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The Journal of Neuroscience, July 26, 2006, 26(30):8009-8016; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5472-05.2006

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Encoding and Decoding Touch Location in the Leech CNS

Eric E. Thomson and William B. Kristan

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, and University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093

Correspondence should be addressed to William B. Kristan, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Pacific Hall 324, La Jolla, CA 92093. wkristan{at}ucsd.edu

Spike times encode stimulus values in many sensory systems, but it is generally unknown whether such temporal variations are decoded (i.e., whether they influence downstream networks that control behavior). In the present study, we directly address this decoding problem by quantifying both sensory encoding and decoding in the leech. By mechanically stimulating the leech body wall while recording from mechanoreceptors, we show that pairs of leech sensory neurons with overlapping receptive fields encode touch location by their relative latencies, number of spikes, and instantaneous firing rates, with relative latency being the most accurate indicator of touch location. We then show that the relative latency and count are decoded by manipulating these variables in sensory neuron pairs while simultaneously monitoring the resulting behavior. Although both variables are important determinants of leech behavior, the decoding mechanisms are more sensitive to changes in relative spike count than changes in relative latency.

Key words: leech; local bend response; sensory coding; decoding; touch discrimination; latency

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Received Dec. 21, 2005; revised May 29, 2006; accepted June 21, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to William B. Kristan, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Pacific Hall 324, La Jolla, CA 92093. wkristan{at}ucsd.edu

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