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Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at 7 T in the Rat Barrel Cortex During Whisker Activation
Published on: February 8, 2019
Ipsilateral whiskers suppress experience-dependent plasticity in the barrel cortex
Stanislaw Glazewski1, Brett L Benedetti, Alison L Barth
1Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine and School of Life Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, United Kingdom.
Summary
Sensory processing in the brain is complex. Removing whiskers from one side of the face, especially both sides, significantly expands receptive fields in the somatosensory cortex, showing ipsilateral whiskers constrain this processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory processing
- Cortical plasticity
Background:
- The brain's cerebral hemispheres process sensory input from both body sides, but its effect on receptive fields is debated.
- Previous studies showed single-whisker experience (SWE) expands cortical areas for the spared whisker.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how chronic deprivation of ipsilateral sensory whiskers affects receptive field plasticity in the primary somatosensory cortex.
- To compare the effects of SWE with and without ipsilateral whiskers.
Main Methods:
- Chronic whisker deprivation experiments in rodents.
- Electrophysiological recordings in the primary somatosensory cortex (barrel cortex).
- Comparative analysis of receptive field properties under different deprivation conditions (control, SWE-unilateral, SWE-bilateral).
Main Results:
- Absence of ipsilateral whiskers led to significantly larger cortical receptive fields after 1 week.
- SWE-bilateral deprivation increased neuronal responses to spared whisker stimulation in both cognate and surrounding barrel columns compared to controls and SWE-unilateral.
- Surround receptive fields were maintained in SWE-bilateral animals but depressed in SWE-unilateral animals.
- Increased spared whisker responses were progressive with longer deprivation periods.
Conclusions:
- Ipsilateral whiskers play a crucial role in constraining receptive field size in the barrel cortex.
- Bilateral whisker deprivation leads to more pronounced receptive field expansion and maintained surround responses compared to unilateral deprivation.
- These findings highlight the dynamic nature of cortical sensory maps and the influence of contralateral sensory input on plasticity.
