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Electrophysiological and Morphological Characterization of Neuronal Microcircuits in Acute Brain Slices Using Paired Patch-Clamp Recordings
Published on: January 10, 2015
Electrophysiological classes of layer 2/3 pyramidal cells in monkey prefrontal cortex
A V Zaitsev1, N V Povysheva, G Gonzalez-Burgos
1Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia. aleksey_zaitsev@mail.ru
Journal of Neurophysiology
|April 13, 2012
Summary
Researchers classified dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) pyramidal neurons based on their electrical properties. This diversity in neuron function may explain how the brain processes information during working memory.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Supragranular pyramidal neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are crucial for working memory.
- Intrinsic membrane properties dictate neuronal function and are key to DLPFC neuron roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the biophysical properties of monkey DLPFC layer 2/3 pyramidal cells.
- To create an unbiased electrophysiological classification of these neurons.
Main Methods:
- Whole-cell voltage recordings were performed on 77 pyramidal cells in a slice preparation.
- 24 electrophysiological measures of passive and active intrinsic membrane properties were analyzed.
- Cluster analysis of 16 variables identified distinct cell classes.
Main Results:
- Four distinct electrophysiological classes of monkey pyramidal cells were identified.
- Two classes of regular-spiking neurons (52%) differed in excitability, input resistance, and firing properties.
- A third class showed low-threshold spiking (17%), and a fourth had intermediate firing patterns (31%).
Conclusions:
- Diversity in DLPFC pyramidal cell properties suggests heterogeneous information processing.
- These functional variations may underlie working memory and other cognitive operations in the DLPFC.
