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Effects of cortical activation on sensory responses in barrel cortex
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Effects of cortical activation on sensory responses in barrel cortex

Akio Hirata and Manuel A Castro-Alamancos
Journal of neurophysiology, v 105(4), pp 1495-1505
Apr 2011
PMID: 21273311
url
https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.01085.2010View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Electric Stimulation Neocortex - physiology Reticular Formation - physiology Rats Behavior, Animal - physiology Male Rats, Sprague-Dawley Thalamus - drug effects Action Potentials - physiology Animals Sensory Receptor Cells - physiology Vibrissae - physiology Thalamus - physiology Models, Animal Cholinergic Agonists - pharmacology
Neocortex network activity changes from a deactivated state during quiescence to an activated state during arousal and vigilance. In urethane-anesthetized rats, cortical activation is readily produced by either stimulating the brainstem reticular formation or by application of cholinergic agonists into the thalamus. We studied the effects of cortical activation on spontaneous activity and sensory responses in the barrel cortex. Cortical activation leads to a suppression of low-frequency sensory responses and to a reduction in their variability due to the abolishment of up and down membrane potential fluctuations in cortical cells. Overall, sensory responses become sharper and more reliable during cortical activation.

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Neurosciences
Physiology
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