Article
Neurosciences
C. S. Barz, P. M. Garderes, D. A. Ganea, S. Reischauer, D. Feldmeyer, F. Haiss
Summary: Using two-photon calcium imaging, researchers identified a subset of highly active neurons in layer L2/3 of the mouse primary somatosensory cortex that responded strongly to principal whisker vibrotactile stimulation. These high responders exhibited increased stimulus-evoked and spontaneous activity, elevated noise and spontaneous pairwise correlations, and stronger coupling to the population response compared to less responsive neurons. The intrinsic excitability of the high responders was reduced, suggesting that network connectivity may play a larger role in determining neuron participation in stimulus encoding than cellular structure and function.
Article
Biology
Hang Hu, Rachel E. Hostetler, Ariel Agmon, Eunji Cheong
Summary: Oscillations of extracellular voltage in the mammalian brain play important yet not fully understood roles in normal and abnormal brain function. This study reports the discovery of ripplets, fast oscillations at around 400 Hz, in the thalamorecipient layer of the mouse somatosensory cortex. Ripplets are an intrinsic cortical response to synchronized thalamocortical activity and could provide increased bandwidth for sensory information encoding and transmission.
Article
Neurosciences
Aurelie Pala, Garrett B. Stanley
Summary: Lateralization is a characteristic of somatosensory processing in the mammalian brain. This study reveals that ipsilateral tactile stimuli drive larger and more reliable responses in the secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) compared to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). The cellular organization and functional role of these ipsilateral stimulus responses differ between S1 and S2, suggesting that higher cortical areas may integrate tactile inputs across larger portions of space.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiao-Jun Chen, Yan-He Liu, Ning-Long Xu, Yan-Gang Sun
Summary: This study reveals the neural mechanism underlying itch perceptual coding in the primary somatosensory cortex, providing insights into the cortical representation of itch perception at the single-neuron level in freely moving animals.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Muhammad Hassan, David R. R. Grattan, Beulah Leitch
Summary: Childhood absence epilepsy seizures arise from multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms in the cortico-thalamocortical network, which are still being investigated. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial due to the high treatment failure rate and common adverse neurological sequelae.
Article
Neurosciences
Aurelie Brecier, Melodie Borel, Nadia Urbain, Luc J. Gentet
Summary: GABAergic inhibitory neurons play a crucial role in regulating cortical circuit activity during the sleep/wake cycle. This study investigated the activity dynamics of PV, VIP, and SST neurons in the somatosensory cortex of sleeping mice. The findings revealed that PV neurons were most active during both REM and NREM sleep, VIP neurons were most active during REM sleep, and the overall activity of SST neurons remained stable throughout the sleep/wake cycle. Furthermore, the study found that ongoing delta and theta oscillations influenced the activity of most neurons, except for SST neurons.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Michael Lohse, Paul Zimmer-Harwood, Johannes C. Dahmen, Andrew J. King
Summary: The ability to integrate information from different sensory modalities is crucial for neurons in the brain. Integrating visual and auditory cues improves accuracy and speed of behavioral responses. Close-range multisensory interactions typically involve a combination of tactile stimuli with other sensory modalities. Studies have shown that tactile stimuli modulate auditory processing, and there is a strong link between audition and movement.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Kathleen E. Cullen, Rui-Han Wei
Summary: The mammalian vestibular efferent system remains a mystery, as it does not relay inputs from other sensory modalities or motor-related signals to the vestibular periphery, but likely plays a key role in calibrating and protecting vestibular circuits during development and aging.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Roberta D. Roberts, Aldrin R. Loomes, Hoi Fei Kwok, Alan M. Wing, Harriet A. Allen
Summary: Psychophysical studies suggest that texture perception is mediated by spatial and vibration codes. Vibration coding is involved in the perception of very fine textures, while coarse texture perception depends more on spatial coding.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jan Homann, Sue Ann Koay, Kevin S. Chen, David W. Tank, Michael J. Berry
Summary: By recording and observing the activity of neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex, researchers have found that novel images can elicit excessive activity in most neurons, with this novelty response rapidly emerging and having a specific duration. When new image sets are repeatedly presented, the neuronal activity gradually stabilizes. Furthermore, the study reveals that under certain conditions, neural circuits have the capacity to store approximately 15 familiar images.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jiajia Yang, Peter J. Molfese, Yinghua Yu, Daniel A. Handwerker, Gang Chen, Paul A. Taylor, Yoshimichi Ejima, Jinglong Wu, Peter A. Bandettini
Summary: This study demonstrates the interaction between the primary sensorimotor cortex (PSC) and higher-level regions during haptic object perception, showing that PSC modulates its activity in response to the features of the object over time. The results suggest that the brain activity is influenced by the number of curves during haptic exploration, and the contralateral PSC is specifically modulated by the number of curves during the late exploration phase.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Vijai Krishnan, Lauren C. Wade-Kleyn, Ron R. Israeli, Galit Pelled
Summary: Peripheral nerve injury leads to altered activity of inhibitory interneurons, affecting sensory processing. Injury impacts interhemispheric communication, resulting in an overall decrease in inhibitory interneuron activity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexis D. J. Makin, John Tyson-Carr, Yiovanna Derpsch, Giulia Rampone, Marco Bertamini
Summary: The Sustained Posterior Negativity (SPN) is an Event Related Potential (ERP) component generated by regular visual patterns, such as symmetry. Research suggests that symmetry becomes more salient with rapid updates. SPN priming, where SPN amplitude increases with sequential presentation of symmetry patterns, was observed in experiments. The findings suggest that different symmetries may be coded independently at different retinal locations, but there is some overlap between symmetries presented at the same retinal location.
