Mesoscale infraslow spontaneous membrane potential fluctuations recapitulate high-frequency activity cortical motifs

Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 20:6:7738. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8738.

Abstract

Neuroimaging of spontaneous, resting-state infraslow (<0.1 Hz) brain activity has been used to reveal the regional functional organization of the brain and may lead to the identification of novel biomarkers of neurological disease. However, these imaging studies generally rely on indirect measures of neuronal activity and the nature of the neuronal activity correlate remains unclear. Here we show, using wide-field, voltage-sensitive dye imaging, the mesoscale spatiotemporal structure and pharmacological dependence of spontaneous, infraslow cortical activity in anaesthetized and awake mice. Spontaneous infraslow activity is regionally distinct, correlates with electroencephalography and local field potential recordings, and shows bilateral symmetry between cortical hemispheres. Infraslow activity is attenuated and its functional structure abolished after treatment with voltage-gated sodium channel and glutamate receptor antagonists. Correlation analysis reveals patterns of infraslow regional connectivity that are analogous to cortical motifs observed from higher-frequency spontaneous activity and reflect the underlying framework of intracortical axonal projections.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Axons
  • Brain Mapping
  • Brain Waves / drug effects
  • Brain Waves / physiology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / drug effects
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / pharmacology
  • Membrane Potentials / drug effects
  • Membrane Potentials / physiology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Physical Stimulation
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis
  • Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers / pharmacology
  • Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging*
  • Wakefulness / drug effects
  • Wakefulness / physiology

Substances

  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
  • Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers