Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on August 16, 2007
Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(5):979-989; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm138
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feature Article |
Information Processing Streams in Rodent Barrel Cortex: The Differential Functions of Barrel and Septal Circuits
Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033-2255, USA
Address correspondence to Dr Kevin D. Alloway, Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, H109, Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033-2255, USA. Email: kda1{at}psu.edu.
Rodent somatosensory cortex contains an isomorphic map of the mystacial whiskers in which each whisker is represented by neuronal populations, or barrels, that are separated from each other by intervening septa. Separate afferent pathways convey somatosensory information to the barrels and septa that represent the input stages for 2 partially segregated circuits that extend throughout the other layers of barrel cortex. Whereas the barrel-related circuits process spatiotemporal information generated by whisker contact with external objects, the septa-related circuits encode the frequency and other kinetic features of active whisker movements. The projection patterns from barrel cortex indicate that information processed by the septa-related circuits is used both separately and in combination with information from the barrel-related circuits to mediate specific functions. According to this theory, outputs from the septal processing stream modulate the brain regions that regulate whisking behavior, whereas both processing streams cooperate with each other to identify external stimuli encountered by passive or active whisker movements. This theoretical view prompts several testable hypotheses about the coordination of neuronal activity during whisking behavior. Foremost among these, motor brain regions that control whisker movements are more strongly coordinated with the septa-related circuits than with the barrel-related circuits.
Key Words: columnar organization • rate coding • sensorimotor integration • spatial coding • temporal coding • whisking behavior
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  C. P. J. de Kock and B. Sakmann Spiking in primary somatosensory cortex during natural whisking in awake head-restrained rats is cell-type specific PNAS, September 22, 2009; 106(38): 16446 - 16450. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Chakrabarti and K. D. Alloway Differential Response Patterns in the SI Barrel and Septal Compartments During Mechanical Whisker Stimulation J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2009; 102(3): 1632 - 1646. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Giaume, M. Maravall, E. Welker, and G. Bonvento The Barrel Cortex as a Model to Study Dynamic Neuroglial Interaction Neuroscientist, August 1, 2009; 15(4): 351 - 366. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Furuta, T. Kaneko, and M. Deschenes Septal Neurons in Barrel Cortex Derive Their Receptive Field Input from the Lemniscal Pathway J. Neurosci., April 1, 2009; 29(13): 4089 - 4095. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. W. Middleton, A. Longtin, J. Benda, and L. Maler Postsynaptic Receptive Field Size and Spike Threshold Determine Encoding of High-Frequency Information Via Sensitivity to Synchronous Presynaptic Activity J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2009; 101(3): 1160 - 1170. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Ghoshal, P. Pouget, M. Popescu, and F. Ebner Early Bilateral Sensory Deprivation Blocks the Development of Coincident Discharge in Rat Barrel Cortex J. Neurosci., February 25, 2009; 29(8): 2384 - 2392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Chakrabarti, M. Zhang, and K. D. Alloway MI Neuronal Responses to Peripheral Whisker Stimulation: Relationship to Neuronal Activity in SI Barrels and Septa J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2008; 100(1): 50 - 63. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. Bokor, L. Acsady, and M. Deschenes Vibrissal Responses of Thalamic Cells That Project to the Septal Columns of the Barrel Cortex and to the Second Somatosensory Area J. Neurosci., May 14, 2008; 28(20): 5169 - 5177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|