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Transformation from temporal to rate coding in a somatosensory thalamocortical pathway

Author

Listed:
  • Ehud Ahissar

    (The Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Ronen Sosnik

    (The Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Sebastian Haidarliu

    (The Weizmann Institute of Science)

Abstract

The anatomical connections from the whiskers to the rodent somatosensory (barrel) cortex form two parallel (lemniscal and paralemniscal) pathways1,2. It is unclear whether the paralemniscal pathway is directly involved in tactile processing, because paralemniscal neuronal responses show poor spatial resolution, labile latencies and strong dependence on cortical feedback3,4,5. Here we show that the paralemniscal system can transform temporally encoded vibrissal information into a rate code. We recorded the representations of the frequency of whisker movement along the two pathways in anaesthetized rats. In response to varying stimulus frequencies, the lemniscal neurons exhibited amplitude modulations and constant latencies. In contrast, paralemniscal neurons in both thalamus and cortex coded the input frequency as changes in latency. Because the onset latencies increased and the offset latencies remained constant, the latency increments were translated into a rate code: increasing onset latencies led to lower spike counts. A thalamocortical loop that includes cortical oscillations and thalamic gating can account for these results. Thus, variable latencies and effective cortical feedback in the paralemniscal system can serve the processing of temporal sensory cues, such as those that encode object location during whisking. In contrast, fixed time locking in the lemniscal system is crucial for reliable spatial processing.

Suggested Citation

  • Ehud Ahissar & Ronen Sosnik & Sebastian Haidarliu, 2000. "Transformation from temporal to rate coding in a somatosensory thalamocortical pathway," Nature, Nature, vol. 406(6793), pages 302-306, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:406:y:2000:i:6793:d:10.1038_35018568
    DOI: 10.1038/35018568
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    Cited by:

    1. Miguel Maravall & Rasmus S Petersen & Adrienne L Fairhall & Ehsan Arabzadeh & Mathew E Diamond, 2007. "Shifts in Coding Properties and Maintenance of Information Transmission during Adaptation in Barrel Cortex," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(2), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Jean-Pierre Rospars & Alexandre Grémiaux & David Jarriault & Antoine Chaffiol & Christelle Monsempes & Nina Deisig & Sylvia Anton & Philippe Lucas & Dominique Martinez, 2014. "Heterogeneity and Convergence of Olfactory First-Order Neurons Account for the High Speed and Sensitivity of Second-Order Neurons," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Vicente Reyes-Puerta & Suam Kim & Jyh-Jang Sun & Barbara Imbrosci & Werner Kilb & Heiko J Luhmann, 2015. "High Stimulus-Related Information in Barrel Cortex Inhibitory Interneurons," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-32, June.
    4. Sacha Jennifer van Albada & Moritz Helias & Markus Diesmann, 2015. "Scalability of Asynchronous Networks Is Limited by One-to-One Mapping between Effective Connectivity and Correlations," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-37, September.
    5. Elaida D. Dimwamwa & Aurélie Pala & Vivek Chundru & Nathaniel C. Wright & Garrett B. Stanley, 2024. "Dynamic corticothalamic modulation of the somatosensory thalamocortical circuit during wakefulness," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.

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