Spectroscopic Investigation of Reflectance Changes in the Barrel Cortex Following Whisker Stimulation

1998 ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mayhew ◽  
L. Zhao ◽  
Y. Hou ◽  
J. Berwick ◽  
S. Askew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectroscopic Investigation ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Whisker Stimulation

Olfactory modulation of barrel cortex activity during active whisking and passive whisker stimulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Renard ◽  
Evan Harrell ◽  
Brice Bathallier
Keyword(s):  
Facial Nerve ◽  
Calcium Imaging ◽  
Tactile Stimulation ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Tactile Information ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Whisker Stimulation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Rodents depend on olfaction and touch to meet many of their fundamental needs. The joint significance of these sensory systems is underscored by an intricate coupling between sniffing and whisking. However, the impact of simultaneous olfactory and tactile inputs on sensory representations in the cortex remains elusive. To study these interactions, we recorded large populations of barrel cortex neurons using 2-photon calcium imaging in head-fixed mice during olfactory and tactile stimulation. We find that odors alter barrel cortex activity in at least two ways, first by enhancing whisking, and second by central cross-talk that persists after whisking is abolished by facial nerve sectioning. Odors can either enhance or suppress barrel cortex neuronal responses, and while odor identity can be decoded from population activity, it does not interfere with the tactile representation. Thus, barrel cortex represents olfactory information which, in the absence of learned associations, is coded independently of tactile information.

scholarly journals Infragranular barrel cortex activity is enhanced with learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1278-1287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah L. Ward ◽  
Luke C. Flores ◽  
John F. Disterhoft
Keyword(s):  
Single Unit ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Eyeblink Conditioning ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Learning Criterion ◽  
Extracellular Recordings ◽  
Primary Sensory Cortex ◽  
Whisker Stimulation ◽  
Trace Eyeblink Conditioning

The barrel cortex (BC) is essential for the acquisition of whisker-signaled trace eyeblink conditioning and shows learning-related expansion of the trained barrels after the acquisition of a whisker-signaled task. Most previous research examining the role of the BC in learning has focused on anatomic changes in the layer IV representation of the cortical barrels. We studied single-unit extracellular recordings from individual neurons in layers V and VI of the BC as rabbits acquired the whisker-signaled trace eyeblink conditioning task. Neurons in layers V and VI in both conditioned and pseudoconditioned animals robustly responded to whisker stimulation, but neurons in conditioned animals showed a significant enhancement in responsiveness in concert with learning. Learning-related changes in firing rate occurred as early as the day of learning criterion within the infragranular layers of the primary sensory cortex.

scholarly journals An automated method for detection of layer activation order in information processing pathway of rat barrel cortex under mechanical whisker stimulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 196 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mufti Mahmud ◽  
Elisabetta Pasqualotto ◽  
Alessandra Bertoldo ◽  
Stefano Girardi ◽  
Marta Maschietto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Automated Method ◽  
Whisker Stimulation ◽  
Layer Activation

scholarly journals Voltage-sensitive dye imaging reveals shifting spatiotemporal spread of whisker-induced activity in rat barrel cortex

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (9) ◽  
pp. 2382-2392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Lustig ◽  
Robert M. Friedman ◽  
Jeremy E. Winberry ◽  
Ford F. Ebner ◽  
Anna W. Roe
Keyword(s):  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Spatiotemporal Pattern ◽  
Voltage Sensitive Dye ◽  
Barrel Field ◽  
Spatial Shift ◽  
Response Peak ◽  
Whisker Stimulation ◽  
Spike Firing

In rats, navigating through an environment requires continuous information about objects near the head. Sensory information such as object location and surface texture are encoded by spike firing patterns of single neurons within rat barrel cortex. Although there are many studies using single-unit electrophysiology, much less is known regarding the spatiotemporal pattern of activity of populations of neurons in barrel cortex in response to whisker stimulation. To examine cortical response at the population level, we used voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging to examine ensemble spatiotemporal dynamics of barrel cortex in response to stimulation of single or two adjacent whiskers in urethane-anesthetized rats. Single whisker stimulation produced a poststimulus fluorescence response peak within 12–16 ms in the barrel corresponding to the stimulated whisker (principal whisker). This fluorescence subsequently propagated throughout the barrel field, spreading anisotropically preferentially along a barrel row. After paired whisker stimulation, the VSD signal showed sublinear summation (less than the sum of 2 single whisker stimulations), consistent with previous electrophysiological and imaging studies. Surprisingly, we observed a spatial shift in the center of activation occurring over a 10- to 20-ms period with shift magnitudes of 1–2 barrels. This shift occurred predominantly in the posteromedial direction within the barrel field. Our data thus reveal previously unreported spatiotemporal patterns of barrel cortex activation. We suggest that this nontopographical shift is consistent with known functional and anatomic asymmetries in barrel cortex and that it may provide an important insight for understanding barrel field activation during whisking behavior.

