1
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Eckmann S, Young EJ, Gjorgjieva J. Synapse-type-specific competitive Hebbian learning forms functional recurrent networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2305326121. [PMID: 38870059 PMCID: PMC11194505 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305326121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Cortical networks exhibit complex stimulus-response patterns that are based on specific recurrent interactions between neurons. For example, the balance between excitatory and inhibitory currents has been identified as a central component of cortical computations. However, it remains unclear how the required synaptic connectivity can emerge in developing circuits where synapses between excitatory and inhibitory neurons are simultaneously plastic. Using theory and modeling, we propose that a wide range of cortical response properties can arise from a single plasticity paradigm that acts simultaneously at all excitatory and inhibitory connections-Hebbian learning that is stabilized by the synapse-type-specific competition for a limited supply of synaptic resources. In plastic recurrent circuits, this competition enables the formation and decorrelation of inhibition-balanced receptive fields. Networks develop an assembly structure with stronger synaptic connections between similarly tuned excitatory and inhibitory neurons and exhibit response normalization and orientation-specific center-surround suppression, reflecting the stimulus statistics during training. These results demonstrate how neurons can self-organize into functional networks and suggest an essential role for synapse-type-specific competitive learning in the development of cortical circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Eckmann
- Computation in Neural Circuits Group, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 1PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Edward James Young
- Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 1PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Julijana Gjorgjieva
- Computation in Neural Circuits Group, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- School of Life Sciences, Technical University Munich, Freising85354, Germany
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2
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Mulholland HN, Kaschube M, Smith GB. Self-organization of modular activity in immature cortical networks. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4145. [PMID: 38773083 PMCID: PMC11109213 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48341-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
During development, cortical activity is organized into distributed modular patterns that are a precursor of the mature columnar functional architecture. Theoretically, such structured neural activity can emerge dynamically from local synaptic interactions through a recurrent network with effective local excitation with lateral inhibition (LE/LI) connectivity. Utilizing simultaneous widefield calcium imaging and optogenetics in juvenile ferret cortex prior to eye opening, we directly test several critical predictions of an LE/LI mechanism. We show that cortical networks transform uniform stimulations into diverse modular patterns exhibiting a characteristic spatial wavelength. Moreover, patterned optogenetic stimulation matching this wavelength selectively biases evoked activity patterns, while stimulation with varying wavelengths transforms activity towards this characteristic wavelength, revealing a dynamic compromise between input drive and the network's intrinsic tendency to organize activity. Furthermore, the structure of early spontaneous cortical activity - which is reflected in the developing representations of visual orientation - strongly overlaps that of uniform opto-evoked activity, suggesting a common underlying mechanism as a basis for the formation of orderly columnar maps underlying sensory representations in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haleigh N Mulholland
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Matthias Kaschube
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Goethe University, 60054, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Gordon B Smith
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
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3
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Fu P, Liu Y, Zhu L, Wang M, Yu Y, Yang F, Zhang W, Zhang H, Shoham S, Roe AW, Xi W. Two-photon imaging of excitatory and inhibitory neural response to infrared neural stimulation. NEUROPHOTONICS 2024; 11:025003. [PMID: 38800606 PMCID: PMC11125280 DOI: 10.1117/1.nph.11.2.025003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Significance Pulsed infrared neural stimulation (INS, 1875 nm) is an emerging neurostimulation technology that delivers focal pulsed heat to activate functionally specific mesoscale networks and holds promise for clinical application. However, little is known about its effect on excitatory and inhibitory cell types in cerebral cortex. Aim Estimates of summed population neuronal response time courses provide a potential basis for neural and hemodynamic signals described in other studies. Approach Using two-photon calcium imaging in mouse somatosensory cortex, we have examined the effect of INS pulse train application on hSyn neurons and mDlx neurons tagged with GCaMP6s. Results We find that, in anesthetized mice, each INS pulse train reliably induces robust response in hSyn neurons exhibiting positive going responses. Surprisingly, mDlx neurons exhibit negative going responses. Quantification using the index of correlation illustrates responses are reproducible, intensity-dependent, and focal. Also, a contralateral activation is observed when INS applied. Conclusions In sum, the population of neurons stimulated by INS includes both hSyn and mDlx neurons; within a range of stimulation intensities, this leads to overall excitation in the stimulated population, leading to the previously observed activations at distant post-synaptic sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Fu
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yin Liu
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- KU Leuven Medical School, Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Liang Zhu
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang University, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Hangzhou, China
| | - Mengqi Wang
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yuan Yu
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Fen Yang
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weijie Zhang
- Zhejiang University, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hequn Zhang
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shy Shoham
- NYU Langone Health, Department of Ophthalmology and Tech4Health and Neuroscience Institutes, New York, New York, United States
| | - Anna Wang Roe
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang University, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain Machine Integration, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang University, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wang Xi
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang University, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain Machine Integration, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang University, NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Hangzhou, China
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4
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Znamenskiy P, Kim MH, Muir DR, Iacaruso MF, Hofer SB, Mrsic-Flogel TD. Functional specificity of recurrent inhibition in visual cortex. Neuron 2024; 112:991-1000.e8. [PMID: 38244539 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
In the neocortex, neural activity is shaped by the interaction of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, defined by the organization of their synaptic connections. Although connections among excitatory pyramidal neurons are sparse and functionally tuned, inhibitory connectivity is thought to be dense and largely unstructured. By measuring in vivo visual responses and synaptic connectivity of parvalbumin-expressing (PV+) inhibitory cells in mouse primary visual cortex, we show that the synaptic weights of their connections to nearby pyramidal neurons are specifically tuned according to the similarity of the cells' responses. Individual PV+ cells strongly inhibit those pyramidal cells that provide them with strong excitation and share their visual selectivity. This structured organization of inhibitory synaptic weights provides a circuit mechanism for tuned inhibition onto pyramidal cells despite dense connectivity, stabilizing activity within feature-specific excitatory ensembles while supporting competition between them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petr Znamenskiy
- Specification and Function of Neural Circuits Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, UK; Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Mean-Hwan Kim
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dylan R Muir
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Sonja B Hofer
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, UK; Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas D Mrsic-Flogel
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, UK; Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
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5
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Powell NJ, Hein B, Kong D, Elpelt J, Mulholland HN, Kaschube M, Smith GB. Common modular architecture across diverse cortical areas in early development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313743121. [PMID: 38446851 PMCID: PMC10945769 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313743121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
In order to deal with a complex environment, animals form a diverse range of neural representations that vary across cortical areas, ranging from largely unimodal sensory input to higher-order representations of goals, outcomes, and motivation. The developmental origin of this diversity is currently unclear, as representations could arise through processes that are already area-specific from the earliest developmental stages or alternatively, they could emerge from an initially common functional organization shared across areas. Here, we use spontaneous activity recorded with two-photon and widefield calcium imaging to reveal the functional organization across the early developing cortex in ferrets, a species with a well-characterized columnar organization and modular structure of spontaneous activity in the visual cortex. We find that in animals 7 to 14 d prior to eye-opening and ear canal opening, spontaneous activity in both sensory areas (auditory and somatosensory cortex, A1 and S1, respectively), and association areas (posterior parietal and prefrontal cortex, PPC and PFC, respectively) showed an organized and modular structure that is highly similar to the organization in V1. In all cortical areas, this modular activity was distributed across the cortical surface, forming functional networks that exhibit millimeter-scale correlations. Moreover, this modular structure was evident in highly coherent spontaneous activity at the cellular level, with strong correlations among local populations of neurons apparent in all cortical areas examined. Together, our results demonstrate a common distributed and modular organization across the cortex during early development, suggesting that diverse cortical representations develop initially according to similar design principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel J. Powell
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
| | - Bettina Hein
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY10027
| | - Deyue Kong
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main60629, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Neural Circuits, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
| | - Jonas Elpelt
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main60629, Germany
| | - Haleigh N. Mulholland
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
| | - Matthias Kaschube
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main60438, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main60629, Germany
| | - Gordon B. Smith
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455
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6
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Mulholland HN, Kaschube M, Smith GB. Self-organization of modular activity in immature cortical networks. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.02.583133. [PMID: 38464130 PMCID: PMC10925298 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.02.583133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
During development, cortical activity is organized into distributed modular patterns that are a precursor of the mature columnar functional architecture. Theoretically, such structured neural activity can emerge dynamically from local synaptic interactions through a recurrent network with effective local excitation with lateral inhibition (LE/LI) connectivity. Utilizing simultaneous widefield calcium imaging and optogenetics in juvenile ferret cortex prior to eye opening, we directly test several critical predictions of an LE/LI mechanism. We show that cortical networks transform uniform stimulations into diverse modular patterns exhibiting a characteristic spatial wavelength. Moreover, patterned optogenetic stimulation matching this wavelength selectively biases evoked activity patterns, while stimulation with varying wavelengths transforms activity towards this characteristic wavelength, revealing a dynamic compromise between input drive and the network's intrinsic tendency to organize activity. Furthermore, the structure of early spontaneous cortical activity - which is reflected in the developing representations of visual orientation - strongly overlaps that of uniform opto-evoked activity, suggesting a common underlying mechanism as a basis for the formation of orderly columnar maps underlying sensory representations in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthias Kaschube
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main, 60438, Germany
| | - Gordon B. Smith
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
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7
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Kuan AT, Bondanelli G, Driscoll LN, Han J, Kim M, Hildebrand DGC, Graham BJ, Wilson DE, Thomas LA, Panzeri S, Harvey CD, Lee WCA. Synaptic wiring motifs in posterior parietal cortex support decision-making. Nature 2024; 627:367-373. [PMID: 38383788 PMCID: PMC11162200 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07088-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
The posterior parietal cortex exhibits choice-selective activity during perceptual decision-making tasks1-10. However, it is not known how this selective activity arises from the underlying synaptic connectivity. Here we combined virtual-reality behaviour, two-photon calcium imaging, high-throughput electron microscopy and circuit modelling to analyse how synaptic connectivity between neurons in the posterior parietal cortex relates to their selective activity. We found that excitatory pyramidal neurons preferentially target inhibitory interneurons with the same selectivity. In turn, inhibitory interneurons preferentially target pyramidal neurons with opposite selectivity, forming an opponent inhibition motif. This motif was present even between neurons with activity peaks in different task epochs. We developed neural-circuit models of the computations performed by these motifs, and found that opponent inhibition between neural populations with opposite selectivity amplifies selective inputs, thereby improving the encoding of trial-type information. The models also predict that opponent inhibition between neurons with activity peaks in different task epochs contributes to creating choice-specific sequential activity. These results provide evidence for how synaptic connectivity in cortical circuits supports a learned decision-making task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron T Kuan
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Giulio Bondanelli
- Neural Computation Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Excellence for Neural Information Processing, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Laura N Driscoll
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Allen Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Julie Han
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Minsu Kim
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David G C Hildebrand
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brett J Graham
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Daniel E Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Logan A Thomas
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Stefano Panzeri
- Neural Computation Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy.
