Temporal Framing of Thalamic Relay-Mode Firing by Phasic Inhibition during the Alpha Rhythm
Several aspects of perception, particularly those pertaining to vision, are closely linked to the occipital alpha (α) rhythm. However, how the α rhythm relates to the activity of neurons that convey primary visual information is unknown. Here we show that in behaving cats, thalamocortical neurons in...
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Published in | Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 63; no. 5; pp. 683 - 696 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
10.09.2009
Elsevier Limited Cell Press |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Several aspects of perception, particularly those pertaining to vision, are closely linked to the occipital alpha (α) rhythm. However, how the α rhythm relates to the activity of neurons that convey primary visual information is unknown. Here we show that in behaving cats, thalamocortical neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) that operate in a conventional relay-mode form two groups where the cumulative firing is subject to a cyclic suppression that is centered on the negative α rhythm peak in one group and on the positive peak in the other. This leads to an effective temporal framing of relay-mode output and results from phasic inhibition from LGN interneurons, which in turn are rhythmically excited by thalamocortical neurons that exhibit high-threshold bursts. These results provide a potential cellular substrate for linking the α rhythm to perception and further underscore the central role of inhibition in controlling spike timing during cognitively relevant brain oscillations. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Present address: Eli Lilly UK, Erl Wood Manor, Windlesham, Surrey GU20 6PH, UK |
ISSN: | 0896-6273 1097-4199 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.08.012 |