Stimulus-induced intercolumnar synchronization of neuronal activity in rat barrel cortex: a laminar analysis

We used cross-correlation analysis to characterize the coordination of stimulus-induced neuronal activity in the primary somatosensory barrel cortex of isoflurane-anesthetized rats. On each trial, multiple whiskers were simultaneously deflected at frequencies that corresponded to 2, 5, 8, or 11 Hz. Among 476 neuron pairs that we examined, 342 (71.8%) displayed significant peaks of synchronized activity that exceeded the 99.9% confidence limits. The incidence and strength of these functional associations varied across different cortical layers. Only 52.9% of neuron pairs in layer IV displayed synchronized responses, whereas 84.1% of the infragranular neuron pairs were synchronized during whisker stimulation. Neuronal synchronization was strongest in the infragranular layers, weakest in layer IV, and varied according to the columnar configuration of the neuron pairs. Thus correlation coefficients were largest for neuron pairs in the same whisker barrel row but were smallest for neurons in different rows and arcs. Spontaneous activity in the infragranular layers was also synchronized to a greater degree than in the other layers. Although infragranular neuron pairs displayed similar amounts of synchronization in response to each stimulus frequency, granular and supragranular neurons were synchronized mainly during stimulation at 2 or 5 Hz. These results are consistent with previous studies indicating that infragranular neurons have intrinsic properties that facilitate synchronized activity, and they suggest that neuronal synchronization plays an important role in transmitting sensory information to other cortical or subcortical brain regions.