Laminar analysis of extracellular field potentials in rat vibrissa/barrel cortex

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 832-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Di ◽  
C. Baumgartner ◽  
D. S. Barth

1. A 16-channel electrode array was used to record simultaneously extracellular laminar field potentials evoked by displacement of contralateral vibrissa from vibrissa/barrel cortex in five rats. Current source-density (CSD) analysis combined with principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the time course of laminar-specific transmembrane currents during the evoked response. 2. The potential complex consisted of biphasic fast components followed by long-lasting slow waves. It began with activity in supragranular cells consisting of a source in layers I-II and a sink in layers IV-V; this was followed by activation of the infragranular cells with a paired sink and source in layers I-IV and V-VI, respectively. The slow-wave sequences also began in the supragranular cells followed by infragranular neurons. 3. We propose that the fast components reflect sequential intralaminar depolarization processes, and the slow waves, hyper- or repolarization processes. These results suggest that a basic neuronal circuit, consisting of sequential activation of the supragranular and then the infragranular pyramidal cells, gives rise to the field potentials evoked by physiological stimulation. This is consistent with our previous studies of direct cortical responses (DCR) and pathological discharges of the penicillin focus.

1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 891-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. Barth ◽  
S. Di

1. Laminar field potentials produced by paired electrocortical stimuli were recorded with a linear microelectrode array inserted perpendicular to the surface of rat somatosensory cortex. Current source-density (CSD) distributions of the direct cortical response (DCR) were computed from the potential profiles. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to estimate the time course of evoked transmembrane currents of putative pyramidal cell populations in the supragranular and infragranular layers. 2. Both supra- and infragranular cells displayed an initial period after the conditioning stimulus in which test stimuli produced subnormal evoked response amplitudes. This was followed in both layers by a long period of supernormal then subnormal responses and a second period of supernormal responses. 3. The main laminar difference encountered was a general shortening of all phases of the excitability cycle in the supragranular cells. 4. Excitability cycles in the supra- and infragranular layers closely followed the morphology of average evoked responses to the conditioning stimulus alone. These results and physiological support to the validity of lamina-specific evoked response waveforms derived from combined CSD and PCA analysis of extracellular potential measurements. 5. The relationship between evoked potential amplitude changes and cortical excitability is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amada Abrego Mancilla ◽  
Wasif Khan ◽  
Christopher E Wright ◽  
Neela Prajapati ◽  
M Rabiul Islam ◽  
...  

A variety of electrophysiology tools are available to the neurosurgeon for diagnosis, functional therapy, and neural prosthetics. However, no tool can currently address these three critical recording needs: (i) a surgical method that can reach any cortical region in a minimally invasive manner; (ii) record microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale resolutions simultaneously; and (iii) enable recording from multiple brain regions. This work presents a novel device for recording local field potentials (LFPs) whose form is based on state-of-the-art stereo-electroencephalogram (sEEG). Using quasi-static electromagnetic modeling, the lead body is shown to shield LFP sources and this enables directional sensitivity and scalability when microelectrodes are positioned radially, which we refer to as a DISC array. As predicted, DISC demonstrated significantly improved signal-to-noise, directional sensitivity, and decoding accuracy in the rat barrel cortex during whisker stimulation. Critically, DISC also demonstrated equivalent fidelity at the macroscale and, uniquely, performs current source density in stereo. Directional sensitivity of LFPs may significantly improve brain-computer interfaces and many diagnostic procedures, including epilepsy foci detection and deep brain targeting.


1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1691-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bragin ◽  
G. Jando ◽  
Z. Nadasdy ◽  
M. van Landeghem ◽  
G. Buzsaki

1. This paper describes two novel population patterns in the dentate gyrus of the awake rat, termed type 1 and type 2 dentate spikes (DS1, DS2). Their cellular generation and spatial distribution were examined by simultaneous recording of field potentials and unit activity using multiple-site silicon probes and wire electrode arrays. 2. Dentate spikes were large amplitude (2-4 mV), short duration (< 30 ms) field potentials that occurred sparsely during behavioral immobility and slow-wave sleep. Current-source density analysis revealed large sinks in the outer (DS1) and middle (DS2) thirds of the dentate molecular layer, respectively. DS1 and DS2 had similar longitudinal, lateral, and interhemispheric synchrony. 3. Dentate spikes invariably were coupled to synchronous population bursts of putative hilar interneurons. CA3 pyramidal cells, on the other hand were suppressed during dentate spikes. 4. After bilateral removal of the entorhinal cortex, dentate spikes disappeared, whereas sharp wave-associated bursts, reflecting synchronous discharge of the CA3-CA1 network, increased several fold. 5. These physiological characteristics of the dentate spikes suggest that they are triggered by a population burst of layer II stellate cells of the lateral (DS1) and medial (DS2) entorhinal cortex. 6. We suggest that dentate spike-associated synchronized bursts of hilar-region interneurons provide a suppressive effect on the excitability of the CA3-CA1 network in the intact brain.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yevgenij Yanovsky ◽  
Jurij Brankačk

