An acetylcholine-activated microcircuit drives temporal dynamics of cortical activity
Author(s)
Chen, Naiyan; Sugihara, Hiroki; Sur, Mriganka
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Cholinergic modulation of cortex powerfully influences information processing and brain states, causing robust desynchronization of local field potentials and strong decorrelation of responses between neurons. We found that intracortical cholinergic inputs to mouse visual cortex specifically and differentially drive a defined cortical microcircuit: they facilitate somatostatin-expressing (SOM) inhibitory neurons that in turn inhibit parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory neurons and pyramidal neurons. Selective optogenetic inhibition of SOM responses blocked desynchronization and decorrelation, demonstrating that direct cholinergic activation of SOM neurons is necessary for this phenomenon. Optogenetic inhibition of vasoactive intestinal peptide-expressing neurons did not block desynchronization, despite these neurons being activated at high levels of cholinergic drive. Direct optogenetic SOM activation, independent of cholinergic modulation, was sufficient to induce desynchronization. Together, these findings demonstrate a mechanistic basis for temporal structure in cortical populations and the crucial role of neuromodulatory drive in specific inhibitory-excitatory circuits in actively shaping the dynamics of neuronal activity.
Date issued
2015-04Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT; Picower Institute for Learning and MemoryJournal
Nature Neuroscience
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Chen, Naiyan, Hiroki Sugihara, and Mriganka Sur. “An Acetylcholine-Activated Microcircuit Drives Temporal Dynamics of Cortical Activity.” Nat Neurosci 18, no. 6 (April 27, 2015): 892–902.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1097-6256
1546-1726