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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
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Juxtacellular Monitoring and Localization of Single Neurons within Sub-cortical Brain Structures of Alert, Head-restrained Rats
Published on: April 27, 2015
Closed-loop neuronal computations: focus on vibrissa somatosensation in rat
Ehud Ahissar1, David Kleinfeld
1Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ehud.ahissar@weizmann.ac.il
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|December 6, 2002
Summary
The vibrissa sensorimotor system utilizes large-scale feedback loops, not just feedforward or local recurrent networks, for complex computations. This closed-loop system optimizes sensory processing through phase-sensitive detection and control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Neuronal computing models typically focus on feedforward or locally recurrent architectures.
- These models do not fully capture the dynamics observed in complex sensorimotor systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuronal architecture of the vibrissa sensorimotor system.
- To determine if this system employs large-scale feedback loops for computation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of single unit responses in vibrissa sensory and motor areas.
- Examination of thalamocortical and corticocortical loop activity.
Main Results:
- The vibrissa sensorimotor system exhibits characteristics of closed-loop computations.
- Evidence suggests phase-sensitive detection and control mechanisms within these loops.
Conclusions:
- The vibrissa sensorimotor system represents a third class of neuronal architecture, characterized by large-scale feedback loops.
- These closed-loop computations are crucial for optimizing sensory processing.
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01:19The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
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Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.
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01:11Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...
The receptor level:
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