- Department of Excellence for Neural Information Processing, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
| | | | - Wei-Chung Allen Lee
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- FM Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
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8
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Radulescu CI, Doostdar N, Zabouri N, Melgosa-Ecenarro L, Wang X, Sadeh S, Pavlidi P, Airey J, Kopanitsa M, Clopath C, Barnes SJ. Age-related dysregulation of homeostatic control in neuronal microcircuits. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:2158-2170. [PMID: 37919424 PMCID: PMC10689243 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01451-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal homeostasis prevents hyperactivity and hypoactivity. Age-related hyperactivity suggests homeostasis may be dysregulated in later life. However, plasticity mechanisms preventing age-related hyperactivity and their efficacy in later life are unclear. We identify the adult cortical plasticity response to elevated activity driven by sensory overstimulation, then test how plasticity changes with age. We use in vivo two-photon imaging of calcium-mediated cellular/synaptic activity, electrophysiology and c-Fos-activity tagging to show control of neuronal activity is dysregulated in the visual cortex in late adulthood. Specifically, in young adult cortex, mGluR5-dependent population-wide excitatory synaptic weakening and inhibitory synaptogenesis reduce cortical activity following overstimulation. In later life, these mechanisms are downregulated, so that overstimulation results in synaptic strengthening and elevated activity. We also find overstimulation disrupts cognition in older but not younger animals. We propose that specific plasticity mechanisms fail in later life dysregulating neuronal microcircuit homeostasis and that the age-related response to overstimulation can impact cognitive performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carola I Radulescu
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Nazanin Doostdar
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Nawal Zabouri
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK
| | - Leire Melgosa-Ecenarro
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Xingjian Wang
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Sadra Sadeh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | - Pavlina Pavlidi
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Joe Airey
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK
| | | | - Claudia Clopath
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK
| | - Samuel J Barnes
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK.
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9
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Araya A, Gallegos S, Maldonado A, Rivera-Meza M, Chandra R, Lobo MK, Aguayo LG. Overexpression of wild type glycine alpha 1 subunit rescues ethanol sensitivity in accumbal receptors and reduces binge drinking in mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1367-1376. [PMID: 36175550 PMCID: PMC10353986 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01459-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The nucleus accumbens (nAc) is a critical region in the brain reward system since it integrates abundant synaptic inputs contributing to the control of neuronal excitability in the circuit. The presence of inhibitory α1 glycine receptor (GlyRs) subunits, sensitive to ethanol, has been recently reported in accumbal neurons suggesting that they are protective against excessive binge consumption. In the present study, we used viral vectors (AAV) to overexpress mutant and WT α1 subunits in accumbal neurons in D1 Cre and α1 KI mice. Injection of a Cre-inducible AAV carrying an ethanol insensitive α1 subunit in D1 Cre neurons was unable to affect sensitivity to ethanol in GlyRs or affect ethanol drinking. On the other hand, using an AAV that transduced WT α1 GlyRs in GABAergic neurons in the nAc of high-ethanol consuming mice caused a reduction in ethanol intake as reflected by lowered drinking in the dark and reduced blood ethanol concentration. As expected, the AAV increased the glycine current density by 5-fold without changing the expression of GABAA receptors. Examination of the ethanol sensitivity in isolated accumbal neurons indicated that the GlyRs phenotype changed from an ethanol resistant to an ethanol sensitive type. These results support the conclusion that increased inhibition in the nAc can control excessive ethanol consumption and that selective targeting of GlyRs by pharmacotherapy might provide a mechanistic procedure to reduce ethanol binge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anibal Araya
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Concepción, Concepcion, Chile
| | - Scarlet Gallegos
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Concepción, Concepcion, Chile
| | - Adolfo Maldonado
- Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacological and Toxicological Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mario Rivera-Meza
- Laboratory of Experimental Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacological and Toxicological Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ramesh Chandra
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Mary Kay Lobo
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Luis G Aguayo
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology, Universidad de Concepción, Concepcion, Chile.
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10
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Lempel AA, Fitzpatrick D. Developmental alignment of feedforward inputs and recurrent network activity drives increased response selectivity and reliability in primary visual cortex following the onset of visual experience. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.09.547747. [PMID: 37503207 PMCID: PMC10369900 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.09.547747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Selective and reliable cortical sensory representations depend on synaptic interactions between feedforward inputs, conveying information from lower levels of the sensory pathway, and recurrent networks that reciprocally connect neurons functioning at the same hierarchical level. Here we explore the development of feedforward/recurrent interactions in primary visual cortex of the ferret that is responsible for the representation of orientation, focusing on the feedforward inputs from cortical layer 4 and its relation to the modular recurrent network in layer 2/3 before and after the onset of visual experience. Using simultaneous laminar electrophysiology and calcium imaging we found that in experienced animals, individual layer 4 and layer 2/3 neurons exhibit strongly correlated responses with the modular recurrent network structure in layer 2/3. Prior to experience, layer 2/3 neurons exhibit comparable modular correlation structure, but this correlation structure is missing for individual layer 4 neurons. Further analysis of the receptive field properties of layer 4 neurons in naïve animals revealed that they exhibit very poor orientation tuning compared to layer 2/3 neurons at this age, and this is accompanied by the lack of spatial segregation of ON and OFF subfields, the definitive property of layer 4 simple cells in experienced animals. Analysis of the response dynamics of layer 2/3 neurons with whole-cell patch recordings confirms that individual layer 2/3 neurons in naïve animals receive poorly-selective feedforward input that does not align with the orientation preference of the layer 2/3 responses. Further analysis reveals that the misaligned feedforward input is the underlying cause of reduced selectivity and increased response variability that is evident in the layer 2/3 responses of naïve animals. Altogether, our experiments indicate that the onset of visual experience is accompanied by a critical refinement in the responses of layer 4 neurons and the alignment of feedforward and recurrent networks that increases the selectivity and reliability of the representation of orientation in V1.
