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Enhanced dendritic activity in awake rats.

Masanori Murayama¹, Matthew E Larkum

¹Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bühlplatz 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|November 18, 2009

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Dendritic activity in awake rats significantly increases, especially in layer 5 pyramidal neurons, correlating with movement. This suggests active dendritic processing is crucial for awake behavior.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cellular Neuroscience
Systems Neuroscience

Background:

Dendritic activity in awake animals remains largely uncharacterized.
Layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neuron tuft dendrites receive input from higher brain areas, suggesting state-dependent modulation.
Active dendritic processing is hypothesized to play a role in cognitive functions linked to conscious states.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate dendritic calcium activity in L5 pyramidal neurons in awake versus anesthetized rats.
To determine the relationship between dendritic activity and behavior during different brain states.
To explore the role of L5 pyramidal dendrites in sensory processing and motor output.

Main Methods:

Calcium imaging of L5 pyramidal neuron dendrites in the sensorimotor cortex of rats using a periscope fiberoptic system.

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Recordings were performed in both awake and anesthetized states following hindlimb sensory stimulation.

Responses were compared between brain states and correlated with subsequent motor activity.

Main Results:

Hindlimb stimulation evoked bi-phasic dendritic responses highly dependent on brain state.
Awake rats exhibited a 14-fold larger slow, delayed dendritic response compared to anesthetized rats.
Increased L5 dendritic activity strongly correlated with the intensity of subsequent hindlimb movement.
Layer 2/3 neuron responses to air-puff stimuli decreased in the awake state, highlighting L5 specificity.

Conclusions:

L5 pyramidal neuron dendritic activity is a neural correlate of awake behavior.
Active dendritic processing in L5 neurons is significantly enhanced during wakefulness.
These findings underscore the importance of dendritic computation in mediating behavioral states.