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Ryan L, Sun-Yan A, Laughton M, Peron S. Cortical circuitry mediating interareal touch signal amplification. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113532. [PMID: 38064338 PMCID: PMC10842872 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113532] [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: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory cortical areas are organized into topographic maps representing the sensory epithelium. Interareal projections typically connect topographically matched subregions across areas. Because matched subregions process the same stimulus, their interaction is central to many computations. Here, we ask how topographically matched subregions of primary and secondary vibrissal somatosensory cortices (vS1 and vS2) interact during active touch. Volumetric calcium imaging in mice palpating an object with two whiskers revealed a sparse population of highly responsive, broadly tuned touch neurons especially pronounced in layer 2 of both areas. These rare neurons exhibited elevated synchrony and carried most touch-evoked activity in both directions. Lesioning the subregion of either area responding to the spared whiskers degraded touch responses in the unlesioned area, with whisker-specific vS1 lesions degrading whisker-specific vS2 touch responses. Thus, a sparse population of broadly tuned touch neurons dominates vS1-vS2 communication in both directions, and topographically matched vS1 and vS2 subregions recurrently amplify whisker touch activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Ryan
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Andrew Sun-Yan
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Maya Laughton
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Simon Peron
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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Camargo AS, Caputi AA, Aguilera PA. The sensory effects of light on the electric organ discharge rate of Gymnotus omarorum. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb245489. [PMID: 37408509 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245489] [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: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Gymnotiformes are nocturnal fishes inhabiting the root mats of floating plants. They use their electric organ discharge (EOD) to explore the environment and to communicate. Here, we show and describe tonic and phasic sensory-electromotor responses to light distinct from indirect effects depending on the light-induced endogenous circadian rhythm. In the dark, principally during the night, inter-EOD interval histograms are bimodal: the main peak corresponds to the basal rate and a secondary peak corresponds to high-frequency bouts. Light causes a twofold tonic but opposing effect on the EOD histogram: (i) decreasing the main mode and (ii) blocking the high-frequency bouts and consequently increasing the main peak at the expense of removal of the secondary one. Additionally, light evokes phasic responses whose amplitude increases with intensity but whose slow time course and poor adaptation differentiate from the so-called novelty responses evoked by abrupt changes in sensory stimuli of other modalities. We confirmed that Gymnotus omarorum tends to escape from light, suggesting that these phasic responses are probably part of a global 'light-avoidance response'. We interpret the data within an ecological context. Fish rest under the shade of aquatic plants during the day and light spots due to the sun's relative movement alert the fish to hide in shady zones to avoid macroptic predators and facilitate tracking the movement of floating plant islands by wind and/or water currents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana S Camargo
- Unidad de Neurociencias Integrativas y Computacionales, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, MEC, Av.Italia 3318, CP 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Angel A Caputi
- Unidad de Neurociencias Integrativas y Computacionales, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, MEC, Av.Italia 3318, CP 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Pedro A Aguilera
- Unidad de Neurociencias Integrativas y Computacionales, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, MEC, Av.Italia 3318, CP 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay
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Ding Y, Vlasov Y. Pre-neuronal processing of haptic sensory cues via dispersive high-frequency vibrational modes. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14370. [PMID: 37658126 PMCID: PMC10474056 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40675-8] [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: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Sense of touch is one of the major perception channels. Neural coding of object textures conveyed by rodents' whiskers has been a model to study early stages of haptic information uptake. While high-precision spike timing has been observed during whisker sweeping across textured surfaces, the exact nature of whisker micromotions that spikes encode remains elusive. Here, we discovered that a single micro-collision of a whisker with surface features generates vibrational eigenmodes spanning frequencies up to 10 kHz. While propagating along the whisker, these high-frequency modes can carry up to 80% of shockwave energy, exhibit 100× smaller damping ratio, and arrive at the follicle 10× faster than low frequency components. The mechano-transduction of these energy bursts into time-sequenced population spike trains may generate temporally unique "bar code" with ultra-high information capacity. This hypothesis of pre-neuronal processing of haptic signals based on dispersive temporal separation of the vibrational modal frequencies can shed light on neural coding of haptic signals in many whisker-like sensory organs across the animal world as well as in texture perception in primate's glabrous skin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Ding