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11
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Goz RU, Hooks BM. Correlated Somatosensory Input in Parvalbumin/Pyramidal Cells in Mouse Motor Cortex. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0488-22.2023. [PMID: 37094939 PMCID: PMC10167893 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0488-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
In mammalian cortex, feedforward excitatory connections recruit feedforward inhibition. This is often carried by parvalbumin (PV+) interneurons, which may densely connect to local pyramidal (Pyr) neurons. Whether this inhibition affects all local excitatory cells indiscriminately or is targeted to specific subnetworks is unknown. Here, we test how feedforward inhibition is recruited by using two-channel circuit mapping to excite cortical and thalamic inputs to PV+ interneurons and Pyr neurons to mouse primary vibrissal motor cortex (M1). Single Pyr and PV+ neurons receive input from both cortex and thalamus. Connected pairs of PV+ interneurons and excitatory Pyr neurons receive correlated cortical and thalamic inputs. While PV+ interneurons are more likely to form local connections to Pyr neurons, Pyr neurons are much more likely to form reciprocal connections with PV+ interneurons that inhibit them. This suggests that Pyr and PV ensembles may be organized based on their local and long-range connections, an organization that supports the idea of local subnetworks for signal transduction and processing. Excitatory inputs to M1 can thus target inhibitory networks in a specific pattern which permits recruitment of feedforward inhibition to specific subnetworks within the cortical column.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman U Goz
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Bryan M Hooks
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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12
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Gray MM, Naik A, Ebner TJ, Carter RE. Altered brain state during episodic dystonia in tottering mice decouples primary motor cortex from limb kinematics. DYSTONIA 2023; 2:10974. [PMID: 37800168 PMCID: PMC10554815 DOI: 10.3389/dyst.2023.10974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Episodic Ataxia Type 2 (EA2) is a rare neurological disorder caused by a mutation in the CACNA1A gene, encoding the P/Q-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channel important for neurotransmitter release. Patients with this channelopathy exhibit both cerebellar and cerebral pathologies, suggesting the condition affects both regions. The tottering (tg/tg) mouse is the most commonly used EA2 model due to an orthologous mutation in the cacna1a gene. The tg/tg mouse has three prominent behavioral phenotypes: a dramatic episodic dystonia; absence seizures with generalized spike and wave discharges (GSWDs); and mild ataxia. We previously observed a novel brain state, transient low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex under anesthesia. In this study, we examine the relationships among the dystonic attack, GSWDs, and LFOs in the cerebral cortex. Previous studies characterized LFOs in the motor cortex of anesthetized tg/tg mice using flavoprotein autofluorescence imaging testing the hypothesis that LFOs provide a mechanism for the paroxysmal dystonia. We sought to obtain a more direct understanding of motor cortex (M1) activity during the dystonic episodes. Using two-photon Ca2+ imaging to investigate neuronal activity in M1 before, during, and after the dystonic attack, we show that there is not a significant change in the activity of M1 neurons from baseline through the attack. We also conducted simultaneous, multi-electrode recordings to further understand how M1 cellular activity and local field potentials change throughout the progression of the dystonic attack. Neither putative pyramidal nor inhibitory interneuron firing rate changed during the dystonic attack. However, we did observe a near complete loss of GSWDs during the dystonic attack in M1. Finally, using spike triggered averaging to align simultaneously recorded limb kinematics to the peak Ca2+ response, and vice versa, revealed a reduction in the spike triggered average during the dystonic episodes. Both the loss of GSWDs and the reduction in the coupling suggest that, during the dystonic attack, M1 is effectively decoupled from other structures. Overall, these results indicate that the attack is not initiated or controlled in M1, but elsewhere in the motor circuitry. The findings also highlight that LFOs, GSWDs, and dystonic attacks represent three brain states in tg/tg mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madelyn M Gray
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Anant Naik
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Timothy J Ebner
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Russell E Carter
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
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13
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Altered integration of excitatory inputs onto the basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2208963120. [PMID: 36595706 PMCID: PMC9926222 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208963120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons receive predictive and sensory inputs in a compartmentalized manner at their apical and basal dendrites, respectively. To uncover how integration of sensory inputs is affected in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), we used two-photon glutamate uncaging to activate spines in the basal dendrites of L5 pyramidal neurons from a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic cause of ASD. While subthreshold excitatory inputs integrate linearly in wild-type animals, surprisingly those with FXS summate sublinearly, contradicting what would be expected of sensory hypersensitivity classically associated with ASD. We next investigated the mechanism underlying this sublinearity by performing knockdown of the regulatory β4 subunit of BK channels, which rescued the synaptic integration, a result that was corroborated with numerical simulations. Taken together, these findings suggest that there is a differential impairment in the integration of feedforward sensory and feedback predictive inputs in L5 pyramidal neurons in FXS and potentially other forms of ASD, as a result of specifically localized subcellular channelopathies. These results challenge the traditional view that FXS and other ASD are characterized by sensory hypersensitivity, proposing instead a hyposensitivity of sensory inputs and hypersensitivity of predictive inputs onto cortical neurons.
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14
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Chang JT, Fitzpatrick D. Development of visual response selectivity in cortical GABAergic interneurons. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3791. [PMID: 35778379 PMCID: PMC9249896 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31284-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual cortex of carnivores and primates displays a high degree of modular network organization characterized by local clustering and structured long-range correlations of activity and functional properties. Excitatory networks display modular organization before the onset of sensory experience, but the developmental timeline for modular networks of GABAergic interneurons remains under-explored. Using in vivo calcium imaging of the ferret visual cortex, we find evidence that before visual experience, interneurons display weak orientation tuning and widespread, correlated activity in response to visual stimuli. Robust modular organization and orientation tuning are evident with as little as one week of visual experience. Furthermore, we find that the maturation of orientation tuning requires visual experience, while the reduction in widespread, correlated network activity does not. Thus, the maturation of inhibitory cortical networks occurs in a delayed, parallel process relative to excitatory neurons. Excitatory neurons in the carnivore and primate visual cortex display orientation selectivity arranged in a modular fashion before the onset of visual experience, but the developmental timeline for visual response selectivity of inhibitory neurons is unknown. Using in vivo calcium imaging in ferret visual cortex, the authors show that experience-dependent emergence of orientation selectivity develops in a modular fashion for inhibitory interneurons over the first week of visual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy T Chang
- Department of Functional Architecture and Development of Cerebral Cortex, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA.
| | - David Fitzpatrick
- Department of Functional Architecture and Development of Cerebral Cortex, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL, USA
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15
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Viral strategies for targeting spinal neuronal subtypes in adult wild-type rodents. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8627. [PMID: 35606530 PMCID: PMC9126985 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12535-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Targeting specific subtypes of interneurons in the spinal cord is primarily restricted to a small group of genetic model animals. Since the development of new transgenic model animals can be expensive and labor intensive, it is often difficult to generalize these findings and verify them in other model organisms, such as the rat, ferret or monkey, that may be more beneficial in certain experimental investigations. Nevertheless, endogenous enhancers and promoters delivered using an adeno-associated virus (AAV) have been successful in providing expression in specific subtypes of neurons in the forebrain of wildtype animals, and therefore may introduce a shortcut. GABAergic interneurons, for instance, have successfully been targeted using the mDlx promoter, which has recently been developed and is now widely used in wild type animals. Here, we test the specificity and efficiency of the mDlx enhancer for robust targeting of inhibitory interneurons in the lumbar spinal cord of wild-type rats using AAV serotype 2 (AAV2). Since this has rarely been done in the spinal cord, we also test the expression and specificity of the CamKIIa and hSynapsin promoters using serotype 9. We found that AAV2-mDlx does in fact target many neurons that contain an enzyme for catalyzing GABA, the GAD-65, with high specificity and a small fraction of neurons containing an isoform, GAD-67. Expression was also seen in some motor neurons although with low correlation. Viral injections using the CamKIIa enhancer via AAV9 infected in some glutamatergic neurons, but also GABAergic neurons, whereas hSynapsin via AAV9 targets almost all the neurons in the lumbar spinal cord.
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16
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Blauch NM, Behrmann M, Plaut DC. A connectivity-constrained computational account of topographic organization in primate high-level visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2112566119. [PMID: 35027449 DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.29.446297v2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Inferotemporal (IT) cortex in humans and other primates is topographically organized, containing multiple hierarchically organized areas selective for particular domains, such as faces and scenes. This organization is commonly viewed in terms of evolved domain-specific visual mechanisms. Here, we develop an alternative, domain-general and developmental account of IT cortical organization. The account is instantiated in interactive topographic networks (ITNs), a class of computational models in which a hierarchy of model IT areas, subject to biologically plausible connectivity-based constraints, learns high-level visual representations optimized for multiple domains. We find that minimizing a wiring cost on spatially organized feedforward and lateral connections, alongside realistic constraints on the sign of neuronal connectivity within model IT, results in a hierarchical, topographic organization. This organization replicates a number of key properties of primate IT cortex, including the presence of domain-selective spatial clusters preferentially involved in the representation of faces, objects, and scenes; columnar responses across separate excitatory and inhibitory units; and generic spatial organization whereby the response correlation of pairs of units falls off with their distance. We thus argue that topographic domain selectivity is an emergent property of a visual system optimized to maximize behavioral performance under generic connectivity-based constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M Blauch
- Program in Neural Computation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213;
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213;
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - David C Plaut
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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17
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A connectivity-constrained computational account of topographic organization in primate high-level visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2112566119. [PMID: 35027449 PMCID: PMC8784138 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112566119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Inferotemporal (IT) cortex in humans and other primates is topographically organized, containing multiple hierarchically organized areas selective for particular domains, such as faces and scenes. This organization is commonly viewed in terms of evolved domain-specific visual mechanisms. Here, we develop an alternative, domain-general and developmental account of IT cortical organization. The account is instantiated in interactive topographic networks (ITNs), a class of computational models in which a hierarchy of model IT areas, subject to biologically plausible connectivity-based constraints, learns high-level visual representations optimized for multiple domains. We find that minimizing a wiring cost on spatially organized feedforward and lateral connections, alongside realistic constraints on the sign of neuronal connectivity within model IT, results in a hierarchical, topographic organization. This organization replicates a number of key properties of primate IT cortex, including the presence of domain-selective spatial clusters preferentially involved in the representation of faces, objects, and scenes; columnar responses across separate excitatory and inhibitory units; and generic spatial organization whereby the response correlation of pairs of units falls off with their distance. We thus argue that topographic domain selectivity is an emergent property of a visual system optimized to maximize behavioral performance under generic connectivity-based constraints.