Atorvastatin and whisker stimulation synergistically enhance angiogenesis in the barrel cortex of rats following focal ischemia

2012 ◽  
Vol 525 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunyun Zhang ◽  
Susu Huang ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Bo Sun ◽  
Wenlei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Focal Ischemia ◽  
Whisker Stimulation

scholarly journals Whisker Stimulation Enhances Angiogenesis in the Barrel Cortex following Focal Ischemia in Mice

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian R Whitaker ◽  
Lin Cui ◽  
Scott Miller ◽  
Shan P Yu ◽  
Ling Wei
Keyword(s):  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Focal Ischemia ◽  
Whisker Stimulation

scholarly journals Mapping the brain-wide network effects by optogenetic activation of the corpus callosum

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Chen ◽  
Filip Sobczak ◽  
Patricia Pais-Roldán ◽  
Cornelius Schwarz ◽  
Alan P. Koretsky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Callosum ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Light Pulses ◽  
Network Activation ◽  
Whisker Stimulation ◽  
Brain Fmri ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACTThe optogenetically driven manipulation of circuit-specific activity enabled functional causality studies in animals, but its global effect on the brain is rarely reported. Here, we applied simultaneous fMRI with calcium recording to map brain-wide activity by optogenetic activation of fibers running in one orientation along the corpus callosum(CC) connecting the barrel cortex(BC). Robust positive BOLD signals were detected in the ipsilateral BC due to antidromic activity, which spread to ipsilateral motor cortex(MC) and posterior thalamus(PO). In the orthodromic target (contralateral barrel cortex), positive BOLD signals were reliably evoked by 2Hz light pulses, whereas 40Hz light pulses led to a reversed sign of BOLD - indicative of CC-mediated inhibition. This presumed optogenetic CC-mediated inhibition was further elucidated by pairing light with peripheral whisker stimulation at varied inter-stimulus intervals. Whisker induced positive BOLD, and calcium signals were reduced at inter-stimulus intervals of 50/100ms. The calcium-amplitude modulation (AM)-based correlation with whole-brain fMRI signal revealed that the inhibitory effects spread to contralateral BC as well as ipsilateral MC and PO. This work raises the need of fMRI to elucidate the brain-wide network activation in response to projection-specific optogenetic stimulation.

scholarly journals Temporally Staggered Forelimb Stimulation Modulates Barrel Cortex Optical Intrinsic Signal Responses to Whisker Stimulation

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 422-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne J. Blood ◽  
Nader Pouratian ◽  
Arthur W. Toga
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Barrel Cortex ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Response Magnitude ◽  
Intrinsic Signal ◽  
Time To Peak ◽  
Optical Intrinsic Signal ◽  
Whisker Stimulation

Characterization of neurovascular relationships is critical to accurate interpretation of functional neuroimaging data. We have previously observed spatial uncoupling of optical intrinsic signal imaging (OIS) and evoked potential (EP) responses in rodent barrel cortex following simultaneous whisker and forelimb stimulation, leading to changes in OIS response magnitude. To further test the hypothesis that this uncoupling may have resulted from “passive” overspill of perfusion-related responses between functional regions, we conducted the present study using temporally staggered rather than simultaneous whisker and forelimb stimulation. This paradigm minimized overlap of neural responses in barrel cortex and forelimb primary somatosensory cortex (SI), while maintaining overlap of vascular response time courses between regions. When contrasted with responses to 1.5-s lone-whisker stimulation, staggered whisker and forelimb stimulation resulted in broadening of barrel cortex OIS response time course in the temporal direction of forelimb stimulation. OIS response peaks were also temporally shifted toward the forelimb stimulation period; time-to-peak was shorter (relative to whisker stimulus onset) when forelimb stimulation preceded whisker stimulation and longer when forelimb stimulation followed whisker stimulation. In contrast with OIS and EP magnitude decreases previously observed during simultaneous whisker/forelimb stimulation, barrel cortex OIS response magnitude increased during staggered stimulation and no detectable changes in underlying EP activity were observed. Spatial extent of barrel cortex OIS responses also increased during staggered stimulation. These findings provide further evidence for spatial uncoupling of OIS and EP responses, and emphasize the importance of temporal stimulus properties on the effects of this uncoupling. It is hypothesized that spatial uncoupling is a result of passive overspill of perfusion-related responses into regions distinct from those which are functionally active. It will be important to consider potential influences of this uncoupling when designing and interpreting functional imaging studies that use hemodynamic responses to infer underlying neural activity.

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