Dataset Information

Broad inhibition sharpens orientation selectivity by expanding input dynamic range in mouse simple cells.

ABSTRACT: Orientation selectivity (OS) is an emergent property in the primary visual cortex (V1). How OS arises from synaptic circuits remains unsolved. Here, in vivo whole-cell recordings in the mouse V1 revealed that simple cells received broadly tuned excitation and even more broadly tuned inhibition. Excitation and inhibition shared a similar orientation preference and temporally overlapped substantially. Neuron modeling and dynamic-clamp recording further revealed that excitatory inputs alone would result in membrane potential responses with significantly attenuated selectivity, due to a saturating input-output function of the membrane filtering. Inhibition ameliorated the attenuation of excitatory selectivity by expanding the input dynamic range and caused additional sharpening of output responses beyond unselectively suppressing responses at all orientations. This "blur-sharpening" effect allows selectivity conveyed by excitatory inputs to be better expressed, which may be a general mechanism underlying the generation of feature-selective responses in the face of strong excitatory inputs that are weakly biased.

SUBMITTER: Liu BH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3154747 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Broad inhibition sharpens orientation selectivity by expanding input dynamic range in mouse simple cells.

Liu Bao-hua BH Li Ya-tang YT Ma Wen-pei WP Pan Chen-jie CJ Zhang Li I LI Tao Huizhong Whit HW

Neuron 20110801 3

Orientation selectivity (OS) is an emergent property in the primary visual cortex (V1). How OS arises from synaptic circuits remains unsolved. Here, in vivo whole-cell recordings in the mouse V1 revealed that simple cells received broadly tuned excitation and even more broadly tuned inhibition. Excitation and inhibition shared a similar orientation preference and temporally overlapped substantially. Neuron modeling and dynamic-clamp recording further revealed that excitatory inputs alone would r ...[more]

PMID: 21835349

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Dataset Information

Broad inhibition sharpens orientation selectivity by expanding input dynamic range in mouse simple cells.

Publications

Broad inhibition sharpens orientation selectivity by expanding input dynamic range in mouse simple cells.

Similar Datasets

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