Network dynamics underlying activity-timescale differences between cortical regions

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Network dynamics are crucial for cerebral cortex computation.
• Understanding how these dynamics vary across cortical areas is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how intrinsic timescales of cortical regions influence network dynamics.
• To explore differences in network responses between a short-timescale visual area (VISp) and a long-timescale frontal area (MOs).

Main Methods:

• Co-registered functional and spatial transcriptomics to link gene expression to cortical timescales.
• Used simultaneous two-photon imaging and optogenetics in mice to probe network responses.
• Applied focal excitatory input to VISp and MOs.

Main Results:

• Cortical timescales are predicted by transcript categories related to circuit wiring.
• MOs neurons showed higher responsiveness to neighbor photostimulation compared to VISp.
• Network responses in MOs were longer-lasting than in VISp, driven by late-responding neurons forming activity sequences.

Conclusions:

• Cortical areas possess distinct wiring that enables them to sustain input over different time windows through network dynamics.
• These area-specific network dynamics have significant implications for cortical computation.