| First Author | Vecchia D | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Curr Biol | Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 1589-1599.e10 |
| PubMed ID | 32169206 | Mgi Jnum | J:292614 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6445141 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cub.2020.02.004 |
| Citation | Vecchia D, et al. (2020) Temporal Sharpening of Sensory Responses by Layer V in the Mouse Primary Somatosensory Cortex. Curr Biol 30(9):1589-1599.e10 |
| abstractText | The timing of stimulus-evoked spikes encodes information about sensory stimuli. Here we studied the neural circuits controlling this process in the mouse primary somatosensory cortex. We found that brief optogenetic activation of layer V pyramidal cells just after whisker deflection modulated the membrane potential of neurons and interrupted their long-latency whisker responses, increasing their accuracy in encoding whisker deflection time. In contrast, optogenetic inhibition of layer V during either passive whisker deflection or active whisking decreased accuracy in encoding stimulus or touch time, respectively. Suppression of layer V pyramidal cells increased reaction times in a texture discrimination task. Moreover, two-color optogenetic experiments revealed that cortical inhibition was efficiently recruited by layer V stimulation and that it mainly involved activation of parvalbumin-positive rather than somatostatin-positive interneurons. Layer V thus performs behaviorally relevant temporal sharpening of sensory responses through circuit-specific recruitment of cortical inhibition. |
