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Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex

Invariant sensory coding is the robust coding of some sensory information (e.g., stimulus type) despite major changes in other sensory parameters (e.g., stimulus strength). The contribution of large populations of neurons (ensembles) to invariant sensory coding is not well understood, but could offe...

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Autores principales: Jacobs, Nathan S., Chen-Bee, Cynthia H., Frostig, Ron D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4495341/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26217194
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2015.00034
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author Jacobs, Nathan S.
Chen-Bee, Cynthia H.
Frostig, Ron D.
author_facet Jacobs, Nathan S.
Chen-Bee, Cynthia H.
Frostig, Ron D.
author_sort Jacobs, Nathan S.
collection PubMed
description Invariant sensory coding is the robust coding of some sensory information (e.g., stimulus type) despite major changes in other sensory parameters (e.g., stimulus strength). The contribution of large populations of neurons (ensembles) to invariant sensory coding is not well understood, but could offer distinct advantages over invariance in single cell receptive fields. To test invariant sensory coding in neuronal ensembles evoked by single whisker stimulation as early as primary sensory cortex, we recorded detailed spatiotemporal movies of evoked ensemble activity through the depth of rat barrel cortex using microelectrode arrays. We found that an emergent property of whisker evoked ensemble activity, its spatiotemporal profile, was notably invariant across major changes in stimulus amplitude (up to >200-fold). Such ensemble-based invariance was found for single whisker stimulation as well as for the integrated profile of activity evoked by the more naturalistic stimulation of the entire whisker array. Further, the integrated profile of whisker array evoked ensemble activity and its invariance to stimulus amplitude shares striking similarities to “funneled” tactile perception in humans. We therefore suggest that ensemble-based invariance could provide a robust neurobiological substrate for invariant sensory coding and integration at an early stage of cortical sensory processing already in primary sensory cortex.
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spelling pubmed-44953412015-07-27 Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex Jacobs, Nathan S. Chen-Bee, Cynthia H. Frostig, Ron D. Front Neural Circuits Neuroscience Invariant sensory coding is the robust coding of some sensory information (e.g., stimulus type) despite major changes in other sensory parameters (e.g., stimulus strength). The contribution of large populations of neurons (ensembles) to invariant sensory coding is not well understood, but could offer distinct advantages over invariance in single cell receptive fields. To test invariant sensory coding in neuronal ensembles evoked by single whisker stimulation as early as primary sensory cortex, we recorded detailed spatiotemporal movies of evoked ensemble activity through the depth of rat barrel cortex using microelectrode arrays. We found that an emergent property of whisker evoked ensemble activity, its spatiotemporal profile, was notably invariant across major changes in stimulus amplitude (up to >200-fold). Such ensemble-based invariance was found for single whisker stimulation as well as for the integrated profile of activity evoked by the more naturalistic stimulation of the entire whisker array. Further, the integrated profile of whisker array evoked ensemble activity and its invariance to stimulus amplitude shares striking similarities to “funneled” tactile perception in humans. We therefore suggest that ensemble-based invariance could provide a robust neurobiological substrate for invariant sensory coding and integration at an early stage of cortical sensory processing already in primary sensory cortex. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-07-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4495341/ /pubmed/26217194 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2015.00034 Text en Copyright © 2015 Jacobs, Chen-Bee and Frostig. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Jacobs, Nathan S.
Chen-Bee, Cynthia H.
Frostig, Ron D.
Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title_full Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title_fullStr Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title_full_unstemmed Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title_short Emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
title_sort emergence of spatiotemporal invariance in large neuronal ensembles in rat barrel cortex
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4495341/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26217194
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2015.00034
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