Time-dependence of SI RA neuron response to cutaneous flutter stimulation

Spike discharge activity of RA-type SI cortical neurons was recorded extracellularly in anesthetized monkeys and cats. Multiple applications (trials) of 10-50 Hz sinusoidal vertical skin displacement stimulation ("flutter") were delivered to the receptive field (RF). Analysis revealed large and systematic temporal trends not only in SI RA neuron responsivity (measured as spikes/s and as spikes/stimulus cycle), but also in entrainment, and in phase angle of the entrained responses. In contrast to SI RA neurons, the response of RA skin afferents to comparable conditions of skin flutter stimulation exhibited little or no dynamics. The occurrence and form of the SI RA neuron response dynamics that accompany skin flutter stimulation are shown to depend on factors such as stimulus frequency and the locus of the recording site in the global cortical response pattern. Comparison of recordings obtained in near-radial vs tangential microelectrode penetrations further reveals that the SI RA neuron response dynamics that occur during skin flutter stimulation are relatively consistent within, but heterogeneous across column-sized regions. The observed SI RA neuron response dynamics are suggested to account, in part, for the improved capacity to discriminate stimulus frequency after an exposure ("adaptation") to skin flutter stimulation (Goble and Hollins, J Acoust Soc Am 96: 771-780, 1994). Parallels with recent proposals about the contributions to visual perception of short-term primary sensory cortical neuron dynamics and synchrony in multineuron spike activity patterns are identified and discussed.