summaryThe relative electrical conductivity gradient with depth was estimated in the frontal cortex of anaesthetized rats. Current source density (CSD) approximations of field potentials evoked by ventromedial thalamic stimulations with an assumed homogeneous electrical conductivity of the neocortical tissue were compared to those with correction for the estimated conductivity gradient. In spite of the cellular heterogeneity the electrical conductivity of the frontal cortical tissue was found to be fairly homogeneous inside the superficial (layers I through IV) or deep layers (V- VI). The relative conductivity increased twofold at the transition between superficial and deep layers. Regardless of this changes CSD analysis of the field potentials evoked by ventromedial thalamic stimulation revealed negligible differences between estimations ignoring the conductivity and those taking the conductivity into account. No sinks or sources appeared or disappeared. Both CSD approximations revealed: 1) a strong sink in layer I representing most likely summed monosynaptic EPSPs of the ventromedial thalamic afferents; 2) a strong sink in layer VI, probably representing summed disynaptic EPSPs on dendrites of layer VI pyramidal cells, generated by axons of upper layer pyramidal cells; and 3) a sink in lower layer V representing probably threesynaptic summed EPSPs on dendrites of layer V pyramidal cells.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 1599-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Jones ◽  
Daniel S. Barth

A 64-channel electrode array was used to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of fast (>200 Hz) electrical oscillations recorded from the surface of rat cortex in both awake and anesthetized animals. Transient vibrissal displacements were effective in evoking oscillatory responses in the vibrissa/barrel field and were tightly time-locked to stimulus onset, coinciding with the earliest temporal components of the coincident slow-wave response. Vibrissa-evoked fast oscillations exhibited modality specificity and were earliest and of largest amplitude over the cortical barrel, which corresponded to the vibrissa stimulated, spreading to sequentially engage neighboring barrels over subsequent oscillatory cycles. The response was enhanced after paired-vibrissal stimulation and was sensitive to time delays between movement of separate vibrissae. These data suggest that spatiotemporal interactions between fast oscillatory bursts in the barrel field may play a role in rapidly integrating information from the vibrissal array during the earliest cortical response to somatosensory stimulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 233121652110093
Author(s):  
Patrycja Książek ◽  
Adriana A. Zekveld ◽  
Dorothea Wendt ◽  
Lorenz Fiedler ◽  
Thomas Lunner ◽  
...  

In hearing research, pupillometry is an established method of studying listening effort. The focus of this study was to evaluate several pupil measures extracted from the Task-Evoked Pupil Responses (TEPRs) in speech-in-noise test. A range of analysis approaches was applied to extract these pupil measures, namely (a) pupil peak dilation (PPD); (b) mean pupil dilation (MPD); (c) index of pupillary activity; (d) growth curve analysis (GCA); and (e) principal component analysis (PCA). The effect of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; Data Set A: –20 dB, –10 dB, +5 dB SNR) and luminance (Data Set B: 0.1 cd/m2, 360 cd/m2) on the TEPRs were investigated. Data Sets A and B were recorded during a speech-in-noise test and included TEPRs from 33 and 27 normal-hearing native Dutch speakers, respectively. The main results were as follows: (a) A significant effect of SNR was revealed for all pupil measures extracted in the time domain (PPD, MPD, GCA, PCA); (b) Two time series analysis approaches (GCA, PCA) provided modeled temporal profiles of TEPRs (GCA); and time windows spanning subtasks performed in a speech-in-noise test (PCA); and (c) All pupil measures revealed a significant effect of luminance. In conclusion, multiple pupil measures showed similar effects of SNR, suggesting that effort may be reflected in multiple aspects of TEPR. Moreover, a direct analysis of the pupil time course seems to provide a more holistic view of TEPRs, yet further research is needed to understand and interpret its measures. Further research is also required to find pupil measures less sensitive to changes in luminance.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 2051-2069 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Steriade ◽  
F. Amzica

