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© 2019, LeMessurier et al. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Sensory maps in layer (L) 2/3 of rodent cortex lack precise functional column boundaries, and instead exhibit locally heterogeneous (salt-and-pepper) tuning superimposed on smooth global topography. Could this organization be a byproduct of impoverished experience in laboratory housing? We compared whisker map somatotopy in L2/3 and L4 excitatory cells of somatosensory (S1) cortex in normally housed vs. tactile-enriched mice, using GCaMP6s imaging. Normally housed mice had a dispersed, salt-and-pepper whisker map in L2/3, but L4 was more topographically precise. Enrichment (P21 to P46-71) sharpened whisker tuning and decreased, but did not abolish, local tuning heterogeneity. In L2/3, enrichment strengthened and sharpened whisker point representations, and created functional boundaries of tuning similarity and noise correlations at column edges. Thus, enrichment drives emergence of functional columnar topography in S1, and reduces local tuning heterogeneity. These changes predict better touch detection by neural populations within each column.

Details

Title
Enrichment drives emergence of functional columns and improves sensory coding in the whisker map in L2/3 of mouse S1
Author
LeMessurier, Amy M; Laboy-Juárez, Keven J; McClain, Kathryn; Chen, Shilin; Nguyen, Theresa; Feldman, Daniel E
University/institution
U.S. National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine
Publication year
2019
Publication date
2019
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd.
e-ISSN
2050084X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2286913595
Copyright
© 2019, LeMessurier et al. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.