1. Neuroscience

Long-Range population dynamics of anatomically defined neocortical networks

  1. Jerry L Chen  Is a corresponding author
  2. Fabian F Voigt
  3. Mitra Javadzadeh
  4. Roland Krueppel
  5. Fritjof Helmchen  Is a corresponding author
  1. Boston University, United States
  2. University of Zurich, Switzerland
  3. Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14679
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  1. Jerry L Chen
  2. Fabian F Voigt
  3. Mitra Javadzadeh
  4. Roland Krueppel
  5. Fritjof Helmchen
(2016)
Long-Range population dynamics of anatomically defined neocortical networks
eLife 5:e14679.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14679
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Abstract

The coordination of activity across neocortical areas is essential for mammalian brain function. Understanding this process requires simultaneous functional measurements across the cortex. However, it has not been possible to dissociate direct cortico-cortical interactions from other sources of neuronal correlations by targeting recordings to neuronal subpopulations that anatomically project between areas. Here, we combined anatomical tracers with a novel multi-area two-photon microscope to perform simultaneous calcium imaging across mouse primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory whisker cortex during texture discrimination behavior, specifically identifying feedforward and feedback neurons. We observed coordinated S1-S2 activity that is related to motor behaviors such as goal-directed whisking and licking but is not specific to identified projection neurons. However, feedforward and feedback neurons especially participated in inter-areal coordination when motor behavior was paired with whisker-texture touches, suggesting that direct S1-S2 interactions are sensory-dependent. Our results demonstrate specific functional coordination of anatomically-identified projection neurons across sensory cortices.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Jerry L Chen

    Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, United States
    For correspondence
    jerry@chen-lab.org
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Fabian F Voigt

    Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Mitra Javadzadeh

    Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Roland Krueppel

    Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Bonn, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Fritjof Helmchen

    Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    For correspondence
    helmchen@hifo.uzh.ch
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Andrew J King, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Ethics

Animal experimentation: Experimental procedures followed the guidelines of the Veterinary Office of Switzerland and were approved by the Cantonal Veterinary Office in Zurich. Experiments were carried out under the approved licenses 62/2011 and 285/2014.

Version history

  1. Received: January 25, 2016
  2. Accepted: May 21, 2016
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: May 24, 2016 (version 1)
  4. Accepted Manuscript updated: May 25, 2016 (version 2)
  5. Version of Record published: June 17, 2016 (version 3)

Copyright

© 2016, Chen et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Jerry L Chen
  2. Fabian F Voigt
  3. Mitra Javadzadeh
  4. Roland Krueppel
  5. Fritjof Helmchen
(2016)
Long-Range population dynamics of anatomically defined neocortical networks
eLife 5:e14679.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14679

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14679

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