1. We investigated the development from patterns of electroencephalogram (EEG) synchronization to paroxysms consisting of spike-wave (SW) complexes at 2–4 Hz or to seizures at higher frequencies (7–15 Hz). We used multisite, simultaneous EEG, extracellular, and intracellular recordings from various neocortical areas and thalamic nuclei of anesthetized cats. 2. The seizures were observed in 25% of experimental animals, all maintained under ketamine and xylazine anesthesia, and were either induced by thalamocortical volleys and photic stimulation or occurred spontaneously. Out of unit and field potential recordings within 370 cortical and 65 thalamic sites, paroxysmal events occurred in 70 cortical and 8 thalamic sites (approximately 18% and 12%, respectively), within which a total of 181 neurons (143 extracellular and 38 intracellular) were simultaneously recorded in various combinations of cell groups. 3. Stimulus-elicited and spontaneous SW seizures at 2–4 Hz lasted for 15–35 s and consisted of barrages of action potentials related to the spiky depth-negative (surface-positive) field potentials, followed by neuronal silence during the depth-positive wave component of SW complexes. The duration of inhibitory periods progressively increased during the seizure, at the expense of the phasic excitatory phases. 4. Intracellular recordings showed that, during such paroxysms, cortical neurons displayed a tonic depolarization (approximately 10–20 mV), sculptured by rhythmic hyperpolarizations. 5. In all cases, measures of synchrony demonstrated time lags between discharges of simultaneously recorded cortical neurons, from as short as 3–10 ms up to 50 ms or even longer intervals. Synchrony was assessed by cross-correlograms, by a method termed first-spike-analysis designed to detect dynamic temporal relations between neurons and relying on the detection of the first action potential in a spike train, and by a method termed sequential-field-correlation that analyzed the time course of field potentials simultaneously recorded from different cortical areas. 6. The degree of synchrony progressively increased from preseizure sleep patterns to the early stage of the SW seizure and, further, to its late stage. In some cases the time relation between neurons during the early stages of seizures was inversed during late stages. 7. These data show that, although the common definition of SW seizures, regarded as suddenly generalized and bilaterally synchronous activities, may be valid at the macroscopic EEG level, cortical neurons display time lags between their rhythmic spike trains, progressively increased synchrony, and changes in the temporal relations between their discharges during the paroxysms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 4253-4262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Plantier ◽  
Françoise Watrin ◽  
Emmanuelle Buhler ◽  
Fanny Sandrine Martineau ◽  
Surajit Sahu ◽  
...  

Abstract Subcortical band heterotopia (SBH), also known as double-cortex syndrome, is a neuronal migration disorder characterized by an accumulation of neurons in a heterotopic band below the normotopic cortex. The majority of patients with SBH have mild to moderate intellectual disability and intractable epilepsy. However, it is still not clear how cortical networks are organized in SBH patients and how this abnormal organization contributes to improper brain function. In this study, cortical networks were investigated in the barrel cortex in an animal model of SBH induced by in utero knockdown of Dcx, main causative gene of this condition in human patients. When the SBH was localized below the Barrel Field (BF), layer (L) four projection to correctly positioned L2/3 pyramidal cells was weakened due to lower connectivity. Conversely, when the SBH was below an adjacent cortical region, the excitatory L4 to L2/3 projection was stronger due to increased L4 neuron excitability, synaptic strength and excitation/inhibition ratio of L4 to L2/3 connection. We propose that these developmental alterations contribute to the spectrum of clinical dysfunctions reported in patients with SBH.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 2531-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kapur ◽  
R. A. Pearce ◽  
W. W. Lytton ◽  
L. B. Haberly

Kapur, A., R. A. Pearce, W. W. Lytton, and L. B. Haberly.GABAA-mediated IPSCs in piriform cortex have fast and slow components with different properties and locations on pyramidal cells. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2531–2545, 1997. A recent study in piriform (olfactory) cortex provided evidence that, as in hippocampus and neocortex, γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA)-mediated inhibition is generated in dendrites of pyramidal cells, not just in the somatic region as previously believed. This study examines selected properties of GABAA inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in dendritic and somatic regions that could provide insight into their functional roles. Pharmacologically isolated GABAA-mediated IPSCs were studied by whole cell patch recording in slices. To compare properties of IPSCs in distal dendritic and somatic regions, local stimulation was carried out with tungsten microelectrodes, and spatially restricted blockade of GABAA-mediated inhibition was achieved by pressure-ejection of bicuculline from micropipettes. The results revealed that largely independent circuits generate GABAA inhibition in distal apical dendritic and somatic regions. With such independence, a selective decrease in dendritic-region inhibition could enhance integrative or plastic processes in dendrites while allowing feedback inhibition in the somatic region to restrain system excitability. This could allow modulatory fiber systems from the basal forebrain or brain stem, for example, to change the functional state of the cortex by altering the excitability of interneurons that mediate dendritic inhibition without increasing the propensity for regenerative bursting in this highly epileptogenic system. As in hippocampus, GABAA-mediated IPSCs were found to have fast and slow components with time constants of decay on the order of 10 and 40 ms, respectively, at 29°C. Modeling analysis supported physiological evidence that the slow time constant represents a true IPSC component rather than an artifactual slowing of the fast component from voltage clamp of a dendritic current. The results indicated that, whereas both dendritic and somatic-region IPSCs have both fast and slow GABAA components, there is a greater proportion of the slow component in dendrites. In a companion paper, the hypothesis is explored that the resulting slower time course of the dendritic IPSC increases its capacity to regulate the N-methyl-d-aspartate component of EPSPs. Finally, evidence is presented that the slow GABAA-mediated IPSC component is regulated by presynaptic GABAB inhibition whereas the fast is not. Based on the requirement for presynaptic GABAB-mediated block of inhibition for expression of long-term potentiation, this finding is consistent with participation of the slow GABAA component in regulation of synaptic plasticity. The lack of susceptibility of the fast GABAA component to the long-lasting, activity-induced suppression mediated by presynaptic GABAB receptors is consistent with a protective role for this process in preventing seizure activity.


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