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Cortical networks

Dynamic networking

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 7, page 90 (2006)Cite this article

It has previously been shown that the thalamus is not essential for spontaneous activity in the cortex, as spontaneous activity arises in brain slices that have no intact thalamic inputs. However, it has yet to be resolved how, if at all, spontaneous activity and activity that is triggered by external thalamic inputs are linked.

Using mouse thalamocortical slices in which connections from the thalamus to the cortex are intact, MacLean and colleagues investigated cortical activity arising spontaneously and compared it with activity generated by thalamic stimulation. Calcium imaging of layer 4 cortical neurons in these brain slices showed that spontaneous activity, as reported by imaging, was coincident with a transition from a DOWN state (hyperpolarized potential) to an UP state (prolonged depolarization) in patch-clamped neurons. How does the response to thalamic input compare with this activity? The authors found that the cortical activity triggered by stimulation of the thalamus (>10 Hz) could not be differentiated from spontaneous activity. Moreover, the same neuronal population was activated in a specific spatiotemporal pattern in both spontaneous and thalamically triggered activity.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. MacLean, J. N. et al. Internal dynamics determine the cortical response to thalamic stimulation. Neuron 48, 811–823 (2005)

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  1. Samantha Barton
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Barton, S. Dynamic networking. Nat Rev Neurosci 7, 90 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1859

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1859

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