Modeling apical and basal tree contribution to orientation selectivity in a mouse primary visual cortex layer 2/3
Konstantinos-Evangelos Petousakis1,2, Jiyoung Park3, Athanasia Papoutsi2
1Department of Biology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
Elife
|December 6, 2023
Summary
Basal and apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons synergistically encode visual stimuli. Basal tree activity is essential for somatic action potential generation, even when apical dendrites drive most spikes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Visual Cortex Research
Background:
- Pyramidal neurons are crucial for cortical function, receiving diverse inputs via apical and basal dendritic trees.
- These dendritic trees differentially influence somatic responses, suggesting distinct functional roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct contributions of apical and basal dendritic trees to visual stimulus encoding at the somatic level.
- To model the response of a mouse L2/3 V1 pyramidal neuron to orientation-tuned synaptic input.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a morphologically detailed computational model of a single L2/3 V1 pyramidal neuron.
- The model was validated against electrophysiological and two-photon imaging data.
- Simulated responses to orientation-tuned synaptic input were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Predicted a synergistic interaction between apical and basal dendritic trees in generating somatic action potentials.
- Demonstrated that basal tree activity (depolarization or dendritic spiking) is necessary for somatic activity.
- Observed that most somatic spikes are primarily driven by apical dendritic spikes.
Conclusions:
- The study provides evidence for synergistic computations within the basal and apical trees of L2/3 V1 pyramidal neurons.
- Mechanistic explanations for the specific contributions of each dendritic tree were elucidated.
- Highlighted the potential role of predictive and attentional feedback inputs in these neuronal computations.