Article
Neurosciences
Phillip Bokiniec, Clarissa J. Whitmire, Tobias M. Leva, James F. A. Poulet
Summary: This study reveals that skin cooling information in the thermal system is routed to the cortex via parallel pathways and forwarded to downstream regions for the binding of sensory perception and integration with behavior.
Article
Cell Biology
Longbo Zhang, Xiaobing Zhang, Lawrence S. Hsieh, Tiffany V. Lin, Angelique Bordey
Summary: Decreasing Rab27a levels in late-born pyramidal neurons can increase excitatory synaptic transmission onto L4 neurons and alter responses to sensory stimulation in juvenile mice.
Article
Neurosciences
Conrad C. Y. Lee, Colin W. G. Clifford, Ehsan Aralmadeh
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthew F. Tang, Lucy Ford, Ehsan Arabzadeh, James T. Enns, Troy A. W. Visser, Jason B. Mattingley
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Saba Gharaei, Suraj Honnuraiah, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Greg J. Stuart
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Ehsan Kheradpezhouh, Matthew F. Tang, Jason B. Mattingley, Ehsan Arabzadeh
Article
Neurosciences
Mansoureh Sabzalizadeh, Mohammad Reza Afarinesh, Saeed Esmaeili-Mahani, Alireza Farsinejad, Ali Derakhshani, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Vahid Sheibani
Summary: The study investigated the effects of stem cell transplantation in the damaged somatosensory barrel cortex of rats and found that the therapy significantly improved sensory discrimination ability. The expression of neuronal markers was higher in the DPSCs group compared to the control group, while GFAP level was lower in the DPSCs group.
BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Noorya Yasmin Ahmed, Yadollah Ranjbar-Slamloo, Alice Shaam Al Abed, Lingxiao Gao, Yovina Sontani, Alexandre RCom-H'Cheo-Gauthier, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Nathalie Dehorter
Summary: This study reveals that Er81 is expressed in CINs and its specific ablation leads to prominent changes in their molecular, morphologic, and electrophysiological features, particularly amplifying intrinsic delayed-rectifier and hyperpolarization-activated currents. The expression of Er81 is crucial for normal CIN pause and time-locked responses to sensorimotor inputs in awake mice.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Physiology
Sepideh Ghazvineh, Morteza Salimi, Milad Nazari, Mani Garousi, Farhad Tabasi, Kolsoum Dehdar, Alireza Salimi, Hamidreza Jamaati, Javad Mirnajafi-Zadeh, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Mohammad Reza Raoufy
Summary: The study suggests that reintroducing nasal airflow during mechanical ventilation can significantly improve working memory performance in rats. Air-puffs induced enhanced oscillatory activity in specific brain regions, leading to better cognitive outcomes. This non-invasive brain stimulation approach shows promise in alleviating neurological complications caused by prolonged mechanical ventilation.
RESPIRATORY PHYSIOLOGY & NEUROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Cong Wang, Teri M. Furlong, Peter G. Stratton, Conrad C. Y. Lee, Li Xu, Sam Merlin, Chris Nolan, Ehsan Arabzadeh, Roger Marek, Pankaj Sah
Summary: During recognition memory, coupled theta activity between the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex plays a key role in novelty discrimination, with monosynaptic connections identified as crucial for guiding behavior based on recognition memory.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthew F. Tang, Ehsan Kheradpezhouh, Conrad C. Y. Lee, J. Edwin Dickinson, Jason B. Mattingley, Ehsan Arabzadeh
Summary: The response of cortical neurons to sensory stimuli is influenced by past events and expectation of future events. In this study, researchers investigated how expectation affects orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex of male mice. They found that neurons enhanced their response to unexpected stimuli, both in awake and anaesthetized mice. A computational model was used to show that trial-to-trial variability in neuronal responses was best characterized when adaptation and expectation effects were combined.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ehsan Kheradpezhouh, Wricha Mishra, Ehsan Arabzadeh
Summary: This protocol allows for simultaneous recording and labeling of single cortical neurons in vivo under local application of a chemical, providing a useful tool to investigate the impact of chemicals on sensory information processing by cortical neurons. Juxtacellular labeling helps identify the cell type and morphology of recorded neurons, demonstrating pharmacological modulations in encoding of sensory stimuli. For full details, refer to Kheradpezhouh et al. (2020).
