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Whisker sensory system - from receptor to decision
Mathew E Diamond1, Ehsan Arabzadeh
1Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy. diamond@sissa.it
Progress in Neurobiology
|June 12, 2012
Summary
Rats use their whiskers in two modes: active exploration (generative) and passive sensing (receptive). This research explores whisker system neural codes for perception and decision-making, from receptors to action selection.
Area of Science:
- Systems Neuroscience
- Sensory Neuroscience
- Neuroethology
Background:
- Understanding neocortical transformation of sensory stimuli into percepts guiding decisions is a key challenge.
- The rat whisker system provides an efficient model for studying sensory processing and neural bases of perception.
- Research combines circuit analysis, cellular mechanisms, and tactile psychophysics of whisker sensation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of the rat whisker system.
- To explore how neuronal representations in the sensory cortex relate to behavioral discrimination capacities.
- To hypothesize mechanisms for downstream brain regions interpreting sensory information for decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of whisker-mediated sensation from sensory receptor to animal's choice.
- Description of behavioral tasks differentiating generative and receptive whisker use modes.
- Exploration of neuronal codes in the sensory cortex underlying discrimination abilities.
Main Results:
- Rats exhibit two distinct modes of whisker operation: generative (active palpation) and receptive (passive sensing).
- Identified behavioral tasks associated with each operational mode.
- Investigated neuronal coding strategies within the sensory cortex relevant to tactile discrimination.
Conclusions:
- The rat whisker system offers a comprehensive model for studying perception and decision-making.
- Two distinct modes of whisker use (generative and receptive) are proposed.
- Further research is needed to elucidate downstream processing for sensory-guided actions.
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The receptor level:
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