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A latent pool of neurons silenced by sensory-evoked inhibition can be recruited to enhance perception.
- Source :
-
Neuron [Neuron] 2024 Jul 17; Vol. 112 (14), pp. 2386-2403.e6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 09. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- To investigate which activity patterns in sensory cortex are relevant for perceptual decision-making, we combined two-photon calcium imaging and targeted two-photon optogenetics to interrogate barrel cortex activity during perceptual discrimination. We trained mice to discriminate bilateral whisker deflections and report decisions by licking left or right. Two-photon calcium imaging revealed sparse coding of contralateral and ipsilateral whisker input in layer 2/3, with most neurons remaining silent during the task. Activating pyramidal neurons using two-photon holographic photostimulation evoked a perceptual bias that scaled with the number of neurons photostimulated. This effect was dominated by optogenetic activation of non-coding neurons, which did not show sensory or motor-related activity during task performance. Photostimulation also revealed potent recruitment of cortical inhibition during sensory processing, which strongly and preferentially suppressed non-coding neurons. Our results suggest that a pool of non-coding neurons, selectively suppressed by network inhibition during sensory processing, can be recruited to enhance perception.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.<br /> (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1097-4199
- Volume :
- 112
- Issue :
- 14
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Neuron
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38729150
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.015