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 208 North Wright Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Yurii Vlasov
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 208 North Wright Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Department of BioEngineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 208 North Wright Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 208 North Wright Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 208 North Wright Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
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Ryan L, Sun-Yan A, Laughton M, Peron S. Cortical circuitry mediating inter-areal touch signal amplification. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.06.543886. [PMID: 37333308 PMCID: PMC10274616 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.06.543886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Sensory cortical areas are often organized into topographic maps which represent the sensory epithelium1,2. Individual areas are richly interconnected3, in many cases via reciprocal projections that respect the topography of the underlying map4,5. Because topographically matched cortical patches process the same stimulus, their interaction is likely central to many neural computations6-10. Here, we ask how topographically matched subregions of primary and secondary vibrissal somatosensory cortices (vS1 and vS2) interact during whisker touch. In the mouse, whisker touch-responsive neurons are topographically organized in both vS1 and vS2. Both areas receive thalamic touch input and are topographically interconnected4. Volumetric calcium imaging in mice actively palpating an object with two whiskers revealed a sparse population of highly active, broadly tuned touch neurons responsive to both whiskers. These neurons were especially pronounced in superficial layer 2 in both areas. Despite their rarity, these neurons served as the main conduits of touch-evoked activity between vS1 and vS2 and exhibited elevated synchrony. Focal lesions of the whisker touch-responsive region in vS1 or vS2 degraded touch responses in the unlesioned area, with whisker-specific vS1 lesions degrading whisker-specific vS2 touch responses. Thus, a sparse and superficial population of broadly tuned touch neurons recurrently amplifies touch responses across vS1 and vS2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Ryan
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl., Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003
| | - Andrew Sun-Yan
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl., Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003
| | - Maya Laughton
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl., Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003
| | - Simon Peron
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl., Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003
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Kagan BJ, Kitchen AC, Tran NT, Habibollahi F, Khajehnejad M, Parker BJ, Bhat A, Rollo B, Razi A, Friston KJ. In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world. Neuron 2022; 110:3952-3969.e8. [PMID: 36228614 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Integrating neurons into digital systems may enable performance infeasible with silicon alone. Here, we develop DishBrain, a system that harnesses the inherent adaptive computation of neurons in a structured environment. In vitro neural networks from human or rodent origins are integrated with in silico computing via a high-density multielectrode array. Through electrophysiological stimulation and recording, cultures are embedded in a simulated game-world, mimicking the arcade game "Pong." Applying implications from the theory of active inference via the free energy principle, we find apparent learning within five minutes of real-time gameplay not observed in control conditions. Further experiments demonstrate the importance of closed-loop structured feedback in eliciting learning over time. Cultures display the ability to self-organize activity in a goal-directed manner in response to sparse sensory information about the consequences of their actions, which we term synthetic biological intelligence. Future applications may provide further insights into the cellular correlates of intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nhi T Tran
- The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Forough Habibollahi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
| | - Moein Khajehnejad
- Department of Data Science and AI, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Bradyn J Parker
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Anjali Bhat
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ben Rollo
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Adeel Razi
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Program, CIFAR, Toronto, Canada
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
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Whisker trimming induces anti-anxiety like status via activation of dorsomedial hypothalamus nucleus in mice. Brain Res 2022; 1789:147946. [PMID: 35597326 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Whiskers are highly developed tactile organs in mice. Here, we showed that mice with whisker trimming had a decreased anxiety behavior and activation of dorsomedial hypothalamus compared to control mice. Inhibition or damage of dorsomedial hypothalamus reversed the decrease of anxiety level induced by whisker trimming. These results expand the role of whiskers in regulating mouse behaviors to anxiety and suggest a novel function of dorsomedial hypothalamus. These findings indicate importance of normal sensory functions in modulating animal behavior.
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