Fig. 3

Excitatory pyramidal neurons couple strongly with local network dynamics. a, b Experiment design. a L2/3 & 4 tdT+ neurons in mouse V1 were visualised with 2-p microscopy and subjected to targeted whole-cell recordings under anaesthesia. In a subset of animals, ECoG was simultaneous recorded (see Methods). b V1 model circuitry showing four major neuron types: Pyr neurons, SST, PV and VIP INs. c, d Example targeted whole-cell recording of a V1 L2/3 tdT+ Pyr neuron (Pyr#15) in an Isoflurane anaesthetised Cux2-CreERT2;Ai14 mouse. c Z-projection images showing the targeted tdT+ Pyr neuron (left) filled with green fluorescence dye Alexa488 (middle) after whole-cell recording was achieved. The merge view (right) validated the targeted cell (yellow). Recording depth was 160 μm. d Spontaneous Vm data of the Pyr neuron in c and simultaneously recorded ECoG. Note the spontaneous Vm oscillation between the Up (gray shade regions) and Down (the rest) state and faithful correspondence between the Up state of Vm and desynchronised phase of ECoG. High spontaneous Vm-ECoG correlation indicated a dominant network influence on this Pyr neuron under our recording conditions. As a result, brief electrical perturbation by a current step (red shaded region) failed to override the network influence. e Vm skewness ξ_M of the Pyr neuron shown in c, d, note the skewed, bimodal distribution of Vm. f Population data of Vm skewness ξ_M of 15 Pyr neurons. g Spontaneous Vm-ECoG cross-correlation of the Pyr neuron shown in c, d Shade area represented s.e.m. Error bar: s.e.m. The mouse image in a was reproduced from Li et al. 2017 Nat Commun. 8:15604. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15604 with permission