Front Neural Circuit
-
Front Neural Circuit · Jan 2013
Rat whisker motor cortex is subdivided into sensory-input and motor-output areas.
Rodent whisking is an exploratory behavior that can be modified by sensory feedback. Consistent with this, many whisker-sensitive cortical regions project to agranular motor [motor cortex (MI)] cortex, but the relative topography of these afferent projections has not been established. Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) evokes whisker movements that are used to map the functional organization of MI, but no study has compared the whisker-related inputs to MI with the ICMS sites that evoke whisker movements. ⋯ By contrast, AGm microstimulation is more effective in evoking whisker movements than microstimulation of the transitional region between AGm and AGl. The AGm region was also found to contain a larger concentration of corticotectal neurons, which could convey whisker-related information to the facial nucleus. These results indicate that rat whisker MI is comprised of at least two functionally distinct subregions: a sensory processing zone in the transitional region between AGm and AGl, and a motor-output region located more medially in AGm proper.
-
Front Neural Circuit · Jan 2013
ReviewAnalyzing the structure and function of neuronal circuits in zebrafish.
The clever choice of animal models has been instrumental for many breakthrough discoveries in life sciences. One of the outstanding challenges in neuroscience is the in-depth analysis of neuronal circuits to understand how interactions between large numbers of neurons give rise to the computational power of the brain. A promising model organism to address this challenge is the zebrafish, not only because it is cheap, transparent and accessible to sophisticated genetic manipulations but also because it offers unique advantages for quantitative analyses of circuit structure and function. ⋯ Such information is important, and probably essential, to obtain mechanistic insights into neuronal computations underlying higher brain functions and dysfunctions. This review provides a brief overview over current methods and motivations for dense reconstructions of neuronal activity and connectivity patterns. It then discusses selective advantages of zebrafish and provides examples how these advantages are exploited to study neuronal computations in the olfactory bulb.
-
Front Neural Circuit · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyThe ontogeny of sleep-wake cycles in zebrafish: a comparison to humans.
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used extensively in sleep research; both to further understanding of sleep in general and also as a model of human sleep. To date, sleep studies have been performed in larval and adult zebrafish but no efforts have been made to document the ontogeny of zebrafish sleep-wake cycles. Because sleep differs across phylogeny and ontogeny it is important to validate the use of zebrafish in elucidating the neural substrates of sleep. ⋯ Regardless, the data reveal remarkable similarities in the ontogeny of sleep cycles in zebrafish and humans. Moreover, as seen in other organisms, zebrafish sleep levels are highest early in ontogeny and sleep and wake bouts gradually consolidate to form the adult sleep pattern. Finally, sleep percentage, bout duration, bout number, and sleep fragmentation are shown to allow for meaningful comparisons between zebrafish and human sleep.
-
Front Neural Circuit · Jan 2013
Functional recovery of odor representations in regenerated sensory inputs to the olfactory bulb.
The olfactory system has a unique capacity for recovery from peripheral damage. After injury to the olfactory epithelium (OE), olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) regenerate and re-converge on target glomeruli of the olfactory bulb (OB). Thus far, this process has been described anatomically for only a few defined populations of OSNs. ⋯ We also found that the functional topography of odor representations recovered after lesion, with odorants evoking OSN input to glomerular foci within the same functional domains as before lesion. At a finer spatial scale, however, we found evidence for mistargeting of regenerated OSN axons onto OB targets, with odorants evoking synaptopHluorin signals in small foci that did not conform to a typical glomerular structure but whose distribution was nonetheless odorant-specific. These results indicate that OSNs have a robust ability to reestablish functional inputs to the OB and that the mechanisms underlying the topography of bulbar reinnervation during development persist in the adult and allow primary sensory representations to be largely restored after massive sensory neuron loss.
-
Front Neural Circuit · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyPerirhinal cortical inactivation impairs object-in-place memory and disrupts task-dependent firing in hippocampal CA1, but not in CA3.
Objects and their locations can associatively define an event and a conjoint representation of object-place can form an event memory. Remembering how to respond to a certain object in a spatial context is dependent on both hippocampus and perirhinal cortex (PER). However, the relative functional contributions of the two regions are largely unknown in object-place associative memory. ⋯ We found that the similarity in firing patterns for O-P trials was significantly reduced with MUS compared to control conditions (CTs). Importantly, this was largely because MUS injections affected the O-P firing patterns in CA1 neurons, but not in CA3. The results suggest that PER is critical for goal-directed organization of object-place associative memory in the hippocampus presumably by influencing how object information is associated with spatial information in CA1 according to task demand.