Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Neuronal ensembles are groups of neurons with correlated activity associated with sensory, motor, and behavioral functions. To explore how ensembles encode information, we investigated responses of visual cortical neurons in awake mice using volumetric two-photon calcium imaging during visual stimulation. We identified neuronal ensembles employing an unsupervised model-free algorithm and, besides neurons activated by the visual stimulus (termed "onsemble"), we also find neurons that are specifically inactivated (termed "offsemble"). Offsemble neurons showed faster calcium decay during stimuli, suggesting selective inhibition. In response to visual stimuli, each ensemble (onsemble+offsemble) exhibited small trial-to-trial variability, high orientation selectivity, and superior predictive accuracy for visual stimulus orientation, surpassing the sum of individual neuron activity. Thus, the combined selective activation and inactivation of cortical neurons enhances visual encoding as an emergent and distributed neural code.
Source: Nature Communications
Institution: Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,790
Awards: G1480873338, G2339658001, Role of neuronal ensembles in cortical plasticity during learning and development, G2636607997, G2941508635, Role of neuronal ensembles in visual processing, G3733858982, G3862208262, NSF-ANR: REBIRTH: Understanding The Self-Assembly Of The Nervous System of Hydra Vulgaris, Effect of GABAergic inhibition of dendritic spines on synaptic pruning in the medial prefrontal cortex during adolescence, G8786437286, Reexamining the Role of Dendrites in Neuronal Function, Mechanisms of Neuronal Ensembles in Visual Cortex
OpenAlex ID: W4394747193