Barrel Cortex Membrane Potential Dynamics in Social Touch
Neuron. 2015-02-01; 85(4): 718-725
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.059
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https://www.bordeaux-neurocampus.fr/12179
Lenschow C(1), Brecht M(2).
Author information:
(1)Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Humboldt University of
Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
(2)Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Humboldt University of
Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address:
.
Erratum in
Neuron. 2015 Mar 4;85(5):1145.
The impact of social stimuli on the membrane potential dynamics of barrel cortex
neurons is unknown. We obtained in vivo whole-cell recordings in the barrel
cortex of head-restrained rats while they interacted with conspecifics. Social
touch was associated with a depolarization and large membrane potential
fluctuations locked to the rat’s whisking. Both depolarization and membrane
potential fluctuations were already observed prior to contact and did not occur
during free whisking. This anticipatory pre-contact depolarization was not seen
in passive social touch in anesthetized animals. The membrane potential
fluctuations locked to the rat’s whisking observed in interactions with awake
conspecifics were larger than those seen for whisking onto nonconspecific
stimuli (stuffed rats, objects, and the experimenter’s hand). Responses did not
correlate with whisker movement parameters. We conclude that responses to social
touch differ from conventional tactile responses in (1) amplitude, (2) locking
to whisking, and (3) pre-contact membrane potential changes.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.059
PMID: 25640075 [Indexed for MEDLINE]