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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on July 30, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp152
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Cell-Type Specific Properties of Pyramidal Neurons in Neocortex Underlying a Layout that Is Modifiable Depending on the Cortical Area

Alexander Groh1, Hanno S. Meyer2, Eric F. Schmidt3, Nathaniel Heintz3, Bert Sakmann1,4 and Patrik Krieger5

1 Institute for Neuroscience of the Technical University Munich, Biedersteiner Strasse 29, 80802 Munich, Germany, 2 Max-Planck-Institut für medizinische Forschung, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany, 3 Laboratory of Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA, 4 Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany, 5 Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden

Address correspondence to Patrik Krieger, Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Email: Patrik.Krieger{at}ki.se.

To understand sensory representation in cortex, it is crucial to identify its constituent cellular components based on cell-type–specific criteria. With the identification of cell types, an important question can be addressed: to what degree does the cellular properties of neurons depend on cortical location? We tested this question using pyramidal neurons in layer 5 (L5) because of their role in providing major cortical output to subcortical targets. Recently developed transgenic mice with cell-type–specific enhanced green fluorescent protein labeling of neuronal subtypes allow reliable identification of 2 cortical cell types in L5 throughout the entire neocortex. A comprehensive investigation of anatomical and functional properties of these 2 cell types in visual and somatosensory cortex demonstrates that, with important exceptions, most properties appear to be cell-type–specific rather than dependent on cortical area. This result suggests that although cortical output neurons share a basic layout throughout the sensory cortex, fine differences in properties are tuned to the cortical area in which neurons reside.

Key Words: BAC transgenic • connectivity • dendrite morphology • neocortex • pyramidal cell


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