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Rate and oscillatory switching dynamics of a multilayer visual microcircuit model
Gerald Hahn1, Arvind Kumar2, Helmut Schmidt3
1Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Elife
|August 22, 2022
Summary
The mouse visual cortex uses bistable switches involving specific neuron types to control firing rates and synchronize activity across layers. These switches generate distinct low- and high-frequency oscillations during state transitions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Cortical Circuitry
Background:
- The neocortex utilizes complex microcircuits with diverse neuronal types for information processing.
- Neuronal computations rely on both firing rates and oscillatory dynamics.
- Understanding the interplay between neuronal populations and network states is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the microcircuit mechanisms underlying ultrasensitive and bistable switching in the primary mouse visual cortex.
- To model how specific inhibitory neuronal populations (somatostatin, parvalbumin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide) contribute to network state transitions.
- To elucidate the relationship between firing rate states and oscillatory activity within the cortical layers.
Main Methods:
- Computational modeling of neuronal microcircuits in the primary mouse visual cortex.
- Analysis of mutual inhibitory connectivity motifs between somatostatin, parvalbumin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide cells.
- Simulation of state transitions and associated changes in firing rates and oscillatory dynamics.
Main Results:
- Identified two ultrasensitive, bistable switches in superficial and deep cortical layers.
- Demonstrated that these switches involve interactions between somatostatin, parvalbumin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide neurons.
- Showed that switches toggle pyramidal neurons between high and low firing rate states, synchronized across layers.
- Observed layer-specific low- and high-frequency oscillations associated with inhibited and disinhibited states, respectively.
Conclusions:
- The primary mouse visual cortex employs bistable switching mechanisms for rate and oscillation-based computations.
- Mutual inhibition between specific interneuron types forms the basis of these ultrasensitive switches.
- Translaminar connectivity synchronizes state transitions, linking firing rate and oscillatory changes within a unified microcircuit interpretation.
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