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18
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Mulholland HN, Hein B, Kaschube M, Smith GB. Tightly coupled inhibitory and excitatory functional networks in the developing primary visual cortex. eLife 2021; 10:e72456. [PMID: 34878404 PMCID: PMC8654369 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Intracortical inhibition plays a critical role in shaping activity patterns in the mature cortex. However, little is known about the structure of inhibition in early development prior to the onset of sensory experience, a time when spontaneous activity exhibits long-range correlations predictive of mature functional networks. Here, using calcium imaging of GABAergic neurons in the ferret visual cortex, we show that spontaneous activity in inhibitory neurons is already highly organized into distributed modular networks before visual experience. Inhibitory neurons exhibit spatially modular activity with long-range correlations and precise local organization that is in quantitative agreement with excitatory networks. Furthermore, excitatory and inhibitory networks are strongly co-aligned at both millimeter and cellular scales. These results demonstrate a remarkable degree of organization in inhibitory networks early in the developing cortex, providing support for computational models of self-organizing networks and suggesting a mechanism for the emergence of distributed functional networks during development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bettina Hein
- Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| | - Matthias Kaschube
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies & Department of Informatics and Mathematics, Goethe UniversityFrankfurt am MainGermany
| | - Gordon B Smith
- Department of Neuroscience, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
- Optical Imaging and Brain Sciences Medical Discovery Team, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
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19
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Larisch R, Gönner L, Teichmann M, Hamker FH. Sensory coding and contrast invariance emerge from the control of plastic inhibition over emergent selectivity. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009566. [PMID: 34843455 PMCID: PMC8629393 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual stimuli are represented by a highly efficient code in the primary visual cortex, but the development of this code is still unclear. Two distinct factors control coding efficiency: Representational efficiency, which is determined by neuronal tuning diversity, and metabolic efficiency, which is influenced by neuronal gain. How these determinants of coding efficiency are shaped during development, supported by excitatory and inhibitory plasticity, is only partially understood. We investigate a fully plastic spiking network of the primary visual cortex, building on phenomenological plasticity rules. Our results suggest that inhibitory plasticity is key to the emergence of tuning diversity and accurate input encoding. We show that inhibitory feedback (random and specific) increases the metabolic efficiency by implementing a gain control mechanism. Interestingly, this led to the spontaneous emergence of contrast-invariant tuning curves. Our findings highlight that (1) interneuron plasticity is key to the development of tuning diversity and (2) that efficient sensory representations are an emergent property of the resulting network. Synaptic plasticity is crucial for the development of efficient input representation in the different sensory cortices, such as the primary visual cortex. Efficient visual representation is determined by two factors: representational efficiency, i.e. how many different input features can be represented, and metabolic efficiency, i.e. how many spikes are required to represent a specific feature. Previous research has pointed out the importance of plasticity at excitatory synapses to achieve high representational efficiency and feedback inhibition as a gain control mechanism for controlling metabolic efficiency. However, it is only partially understood how the influence of inhibitory plasticity on excitatory plasticity can lead to an efficient representation. Using a spiking neural network, we show that plasticity at feed-forward and feedback inhibitory synapses is necessary for the emergence of well-distributed neuronal selectivity to improve representational efficiency. Further, the emergent balance between excitatory and inhibitory currents improves the metabolic efficiency, and leads to contrast-invariant tuning as an inherent network property. Extending previous work, our simulation results highlight the importance of plasticity at inhibitory synapses.
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Affiliation(s)
- René Larisch
- Department of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, TU Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
- * E-mail: (RL); (FHH)
| | - Lorenz Gönner
- Department of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, TU Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
- Faculty of Psychology, Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Teichmann
- Department of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, TU Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Fred H. Hamker
- Department of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, TU Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
- Bernstein Center Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (RL); (FHH)
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20
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Kahan A, Greenbaum A, Jang MJ, Robinson JE, Cho JR, Chen X, Kassraian P, Wagenaar DA, Gradinaru V. Light-guided sectioning for precise in situ localization and tissue interface analysis for brain-implanted optical fibers and GRIN lenses. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109744. [PMID: 34592157 PMCID: PMC8552649 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Optical implants to control and monitor neuronal activity in vivo have become foundational tools of neuroscience. Standard two-dimensional histology of the implant location, however, often suffers from distortion and loss during tissue processing. To address that, we developed a three-dimensional post hoc histology method called “light-guided sectioning” (LiGS), which preserves the tissue with its optical implant in place and allows staining and clearing of a volume up to 500 μm in depth. We demonstrate the use of LiGS to determine the precise location of an optical fiber relative to a deep brain target and to investigate the implant-tissue interface. We show accurate cell registration of ex vivo histology with single-cell, two-photon calcium imaging, obtained through gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses, and identify subpopulations based on immunohistochemistry. LiGS provides spatial information in experimental paradigms that use optical fibers and GRIN lenses and could help increase reproducibility through identification of fiber-to-target localization and molecular profiling. Kahan et al. describe a 3D histology method (LiGS) to investigate with high fidelity the vicinity of an intact optical implant (e.g., GRIN lenses and optical fibers). LiGS is compatible with immunohistochemistry and single-molecule imaging. With the use of two-photon microscopy, LiGS can also link the functional properties of cells to their molecular identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anat Kahan
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Alon Greenbaum
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Min J Jang
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - J Elliott Robinson
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Jounhong Ryan Cho
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Xinhong Chen
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Pegah Kassraian
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Daniel A Wagenaar
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Viviana Gradinaru
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
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21
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Kaleb K, Pedrosa V, Clopath C. Network-centered homeostasis through inhibition maintains hippocampal spatial map and cortical circuit function. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109577. [PMID: 34433026 PMCID: PMC8411119 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite ongoing experiential change, neural activity maintains remarkable stability. Although this is thought to be mediated by homeostatic plasticity, what aspect of neural activity is conserved and how the flexibility necessary for learning and memory is maintained is not fully understood. Experimental studies suggest that there exists network-centered, in addition to the well-studied neuron-centered, control. Here we computationally study such a potential mechanism: input-dependent inhibitory plasticity (IDIP). In a hippocampal model, we show that IDIP can explain the emergence of active and silent place cells as well as remapping following silencing of active place cells. Furthermore, we show that IDIP can also stabilize recurrent dynamics while preserving firing rate heterogeneity and stimulus representation, as well as persistent activity after memory encoding. Hence, the establishment of global network balance with IDIP has diverse functional implications and may be able to explain experimental phenomena across different brain areas. Input-dependent inhibitory plasticity (IDIP) provides network-wide homeostasis IDIP can explain hippocampal remapping following place map silencing IDIP can also provide recurrent network homeostasis with firing rate diversity
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara Kaleb
- Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Victor Pedrosa
- Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London, London, UK; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, London, UK
| | - Claudia Clopath
- Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London, London, UK.
