A SPONTANEOUS STATE OF WEAKLY CORRELATED SYNAPTIC EXCITATION AND INHIBITION IN VISUAL CORTEX

作者：Tan A Y Y^*; Andoni S; Priebe N J

来源：Neuroscience, 2013, 247: 364-375.

DOI：10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.05.037

• primary visual cortex
• spontaneous activity
• excitation
• inhibition
• correlation
• in vivo

Cortical spontaneous activity reflects an animal's behavioral state and affects neural responses to sensory stimuli. The correlation between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input to single neurons is a key parameter in models of cortical circuitry. Recent measurements demonstrated highly correlated synaptic excitation and inhibition during spontaneous "up-and-down" states, during which excitation accounted for approximately 80% of inhibitory variance (Shu et al., 2003; Haider et al., 2006). Here we report in vivo whole-cell estimates of the correlation between excitation and inhibition in the rat visual cortex under pentobarbital anesthesia, during which up-and-down states are absent. Excitation and inhibition are weakly correlated, relative to the up-and-down state: excitation accounts for less than 40% of inhibitory variance. Although these correlations are lower than when the circuit cycles between up-and-down states, both behaviors may arise from the same circuitry. Our observations provide evidence that different correlational patterns of excitation and inhibition underlie different cortical states.

• 出版日期2013-9-5