Respiratory Entrainment of Units in the Mouse Parietal Cortex Depends on Vigilance State

Abstract

Synchronous oscillations are essential for coordinated activity in neuronal networks and, hence, for behavior and cognition. While most network oscillations are generated within the central nervous system, recent evidence shows that rhythmic body processes strongly influence activity patterns throughout the brain. A major factor is respiration, which entrains multiple brain regions at the mesoscopic (local field potential) and single-cell levels. However, it is largely unknown how such respiration-driven rhythms interact or compete with internal brain oscillations, especially those with similar frequency domains. In mice, respiration and theta (θ) oscillations have overlapping frequencies and co-occur in various brain regions. Here we investigated the effects of respiration and θ on neuronal discharges in the mouse parietal cortex during four behavioral states which either show prominent θ (REM sleep and active waking (AW)) or lack significant θ (NREM sleep and waking immobility (WI)). We report a pronounced state-dependence of spike modulation by both rhythms. During REM sleep, θ effects on unit discharges dominate, while during AW respiration has a larger influence, despite the concomitant presence of θ oscillations. In most states, unit modulation by θ or respiration increases with mean firing rate. The preferred timing of respiration-entrained discharges (inspiration versus expiration) varies between states, indicating state-specific and different underlying mechanisms. Our findings show that neurons in an associative cortex area are differentially and state-dependently modulated by two fundamentally different processes: brain-endogenous θ oscillations and rhythmic somatic feedback signals from respiration.