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Network anatomy and in vivo physiology of visual cortical neurons

Authors :
Hyon Suk Kim
Arthur W. Wetzel
R. Clay Reid
Edward R. Soucy
Aaron M. Kerlin
Davi D. Bock
Wei-Chung Allen Lee
Mark L. Andermann
Sergey Yurgenson
Greg Hood
Source :
Nature
Publication Year :
2010

Abstract

In the cerebral cortex, local circuits consist of tens of thousands of neurons, each of which makes thousands of synaptic connections. Perhaps the biggest impediment to understanding these networks is that we have no wiring diagrams of their interconnections. Even if we had a partial or complete wiring diagram, however, understanding the network would also require information about each neuron's function. Here we show that the relationship between structure and function can be studied in the cortex with a combination of in vivo physiology and network anatomy. We used two-photon calcium imaging to characterize a functional property—the preferred stimulus orientation—of a group of neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex. We then used large-scale electron microscopy (EM) of serial thin sections to trace a portion of these neurons’ local network. Consistent with a prediction from recent physiological experiments, inhibitory interneurons received convergent anatomical input from nearby excitatory neurons with a broad range of preferred orientations, although weak biases could not be rejected.

Details

ISSN :
14764687
Volume :
471
Issue :
7337
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Nature
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....b6f194f1db3a4a33cccea47b2318639d