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22
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Shapiro JT, Michaud NM, King JL, Crowder NA. Optogenetic Activation of Interneuron Subtypes Modulates Visual Contrast Responses of Mouse V1 Neurons. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:1110-1124. [PMID: 34411240 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Interneurons are critical for information processing in the cortex. In vitro optogenetic studies in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) have sketched the connectivity of a local neural circuit comprising excitatory pyramidal neurons and distinct interneuron subtypes that express parvalbumin (Pvalb+), somatostatin (SOM+), or vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP+). However, in vivo studies focusing on V1 orientation tuning have ascribed discrepant computational roles to specific interneuron subtypes. Here, we sought to clarify the differences between interneuron subtypes by examining the effects of optogenetic activation of Pvalb+, SOM+, or VIP+ interneurons on contrast tuning of V1 neurons while also accounting for cortical depth and photostimulation intensity. We found that illumination of the cortical surface produced a similar spectrum of saturating additive photostimulation effects in all 3 interneuron subtypes, which varied with cortical depth rather than light intensity in Pvalb+ and SOM+ cells. Pyramidal cell modulation was well explained by a conductance-based model that incorporated these interneuron photostimulation effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared T Shapiro
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Nicole M Michaud
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Jillian L King
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Nathan A Crowder
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
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23
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Peng Y, Barreda Tomas FJ, Pfeiffer P, Drangmeister M, Schreiber S, Vida I, Geiger JRP. Spatially structured inhibition defined by polarized parvalbumin interneuron axons promotes head direction tuning. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/25/eabg4693. [PMID: 34134979 PMCID: PMC8208710 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg4693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In cortical microcircuits, it is generally assumed that fast-spiking parvalbumin interneurons mediate dense and nonselective inhibition. Some reports indicate sparse and structured inhibitory connectivity, but the computational relevance and the underlying spatial organization remain unresolved. In the rat superficial presubiculum, we find that inhibition by fast-spiking interneurons is organized in the form of a dominant super-reciprocal microcircuit motif where multiple pyramidal cells recurrently inhibit each other via a single interneuron. Multineuron recordings and subsequent 3D reconstructions and analysis further show that this nonrandom connectivity arises from an asymmetric, polarized morphology of fast-spiking interneuron axons, which individually cover different directions in the same volume. Network simulations assuming topographically organized input demonstrate that such polarized inhibition can improve head direction tuning of pyramidal cells in comparison to a "blanket of inhibition." We propose that structured inhibition based on asymmetrical axons is an overarching spatial connectivity principle for tailored computation across brain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangfan Peng
- Institute for Neurophysiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Federico J Barreda Tomas
- Institute for Integrative Neuroanatomy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Pfeiffer
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Moritz Drangmeister
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Schreiber
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Imre Vida
- Institute for Integrative Neuroanatomy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Jörg R P Geiger
- Institute for Neurophysiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
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24
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Widener AE, Bhatta M, Angelini TE, Phelps EA. Guest-host interlinked PEG-MAL granular hydrogels as an engineered cellular microenvironment. Biomater Sci 2021; 9:2480-2493. [PMID: 33432940 DOI: 10.1039/d0bm01499k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
We report the development of a polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel scaffold that provides the advantages of conventional bulk PEG hydrogels for engineering cellular microenvironments and allows for rapid cell migration. PEG microgels were used to assemble a densely packed granular system with an intrinsic interstitium-like negative space. In this material, guest-host molecular interactions provide reversible non-covalent linkages between discrete PEG microgel particles to form a cohesive bulk material. In guest-host chemistry, different guest molecules reversibly and non-covalently interact with their cyclic host molecules. Two species of PEG microgels were made, each with one functional group at the end of the four arm PEG-MAL functionalized using thiol click chemistry. The first was functionalized with the host molecule β-cyclodextrin, a cyclic oligosaccharide of repeating d-glucose units, and the other functionalized with the guest molecule adamantane. These two species provide a reversible guest-host interaction between microgel particles when mixed, generating an interlinked network with a percolated interstitium. We showed that this granular configuration, unlike conventional bulk PEG hydrogels, enabled the rapid migration of THP-1 monocyte cells. The guest-host microgels also exhibited shear-thinning behavior, providing a unique advantage over current bulk PEG hydrogels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne E Widener
- J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
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25
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A Model for the Origin of Motion Direction Selectivity in Visual Cortex. J Neurosci 2020; 41:89-102. [PMID: 33203740 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1362-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Motion perception is a vital part of our sensory repertoire in that it contributes to navigation, awareness of moving objects, and communication. Motion sense in carnivores and primates originates with primary visual cortical neurons selective for motion direction. More than 60 years after the discovery of these neurons, there is still no consensus on the mechanism underlying direction selectivity. This paper describes a model of the cat's visual system in which direction selectivity results from the well-documented orientation selectivity of inhibitory neurons: inhomogeneities in the orientation preference map for inhibitory neurons leads to spatially asymmetric inhibition, and thus to direction selectivity. Stimulation of the model with a drifting grating shows that direction selectivity results from the relative timing of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to a neuron. Using a stationary contrast-reversing grating reveals that the inhibitory input is spatially displaced in the preferred direction relative to the excitatory input, and that this asymmetry leads to the timing difference. More generally, the model yields physiologically realistic estimates of the direction selectivity index, and it reproduces the critical finding with contrast-reversing gratings that response phase advances with grating spatial phase. It is concluded that a model based on intracortical inhibition can account well for the known properties of direction selectivity in carnivores and primates.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Motion perception is vital for navigation, communication, and the awareness of moving objects. Motion sense depends on cortical neurons that are selective for motion direction, and this paper describes a model for the physiological mechanism underlying cortical direction selectivity. The essence of the model is that intracortical inhibition of a direction-selective cell is spatially inhomogeneous and therefore depends on whether a stimulus generates inhibition before or after reaching the cell's receptive field: the response is weaker in the former than in the latter case. If the model is correct, it will contribute to the understanding of motion processing in carnivores and primates.
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Abstract
Brains are composed of networks of neurons that are highly interconnected. A central question in neuroscience is how such neuronal networks operate in tandem to make a functioning brain. To understand this, we need to study how neurons interact with each other in action, such as when viewing a visual scene or performing a motor task. One way to approach this question is by perturbing the activity of functioning neurons and measuring the resulting influence on other neurons. By using computational models of neuronal networks, we studied how this influence in visual networks depends on connectivity. Our results help to interpret contradictory results from previous experimental studies and explain how different connectivity patterns can enhance information processing during natural vision. To unravel the functional properties of the brain, we need to untangle how neurons interact with each other and coordinate in large-scale recurrent networks. One way to address this question is to measure the functional influence of individual neurons on each other by perturbing them in vivo. Application of such single-neuron perturbations in mouse visual cortex has recently revealed feature-specific suppression between excitatory neurons, despite the presence of highly specific excitatory connectivity, which was deemed to underlie feature-specific amplification. Here, we studied which connectivity profiles are consistent with these seemingly contradictory observations, by modeling the effect of single-neuron perturbations in large-scale neuronal networks. Our numerical simulations and mathematical analysis revealed that, contrary to the prima facie assumption, neither inhibition dominance nor broad inhibition alone were sufficient to explain the experimental findings; instead, strong and functionally specific excitatory–inhibitory connectivity was necessary, consistent with recent findings in the primary visual cortex of rodents. Such networks had a higher capacity to encode and decode natural images, and this was accompanied by the emergence of response gain nonlinearities at the population level. Our study provides a general computational framework to investigate how single-neuron perturbations are linked to cortical connectivity and sensory coding and paves the road to map the perturbome of neuronal networks in future studies.
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27
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Scholl B, Fitzpatrick D. Cortical synaptic architecture supports flexible sensory computations. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 64:41-45. [PMID: 32088662 PMCID: PMC8080306 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Establishing the fundamental principles that underlie the integration of excitatory and inhibitory presynaptic input populations is crucial to understanding how individual cortical neurons transform signals from peripheral receptors. Here we review recent studies using novel tools to examine the functional properties of excitatory synaptic inputs and the tuning of excitation and inhibition onto individual neurons. New evidence challenges existing synaptic connectivity rules and suggests a more complex functional synaptic architecture that supports a broad range of operations, enabling single neurons to encode multiple sensory features and flexibly shape their computations in the face of diverse sensory input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Scholl
- Max Planck Florida Institute, 1 Max Planck Way, Jupiter, FL USA.
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28
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Liu CJ, Roy A, Simons AA, Farinella DM, Kara P. Three-photon imaging of synthetic dyes in deep layers of the neocortex. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16351. [PMID: 33004996 PMCID: PMC7529898 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73438-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiphoton microscopy has emerged as the primary imaging tool for studying the structural and functional dynamics of neural circuits in brain tissue, which is highly scattering to light. Recently, three-photon microscopy has enabled high-resolution fluorescence imaging of neurons in deeper brain areas that lie beyond the reach of conventional two-photon microscopy, which is typically limited to ~ 450 µm. Three-photon imaging of neuronal calcium signals, through the genetically-encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6, has been used to successfully record neuronal activity in deeper neocortical layers and parts of the hippocampus in rodents. Bulk-loading cells in deeper cortical layers with synthetic calcium indicators could provide an alternative strategy for labelling that obviates dependence on viral tropism and promoter penetration, particularly in non-rodent species. Here we report a strategy for visualized injection of a calcium dye, Oregon Green BAPTA-1 AM (OGB-1 AM), at 500-600 µm below the surface of the mouse visual cortex in vivo. We demonstrate successful OGB-1 AM loading of cells in cortical layers 5-6 and subsequent three-photon imaging of orientation- and direction- selective visual responses from these cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao J Liu
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Arani Roy
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Anthony A Simons
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Deano M Farinella
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Prakash Kara
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
- Centre for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
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29
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Hooks BM, Chen C. Circuitry Underlying Experience-Dependent Plasticity in the Mouse Visual System. Neuron 2020; 106:21-36. [PMID: 32272065 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.01.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Since the discovery of ocular dominance plasticity, neuroscientists have understood that changes in visual experience during a discrete developmental time, the critical period, trigger robust changes in the visual cortex. State-of-the-art tools used to probe connectivity with cell-type-specific resolution have expanded the understanding of circuit changes underlying experience-dependent plasticity. Here, we review the visual circuitry of the mouse, describing projections from retina to thalamus, between thalamus and cortex, and within cortex. We discuss how visual circuit development leads to precise connectivity and identify synaptic loci, which can be altered by activity or experience. Plasticity extends to visual features beyond ocular dominance, involving subcortical and cortical regions, and connections between cortical inhibitory interneurons. Experience-dependent plasticity contributes to the alignment of networks spanning retina to thalamus to cortex. Disruption of this plasticity may underlie aberrant sensory processing in some neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan M Hooks
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, W1458 BSTWR, 203 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
| | - Chinfei Chen
- Department of Neurology, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Children's Hospital, Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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30
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Ca 2+ imaging of neurons in freely moving rats with automatic post hoc histological identification. J Neurosci Methods 2020; 341:108765. [PMID: 32407804 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive neuroscientists aim to understand behavior often based on the underlying activity of individual neurons. Recently developed miniaturized epifluorescence microscopes allow recording of cellular calcium transients, resembling neuronal activity, of individual neurons even in deep brain areas in freely behaving animals. At the same time, molecular markers allow the characterization of diverse neuronal subtypes by post hoc immunohistochemical labeling. Combining both methods would allow researchers to increase insights into how individual neuronal activity and entities contribute to behavior. NEW METHOD Here, we present a novel method for identifying the same neurons, recorded with calcium imaging using a miniaturized epifluorescence microscope, post hoc in fixed histological sections. This allows immunohistochemical investigations to detect the molecular signature of in vivo recorded neurons. Our method utilizes the structure of blood vessels for aligning in vivo acquired 2D images with a reconstructed 3D histological model. RESULTS We automatically matched, 60 % of all in vivo recorded cells post hoc in histology. Across all animals, we successfully matched 43 % to 89 % of the recorded neurons. We provide a measure for the confidence of matched cells and validated our method by multiple simulation studies. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS To our knowledge, we present the first method for matching cells, recorded with a miniaturized epifluorescence microscope in freely moving animals, post hoc in histological sections. CONCLUSIONS Our method allows a comprehensive analysis of how cortical circuits relate to freely moving animal behavior by combining functional activity of individual neurons with their underlying histological profiles.
