Up states are rare in awake auditory cortex

Hromadka, T., Zador, A. M., DeWeese, M. R. (2013) Up states are rare in awake auditory cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology, 109 (8). pp. 1989-1995. ISSN 0022-3077

Abstract

The dynamics of subthreshold membrane potential provide insight into the organization of activity in neural circuits. In many brain areas, membrane potential is bistable, transiting between a relatively hyperpolarized down state and a depolarized up state. These up and down states, which have been proposed to play a number of computational roles, have mainly been studied in anesthetized and in vitro preparations. Here, we have used intracellular recordings to characterize the dynamics of membrane potential in the auditory cortex of awake rats. We find that long up states are rare in the awake auditory cortex, with only 0.4% of up states >500 ms. Most neurons displayed only brief up states (bumps) and spent on average similar to 1% of recording time in up states >500 ms. We suggest that the near absence of long up states in awake auditory cortex may reflect an adaptation to the rapid processing of auditory stimuli.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: awake auditory cortex electrophysiology membrane potential cat visual-cortex neurons in-vivo membrane-potential fluctuations spontaneous firing patterns barrel cortex pyramidal neurons striatal neurons direction selectivity somatosensory cortex neocortical neurons
Subjects: Investigative techniques and equipment
organism description > animal behavior > auditory
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > auditory cortex
Investigative techniques and equipment > electrophysiology
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Zador lab
School of Biological Sciences > Publications
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 2013
Date Deposited: 22 May 2013 16:29
Last Modified: 03 Jan 2019 19:30
PMCID: PMC3628040
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/28320

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