The Journal of Neuroscience, April 1, 2009, 29(13):4089-4095; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5393-08.2009
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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Septal Neurons in Barrel Cortex Derive Their Receptive Field Input from the Lemniscal Pathway
Takahiro Furuta,1
Takeshi Kaneko,1,2 and
Martin Deschênes3
1Department of Morphological Brain Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, 2Core Research for Evolution Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan, and 3Centre de Recherche, Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Québec City, Canada G1J 2G3
Correspondence should be addressed to Martin Deschênes at the above address. Email: martin.deschenes{at}crulrg.ulaval.ca
Barrel-related circuits in the somatosensory cortex of rodents process vibrissal information conveyed through the lemniscal pathway. Yet, the origin of vibrissal input to interbarrrel regions (septa) remains an unsettled issue. A recurring proposal that never received conclusive experimental support is that septa-related circuits process paralemniscal inputs conveyed through the posterior group of the thalamus. Here we show that the receptive field of septal cells is independent of paralemniscal inputs, and that septal cells derive their receptive field input from neurons in the dorsal part of the thalamic barreloids. This result provides the missing piece of evidence for a separate pathway of vibrissal information that projects to septal columns of the barrel cortex.
Received Nov. 8, 2008;
revised Feb. 16, 2009;
accepted Feb. 19, 2009.
Correspondence should be addressed to Martin Deschênes at the above address. Email: martin.deschenes{at}crulrg.ulaval.ca
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