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31
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De A, El-Shamayleh Y, Horwitz GD. Fast and reversible neural inactivation in macaque cortex by optogenetic stimulation of GABAergic neurons. eLife 2020; 9:52658. [PMID: 32452766 PMCID: PMC7329331 DOI: 10.7554/elife.52658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Optogenetic techniques for neural inactivation are valuable for linking neural activity to behavior but they have serious limitations in macaques. To achieve powerful and temporally precise neural inactivation, we used an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector carrying the channelrhodopsin-2 gene under the control of a Dlx5/6 enhancer, which restricts expression to GABAergic neurons. We tested this approach in the primary visual cortex, an area where neural inactivation leads to interpretable behavioral deficits. Optical stimulation modulated spiking activity and reduced visual sensitivity profoundly in the region of space represented by the stimulated neurons. Rebound firing, which can have unwanted effects on neural circuits following inactivation, was not observed, and the efficacy of the optogenetic manipulation on behavior was maintained across >1000 trials. We conclude that this inhibitory cell-type-specific optogenetic approach is a powerful and spatiotemporally precise neural inactivation tool with broad utility for probing the functional contributions of cortical activity in macaques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek De
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, United States.,Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Washington National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
| | - Yasmine El-Shamayleh
- Department of Neuroscience, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, United States
| | - Gregory D Horwitz
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Washington National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
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32
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Gaucher Q, Panniello M, Ivanov AZ, Dahmen JC, King AJ, Walker KM. Complexity of frequency receptive fields predicts tonotopic variability across species. eLife 2020; 9:53462. [PMID: 32420865 PMCID: PMC7269667 DOI: 10.7554/elife.53462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Primary cortical areas contain maps of sensory features, including sound frequency in primary auditory cortex (A1). Two-photon calcium imaging in mice has confirmed the presence of these global tonotopic maps, while uncovering an unexpected local variability in the stimulus preferences of individual neurons in A1 and other primary regions. Here we show that local heterogeneity of frequency preferences is not unique to rodents. Using two-photon calcium imaging in layers 2/3, we found that local variance in frequency preferences is equivalent in ferrets and mice. Neurons with multipeaked frequency tuning are less spatially organized than those tuned to a single frequency in both species. Furthermore, we show that microelectrode recordings may describe a smoother tonotopic arrangement due to a sampling bias towards neurons with simple frequency tuning. These results help explain previous inconsistencies in cortical topography across species and recording techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Gaucher
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mariangela Panniello
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Aleksandar Z Ivanov
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Johannes C Dahmen
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J King
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Kerry Mm Walker
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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33
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Chang JT, Whitney D, Fitzpatrick D. Experience-Dependent Reorganization Drives Development of a Binocularly Unified Cortical Representation of Orientation. Neuron 2020; 107:338-350.e5. [PMID: 32428433 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Across sensory areas, neural microcircuits consolidate streams of information into unified representations of the external world. In the carnivore visual cortex, where eye-specific inputs first converge, it has been posited that a single, binocularly aligned modular orientation representation develops independent of sensory experience. In this study of ferret visual cortex using in vivo calcium imaging, we find evidence for a different developmental process. Early in development, contralateral, ipsilateral, or binocular stimulation each yield well-organized modular representations of orientation that display features of mature cortex. However, comparison of these representations reveals considerable misalignment that is evident at both modular and cellular scales. Experience-dependent processes drive reorganization of these three representations toward a single binocularly aligned representation resembling the early binocular representation through shifts in cellular orientation preference. Thus, while orderly modular networks of orientation preference initially arise independent of visual experience, experience is critical for the alignment of these early representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy T Chang
- Department of Functional Architecture and Development of Cerebral Cortex, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA
| | - David Whitney
- Department of Functional Architecture and Development of Cerebral Cortex, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA
| | - David Fitzpatrick
- Department of Functional Architecture and Development of Cerebral Cortex, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
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34
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An Unexpected Dependence of Cortical Depth in Shaping Neural Responsiveness and Selectivity in Mouse Visual Cortex. eNeuro 2020; 7:ENEURO.0497-19.2020. [PMID: 32051142 PMCID: PMC7092962 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0497-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Two-photon imaging studies in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) consistently report that around half of the neurons respond to oriented grating stimuli. However, in cats and primates, nearly all neurons respond to such stimuli. Here we show that mouse V1 responsiveness and selectivity strongly depends on neuronal depth. Moving from superficial layer 2 down to layer 4, the percentage of visually responsive neurons nearly doubled, ultimately reaching levels similar to what is seen in other species. Over this span, the amplitude of neuronal responses also doubled. Moreover, stimulus selectivity was also modulated, not only with depth but also with response amplitude. Specifically, we found that orientation and direction selectivity were greater in stronger responding neurons, but orientation selectivity decreased with depth whereas direction selectivity increased. Importantly, these depth-dependent trends were found not just between layer 2/3 and layer 4 but at different depths within layer 2/3 itself. Thus, neuronal depth is an important factor to consider when pooling neurons for population analyses. Furthermore, the inability to drive the majority of cells in superficial layer 2/3 of mouse V1 with grating stimuli indicates that there may be fundamental differences in the micro-circuitry and role of V1 between rodents and other mammals.
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35
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Rasmussen R, Matsumoto A, Dahlstrup Sietam M, Yonehara K. A segregated cortical stream for retinal direction selectivity. Nat Commun 2020; 11:831. [PMID: 32047156 PMCID: PMC7012930 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14643-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual features extracted by retinal circuits are streamed into higher visual areas (HVAs) after being processed along the visual hierarchy. However, how specialized neuronal representations of HVAs are built, based on retinal output channels, remained unclear. Here, we addressed this question by determining the effects of genetically disrupting retinal direction selectivity on motion-evoked responses in visual stages from the retina to HVAs in mice. Direction-selective (DS) cells in the rostrolateral (RL) area that prefer higher temporal frequencies, and that change direction tuning bias as the temporal frequency of a stimulus increases, are selectively reduced upon retinal manipulation. DS cells in the primary visual cortex projecting to area RL, but not to the posteromedial area, were similarly affected. Therefore, the specific connectivity of cortico-cortical projection neurons routes feedforward signaling originating from retinal DS cells preferentially to area RL. We thus identify a cortical processing stream for motion computed in the retina. Visual features are streamed into higher visual areas (HVAs), but how representations in HVAs are built, based on retinal output channels, is unknown. Here, the authors show that specific connectivity of cortical neurons routes retina-originated direction-selective signaling into distinct HVAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rune Rasmussen
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience-DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Akihiro Matsumoto
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience-DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Monica Dahlstrup Sietam
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience-DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Keisuke Yonehara
- Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience-DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
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36
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Abstract
One of the fundamental questions in neuroscience is how brain activity relates to conscious experience. Even though self-consciousness is considered an emergent property of the brain network, a quantum physics-based theory assigns a momentum of consciousness to the single neuron level. In this work, we present a brain self theory from an evolutionary biological perspective by analogy with the immune self. In this scheme, perinatal reactivity to self inputs would guide the selection of neocortical neurons within the subplate, similarly to T lymphocytes in the thymus. Such self-driven neuronal selection would enable effective discrimination of external inputs and avoid harmful "autoreactive" responses. Multiple experimental and clinical evidences for this model are provided. Based on this self tenet, we outline the postulates of the so-called autophrenic diseases, to then make the case for schizophrenia, an archetypic disease with rupture of the self. Implications of this model are discussed, along with potential experimental verification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Sánchez-Ramón
- Department of Clinical Immunology, IML and IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Immunology, ENT and Ophthalmology, Complutense University School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain
| | - Florence Faure
- INSERM U932, PSL Research University, Institut Curie, Paris, France
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37
