Optogenetic study of the response interaction among multi-afferent inputs in the barrel cortex of rats

Yueren Liu, Tomokazu Ohshiro, Shigeo Sakuragi, Kyo Koizumi, Hajime Mushiake, Toru Ishizuka, Hiromu Yawo*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between whisker mechanoreceptive inputs and the neural responses to optical stimulation in layer 2/upper 3 (L2/U3) of the barrel cortex using optogenetics since, ideally, we should investigate interactions among inputs with spatiotemporal acuity. Sixteen whisker points of a transgenic rat (W-TChR2V4), that expresses channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2)-Venus conjugate (ChR2V) in the peripheral nerve endings surrounding the whisker follicles, were respectively connected one-by-one with 16 LED-coupled optical fibres, which illuminated the targets according to a certain pattern in order to evaluate interactions among the inputs in L2/U3. We found that the individual L2/U3 neurons frequently received excitatory inputs from multiple whiskers that were arrayed in a row. Although the interactions among major afferent inputs (MAIs) were negligible, negative interactions with the surrounding inputs suggest that the afferent inputs were integrated in the cortical networks to enhance the contrast of an array to its surroundings. With its simplicity, reproducibility and spatiotemporal acuity, the optogenetic approach would provide an alternative way to understand the principles of afferent integration in the cortex and should complement knowledge obtained by experiments using more natural stimulations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3917
JournalScientific reports
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Dec 1
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Optogenetic study of the response interaction among multi-afferent inputs in the barrel cortex of rats'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this