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Updated: Nov 16, 2025

Subtype-selective Electroporation of Cortical Interneurons
Published on: August 18, 2014
Cell-type-specific recruitment of GABAergic interneurons in the primary somatosensory cortex by long-range inputs
Shovan Naskar1, Jia Qi1, Francisco Pereira2
1Unit on Functional Neural Circuits, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Abstract:
Extensive hierarchical yet highly reciprocal interactions among cortical areas are fundamental for information processing. However, connectivity rules governing the specificity of such corticocortical connections, and top-down feedback projections in particular, are poorly understood. We analyze synaptic strength from functionally relevant brain areas to diverse neuronal types in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Long-range projections from different areas preferentially engage specific sets of GABAergic neurons in S1. Projections from other somatosensory cortices strongly recruit parvalbumin (PV)-positive GABAergic neurons and lead to PV neuron-mediated feedforward inhibition of pyramidal neurons in S1. In contrast, inputs from whisker-related primary motor cortex are biased to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-positive GABAergic neurons and potentially result in VIP neuron-mediated disinhibition. Regardless of the input areas, somatostatin-positive neurons receive relatively weak long-range inputs. Computational analyses suggest that a characteristic combination of synaptic inputs to different GABAergic IN types in S1 represents a specific long-range input area.
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