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Gu X, Chen W, Volkow ND, Koretsky AP, Du C, Pan Y. Synchronized Astrocytic Ca 2+ Responses in Neurovascular Coupling during Somatosensory Stimulation and for the Resting State. Cell Rep 2019; 23:3878-3890. [PMID: 29949771 PMCID: PMC7469112 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2017] [Revised: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The role of astrocytes in neurovascular coupling (NVC) is unclear. Here, we applied a multimodality imaging approach to concomitantly measure synchronized neuronal or astrocytic Ca2+ and hemodynamic changes in the mouse somatosensory cortex at rest and during sensory electrical stimulation. Strikingly, we found that low-frequency stimulation (0.3-1 Hz), which consistently evokes fast neuronal Ca2+ transients (6.0 ± 2.7 ms latency) that always precede vascular responses, does not always elicit astrocytic Ca2+ transients (313 ± 65 ms latency). However, the magnitude of the hemodynamic response is increased when astrocytic transients occur, suggesting a facilitatory role of astrocytes in NVC. High-frequency stimulation (5-10 Hz) consistently evokes a large, delayed astrocytic Ca2+ accumulation (3.48 ± 0.09 s latency) that is temporarily associated with vasoconstriction, suggesting a role for astrocytes in resetting NVC. At rest, neuronal, but not astrocytic, Ca2+ fluctuations correlate with hemodynamic low-frequency oscillations. Taken together, these results support a role for astrocytes in modulating, but not triggering, NVC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochun Gu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Diseases, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, #87 Dingjiaqiao Road, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Nora D Volkow
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20857, USA
| | - Alan P Koretsky
- Laboratory of Functional and Molecular Imaging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Congwu Du
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Yingtian Pan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
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38
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Scholl B, Wilson DE, Jaepel J, Fitzpatrick D. Functional Logic of Layer 2/3 Inhibitory Connectivity in the Ferret Visual Cortex. Neuron 2019; 104:451-457.e3. [PMID: 31495646 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how cortical inhibition shapes circuit function requires identifying the connectivity rules relating the response properties of inhibitory interneurons and their postsynaptic targets. Here we explore the orientation tuning of layer 2/3 inhibitory inputs in the ferret visual cortex using a combination of in vivo axon imaging, functional input mapping, and physiology. Inhibitory boutons exhibit robust orientation-tuned responses with preferences that can differ significantly from the cortical column in which they reside. Inhibitory input fields measured with patterned optogenetic stimulation and intracellular recordings revealed that these inputs originate from a wide range of orientation domains, inconsistent with a model of co-tuned inhibition and excitation. Intracellular synaptic conductance measurements confirm that individual neurons can depart from a co-tuned regime. Our results argue against a simple rule for the arrangement of inhibitory inputs supplied by layer 2/3 circuits and suggest that heterogeneity in presynaptic inhibitory networks contributes to neural response properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Scholl
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, 1 Max Planck Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | | | - Juliane Jaepel
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, 1 Max Planck Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA
| | - David Fitzpatrick
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, 1 Max Planck Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA
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39
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Leopold AV, Shcherbakova DM, Verkhusha VV. Fluorescent Biosensors for Neurotransmission and Neuromodulation: Engineering and Applications. Front Cell Neurosci 2019; 13:474. [PMID: 31708747 PMCID: PMC6819510 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how neuronal activity patterns in the brain correlate with complex behavior is one of the primary goals of modern neuroscience. Chemical transmission is the major way of communication between neurons, however, traditional methods of detection of neurotransmitter and neuromodulator transients in mammalian brain lack spatiotemporal precision. Modern fluorescent biosensors for neurotransmitters and neuromodulators allow monitoring chemical transmission in vivo with millisecond precision and single cell resolution. Changes in the fluorescent biosensor brightness occur upon neurotransmitter binding and can be detected using fiber photometry, stationary microscopy and miniaturized head-mounted microscopes. Biosensors can be expressed in the animal brain using adeno-associated viral vectors, and their cell-specific expression can be achieved with Cre-recombinase expressing animals. Although initially fluorescent biosensors for chemical transmission were represented by glutamate biosensors, nowadays biosensors for GABA, acetylcholine, glycine, norepinephrine, and dopamine are available as well. In this review, we overview functioning principles of existing intensiometric and ratiometric biosensors and provide brief insight into the variety of neurotransmitter-binding proteins from bacteria, plants, and eukaryotes including G-protein coupled receptors, which may serve as neurotransmitter-binding scaffolds. We next describe a workflow for development of neurotransmitter and neuromodulator biosensors. We then discuss advanced setups for functional imaging of neurotransmitter transients in the brain of awake freely moving animals. We conclude by providing application examples of biosensors for the studies of complex behavior with the single-neuron precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna V Leopold
- Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Daria M Shcherbakova
- Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Vladislav V Verkhusha
- Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
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40
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Hayashi A, Yoshida T, Ohki K. Cell Type Specific Representation of Vibro-tactile Stimuli in the Mouse Primary Somatosensory Cortex. Front Neural Circuits 2018; 12:109. [PMID: 30618647 PMCID: PMC6307530 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2018.00109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the processing of whisker deflections in the barrel area of the rodent primary somatosensory cortex (S1) has been studied extensively, how cutaneous vibro-tactile stimuli are processed in the rodent S1 outside the barrel area has not been fully examined. Particularly, the cell-type specific representation of multiple vibration frequencies in genetically identified inhibitory cells in the S1 has not been examined. Using two-photon calcium imaging, we examined the responses to vibration stimuli of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the S1 hind limb area of male and female mice. The excitatory cells showed relatively sharp selectivity to vibration stimuli, whereas the inhibitory cells exhibited less selectivity. The excitatory and inhibitory cells with different preferred stimuli were intermingled in a “salt and pepper” manner. Furthermore, the noise correlation tended to be especially strong in excitatory-inhibitory and inhibitory-inhibitory cell pairs that have similar stimulus selectivity. These results suggest that excitatory cells tend to represent specific stimulus information and work together with similarly tuned inhibitory cells as a functionally connected network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayako Hayashi
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.,Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Takashi Yoshida
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.,Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,CREST, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kenichi Ohki
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.,Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,CREST, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Tokyo, Japan.,International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Studies (UTIAS), Tokyo, Japan
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41
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Molecular Fingerprinting of On-Off Direction-Selective Retinal Ganglion Cells Across Species and Relevance to Primate Visual Circuits. J Neurosci 2018; 39:78-95. [PMID: 30377226 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1784-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Revised: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to detect moving objects is an ethologically salient function. Direction-selective neurons have been identified in the retina, thalamus, and cortex of many species, but their homology has remained unclear. For instance, it is unknown whether direction-selective retinal ganglion cells (DSGCs) exist in primates and, if so, whether they are the equivalent to mouse and rabbit DSGCs. Here, we used a molecular/circuit approach in both sexes to address these issues. In mice, we identify the transcription factor Satb2 (special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 2) as a selective marker for three RGC types: On-Off DSGCs encoding motion in either the anterior or posterior direction, a newly identified type of Off-DSGC, and an Off-sustained RGC type. In rabbits, we find that expression of Satb2 is conserved in On-Off DSGCs; however, it has evolved to include On-Off DSGCs encoding upward and downward motion in addition to anterior and posterior motion. Next, we show that macaque RGCs express Satb2 most likely in a single type. We used rabies virus-based circuit-mapping tools to reveal the identity of macaque Satb2-RGCs and discovered that their dendritic arbors are relatively large and monostratified. Together, these data indicate Satb2-expressing On-Off DSGCs are likely not present in the primate retina. Moreover, if DSGCs are present in the primate retina, it is unlikely that they express Satb2.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to detect object motion is a fundamental feature of almost all visual systems. Here, we identify a novel marker for retinal ganglion cells encoding directional motion that is evolutionarily conserved in mice and rabbits, but not in primates. We show in macaque monkeys that retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) that express this marker comprise a single type and are morphologically distinct from mouse and rabbit direction-selective RGCs. Our findings indicate that On-Off direction-selective retinal neurons may have evolutionarily diverged in primates and more generally provide novel insight into the identity and organization of primate parallel visual pathways.
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42
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Distributed network interactions and their emergence in developing neocortex. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21:1600-1608. [PMID: 30349107 PMCID: PMC6371984 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0247-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 08/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The principles governing the functional organization and development of
long-range network interactions in the neocortex remain poorly understood. Using
in vivo wide-field and 2-photon calcium imaging of spontaneous activity patterns
in mature ferret visual cortex, we find widespread modular correlation patterns
that accurately predict the local structure of visually-evoked orientation
columns several millimeters away. Longitudinal imaging demonstrates that
long-range spontaneous correlations are present early in cortical development
prior to the elaboration of horizontal connections, and predict mature network
structure. Silencing feed-forward drive through retinal or thalamic blockade
does not eliminate early long-range correlated activity, suggesting a cortical
origin. Circuit models containing only local, but heterogeneous, connections are
sufficient to generate long-range correlated activity by confining activity
patterns to a low-dimensional subspace via multi-synaptic short-range
interactions. These results suggest that local connections in early cortical
circuits can generate structured long-range network correlations that guide the
formation of visually-evoked distributed functional networks.
