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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on April 7, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp050
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Differences in Intrinsic Properties and Local Network Connectivity of Identified Layer 5 and Layer 6 Adult Mouse Auditory Corticothalamic Neurons Support a Dual Corticothalamic Projection Hypothesis

Daniel A. Llano1,2 and S. Murray Sherman2

1 Department of Neurology, 2 Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Address correspondence to Daniel A. Llano, Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology, University of Chicago, 947 East 58th Street, MC0926 316 Abbott, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Email: a.daniel.llano{at}gmail.com.

Intrinsic properties, morphology, and local network circuitry of identified layer 5 and layer 6 auditory corticothalamic neurons were compared. We injected fluorescent microspheres into the mouse auditory thalamus to prelabel corticothalamic neurons, then recorded and filled labeled layer 5 or layer 6 auditory cortical neurons in vitro. We observed low-threshold bursting in adult, but not juvenile, layer 5 corticothalamic neurons that was voltage and time dependent with nonlinear input–output properties, whereas adult layer 6 corticothalamic neurons demonstrated a regular spiking. Layer 5 corticothalamic neurons had larger somata, thicker apical dendrites and were more likely to have a layer 1 apical dendrite than layer 6 neurons. Using laser photostimulation, identified layer 5 corticothalamic neurons received excitatory input from a wide area of layers 2/3, 4, and 5 with widespread {gamma}-aminobutyric acidergic input from layer 2/3 and lower layer 5, whereas layer 6 corticothalamic neurons from the same cortical column received circumscribed excitatory input and discrete patches of inhibition derived from layer 6 of adjacent columns. These data demonstrate that layer 5 and layer 6 corticothalamic neurons receive unique sets of inputs and process them in different manners, supporting the hypothesis that layer-specific corticothalamic projections play distinct roles in information processing.

Key Words: cortex • corticothalamic • laser • layer • thalamus


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