Cellular diversity of the somatosensory cortical map plasticity

Abstract

Sensory maps are representations of the sensory epithelia in the brain. Despite the intuitive explanatory power behind sensory maps as being neuronal precursors to sensory perception, and sensory cortical plasticity as a neural correlate of perceptual learning, molecular mechanisms that regulate map plasticity are not well understood. Here we perform a meta-analysis of transcriptional and translational changes during altered whisker use to nominate the major molecular correlates of experience-dependent map plasticity in the barrel cortex. We argue that brain plasticity is a systems level response, involving all cell classes, from neuron and glia to non-neuronal cells including endothelia. Using molecular pathway analysis, we further propose a gene regulatory network that could couple activity dependent changes in neurons to adaptive changes in neurovasculature, and finally we show that transcriptional regulations observed in major brain disorders target genes that are modulated by altered sensory experience. Thus, understanding the molecular mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity of sensory maps might help to unravel the cellular events that shape brain plasticity in health and disease. peer-reviewed)

A databank for intracellular electrophysiological mapping of the adult somatosensory cortex

“…The primary somatosensory cortex encodes time-varying but spatially well-defined haptic information [1] from the mechanoreceptors in the skin, thereby creating a topographical neuronal representation of the tactile world [2, 3]. Rodents, e.g., locate tactile targets in their immediate environment by integrating information across these (whisker) representations in the barrel cortex [4], where neurons in each cortical column preferably respond to a single whisker on the contralateral snout [5].…”

A databank for intracellular electrophysiological mapping of the adult somatosensory cortex

“…The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) encodes time-varying but spatially well defined haptic information [1] from the mechanoreceptors in the skin, thereby creating a topographical neuronal representation of the tactile world [2,3] . Rodents, for example, locate tactile targets in their immediate environment by integrating information across these (whisker) representations in the barrel cortex [4] , where neurons in each cortical column preferably respond to a single whisker on the contralateral snout [5] .…”

“…Network development is based on processes of self-organization that are highly dependent on sensory stimuli and experience [2] . Such plasticity is not limited to early In a computational approach, spiking properties described herein could be used for biomimetic modeling of diverse networks, facilitating the study of computational roles of circuit motives.…”

Neocortical Microdissection at Columnar and Laminar Resolution for Molecular Interrogation

“…The neocortex, for example, has a laminar organization, with each layer having a distinct functional role, abundance of cell types (neuronal or non-neuronal), and gene expression profile (Diamond, Huang, & Ebner, 1994;Meyer et al, 2011;Molyneaux, Arlotta, Menezes, & Macklis, 2007;Tan et al, 2009). Such heterogeneity allows for functional diversity (Kole, Scheenen, Tiesinga, & Celikel, 2018), which is required for complex computations leading to perception, learning, and memory. However, it also introduces a challenge for researchers aiming to disentangle the molecular mechanisms of network organization and function, as it is difficult to obtain tissues with sufficient resolution to differentiate between closely situated brain regions (e.g., cortical layers).…”