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43
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Differential tuning of excitation and inhibition shapes direction selectivity in ferret visual cortex. Nature 2018; 560:97-101. [PMID: 30046106 PMCID: PMC6946183 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0354-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 06/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
To encode specific sensory inputs, cortical neurons must generate selective responses for distinct stimulus features. In principle, a variety of factors contribute to a cortical neuron’s response selectivity: the tuning and strength of excitatory1–3 and inhibitory synaptic inputs4–6, dendritic nonlinearities7–9, and spike threshold10,11. Here we employ a combination of techniques including in vivo whole-cell recording, synaptic and cellular resolution in vivo two photon calcium imaging, and GABAergic-selective optogenetic manipulation to dissect the factors contributing to direction selective responses of layer 2/3 neurons in ferret visual cortex (V1). Two-photon calcium imaging of dendritic spines12,13 revealed that each neuron receives a mixture of excitatory synaptic inputs selective for the somatic preferred or null direction of motion. The relative number of preferred- and null-tuned excitatory inputs predicted a neuron’s somatic direction preference, but failed to account for the degree of direction selectivity. In contrast, in vivo whole-cell patch clamp recordings revealed a striking degree of direction selectivity in subthreshold responses that was significantly correlated with spiking direction selectivity. Subthreshold direction selectivity was predicted by the magnitude and variance of the response to the null direction of motion, and several lines of evidence including conductance measurements demonstrate that differential tuning of excitation and inhibition suppresses responses to the null direction of motion. Consistent with this idea, optogenetic inactivation of GABAergic neurons in layer 2/3 reduced direction selectivity by enhancing responses to the null direction. Furthermore, using a new technique to optogenetically map connections of inhibitory neurons in layer 2/3 in vivo, we find that layer 2/3 inhibitory neurons make long-range, intercolumnar projections to excitatory neurons that prefer the opposite direction of motion. We conclude that intracortical inhibition exerts a major influence on the degree of direction selectivity in layer 2/3 of ferret V1 by suppressing responses to the null direction of motion.
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Khan AG, Poort J, Chadwick A, Blot A, Sahani M, Mrsic-Flogel TD, Hofer SB. Distinct learning-induced changes in stimulus selectivity and interactions of GABAergic interneuron classes in visual cortex. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21:851-859. [PMID: 29786081 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0143-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
How learning enhances neural representations for behaviorally relevant stimuli via activity changes of cortical cell types remains unclear. We simultaneously imaged responses of pyramidal cells (PYR) along with parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SOM), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) inhibitory interneurons in primary visual cortex while mice learned to discriminate visual patterns. Learning increased selectivity for task-relevant stimuli of PYR, PV and SOM subsets but not VIP cells. Strikingly, PV neurons became as selective as PYR cells, and their functional interactions reorganized, leading to the emergence of stimulus-selective PYR-PV ensembles. Conversely, SOM activity became strongly decorrelated from the network, and PYR-SOM coupling before learning predicted selectivity increases in individual PYR cells. Thus, learning differentially shapes the activity and interactions of multiple cell classes: while SOM inhibition may gate selectivity changes, PV interneurons become recruited into stimulus-specific ensembles and provide more selective inhibition as the network becomes better at discriminating behaviorally relevant stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adil G Khan
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. .,Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
| | - Jasper Poort
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Angus Chadwick
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Antonin Blot
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK
| | - Maneesh Sahani
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London, UK
| | - Thomas D Mrsic-Flogel
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. .,Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Sonja B Hofer
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. .,Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK.
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45
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Functional organization of intrinsic and feedback presynaptic inputs in the primary visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E5174-E5182. [PMID: 29760100 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1719711115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the primary visual cortex (V1) of many mammalian species, neurons are spatially organized according to their preferred orientation into a highly ordered map. However, whether and how the various presynaptic inputs to V1 neurons are organized relative to the neuronal orientation map remain unclear. To address this issue, we constructed genetically encoded calcium indicators targeting axon boutons in two colors and used them to map the organization of axon boutons of V1 intrinsic and V2-V1 feedback projections in tree shrews. Both connections are spatially organized into maps according to the preferred orientations of axon boutons. Dual-color calcium imaging showed that V1 intrinsic inputs are precisely aligned to the orientation map of V1 cell bodies, while the V2-V1 feedback projections are aligned to the V1 map with less accuracy. Nonselective integration of intrinsic presynaptic inputs around the dendritic tree is sufficient to reproduce cell body orientation preference. These results indicate that a precisely aligned map of intrinsic inputs could reinforce the neuronal map in V1, a principle that may be prevalent for brain areas with function maps.
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46
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Ancestral Circuits for the Coordinated Modulation of Brain State. Cell 2017; 171:1411-1423.e17. [PMID: 29103613 PMCID: PMC5725395 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.10.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 08/13/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Internal states of the brain profoundly influence behavior. Fluctuating states such as alertness can be governed by neuromodulation, but the underlying mechanisms and cell types involved are not fully understood. We developed a method to globally screen for cell types involved in behavior by integrating brain-wide activity imaging with high-content molecular phenotyping and volume registration at cellular resolution. We used this method (MultiMAP) to record from 22 neuromodulatory cell types in behaving zebrafish during a reaction-time task that reports alertness. We identified multiple monoaminergic, cholinergic, and peptidergic cell types linked to alertness and found that activity in these cell types was mutually correlated during heightened alertness. We next recorded from and controlled homologous neuromodulatory cells in mice; alertness-related cell-type dynamics exhibited striking evolutionary conservation and modulated behavior similarly. These experiments establish a method for unbiased discovery of cellular elements underlying behavior and reveal an evolutionarily conserved set of diverse neuromodulatory systems that collectively govern internal state.
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47
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Znamenskiy P, Hofer SB. Ferret Interneurons Defy Expectations. Neuron 2017; 93:985-987. [PMID: 28279359 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.02.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Parvalbumin interneurons in the cortex are believed to pool inputs from most surrounding excitatory cells independent of their functional properties. Response properties of interneurons in columnar visual cortex of ferrets, described by Wilson et al. (2017) in this issue of Neuron, challenge this view.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sonja B Hofer
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
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48
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Christie IK, Miller P, Van Hooser SD. Cortical amplification models of experience-dependent development of selective columns and response sparsification. J Neurophysiol 2017; 118:874-893. [PMID: 28515285 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00177.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of direction-selective cortical columns requires visual experience, but the neural circuits and plasticity mechanisms that are responsible for this developmental transition are unknown. To gain insight into the mechanisms that could underlie experience-dependent increases in selectivity, we explored families of cortical amplifier models that enhance weakly biased feedforward signals. Here we focused exclusively on possible contributions of cortico-cortical connections and took feedforward input to be constant. We modeled pairs of interconnected columns that received equal and oppositely biased inputs. In a single-element model of cortical columns, we found two ways that cortical columns could receive biased feedforward input and exhibit strong but unselective responses to stimuli: 1) within-column recurrent excitatory connections could be strong enough to amplify both strong and weak feedforward input, or 2) columns that received differently biased inputs could have strong excitatory cross-connections that destroy selectivity. A Hebbian plasticity rule combined with simulated experience with stimuli weakened these strong cross-connections across cortical columns, allowing the individual columns to respond selectively to their biased inputs. In a model that included both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in each column, an additional means of obtaining selectivity through the cortical circuit was uncovered: cross-column suppression of inhibition-stabilized networks. When each column operated as an inhibition-stabilized network, cross-column excitation onto inhibitory neurons forced competition between the columns but in a manner that did not involve strong null-direction inhibition, consistent with experimental measurements of direction selectivity in visual cortex. Experimental predictions of these possible contributions of cortical circuits are discussed.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Sensory circuits are initially constructed via mechanisms that are independent of sensory experience, but later refinement requires experience. We constructed models of how circuits that receive biased feedforward inputs can be initially unselective and then be modified by experience and plasticity so that the resulting circuit exhibits increased selectivity. We propose that neighboring cortical columns may initially exhibit coupling that is too strong for selectivity. Experience-dependent mechanisms decrease this coupling so individual columns can exhibit selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian K Christie
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.,Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; and
| | - Paul Miller
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.,Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; and.,Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
| | - Stephen D Van Hooser
- Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; .,Volen National Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; and.,Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
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49
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Angelucci A, Bijanzadeh M, Nurminen L, Federer F, Merlin S, Bressloff PC. Circuits and Mechanisms for Surround Modulation in Visual Cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci 2017; 40:425-451. [PMID: 28471714 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-072116-031418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Surround modulation (SM) is a fundamental property of sensory neurons in many species and sensory modalities. SM is the ability of stimuli in the surround of a neuron's receptive field (RF) to modulate (typically suppress) the neuron's response to stimuli simultaneously presented inside the RF, a property thought to underlie optimal coding of sensory information and important perceptual functions. Understanding the circuit and mechanisms for SM can reveal fundamental principles of computations in sensory cortices, from mouse to human. Current debate is centered over whether feedforward or intracortical circuits generate SM, and whether this results from increased inhibition or reduced excitation. Here we present a working hypothesis, based on theoretical and experimental evidence, that SM results from feedforward, horizontal, and feedback interactions with local recurrent connections, via synaptic mechanisms involving both increased inhibition and reduced recurrent excitation. In particular, strong and balanced recurrent excitatory and inhibitory circuits play a crucial role in the computation of SM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Angelucci
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132; , , , ,
| | - Maryam Bijanzadeh
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132; , , , ,
| | - Lauri Nurminen
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132; , , , ,
| | - Frederick Federer
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132; , , , ,
| | - Sam Merlin
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Moran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132; , , , ,
| | - Paul C Bressloff
- Department of Mathematics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132;
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