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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 22, 2005, 25(25):5915-5925; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0489-05.2005

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Three Channels of Corticothalamic Communication during Locomotion

Mikhail G. Sirota,¹ Harvey A. Swadlow,² and Irina N. Beloozerova¹

¹Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona 85013, and ²Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269

We studied the flow of corticothalamic (CT) information from the motor cortex of the cat during two types of locomotion: visually guided (cortex dependent) and unguided. Spike trains of CT neurons in layers V (CT5s) and VI (CT6s) were examined. All CT5s had fast-conducting axons (<2 ms conduction time), and nearly all showed step-phase-related activity (94%), sensory receptive fields (100%), and spontaneous activity (100%). In contrast, conduction times along CT6 axons were much slower, with bimodal peaks occurring at 6 and 32 ms. Remarkably, almost none of the slowest conducting CT6s showed step-related activity, sensory receptive fields, or spontaneous activity. As a group, these enigmatic neurons were all but silent. Some of the CT6s with moderately conducting axons showed step-related behavior (35%), and this response was more precisely timed than that of the CT5s. We propose distinct functional roles for these diverse corticothalamic populations.

Key words: motor cortex; pyramidal tract neurons; corticothalamic neurons; conduction velocity; activity; cat

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Received Feb 4, 2005; revised May 10, 2005; accepted May 11, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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