in rat primary somatosensory cortex.
Front. Syst. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
Computational and systems
neuroscience 2009.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.06.2009.03.003
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Received:
28 Jan 2009;
Published Online:
28 Jan 2009.