Excitatory Crossmodal Input to a Widespread Population of Primary Sensory Cortical Neurons
Yuan-Jie Xiao1 • Lidan Wang1 • Yu-Zhang Liu1,3 • Jiayu Chen1 • Haoyu Zhang1 • Yan Gao1 • Hua He2 • Zheng Zhao1 • Zhiru Wang11 Institute and Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of the Navy Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China
3 Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 15260, USA
Abstract
Crossmodal information processing in sensory cortices has been reported in sparsely distributed neurons under normal conditions and can undergo experience- or activity-induced plasticity. Given the potential role in brain function as indicated by previous reports, crossmodal connectivity in the sensory cortex needs to be further explored. Using perforated whole-cell recording in anesthetized adult rats, we found that almost all neurons recorded in the primary somatosensory, auditory, and visual cortices exhibited significant membrane-potential responses to crossmodal stimulation, as recorded when brain activity states were pharmacologically down-regulated in light anesthesia. These crossmodal cortical responses were excitatory and subthreshold, and further seemed to be relayed primarily by the sensory thalamus, but not the sensory cortex, of the stimulated modality. Our experiments indicate a sensory cortical presence of widespread excitatory crossmodal inputs, which might play roles in brain functions involving crossmodal information processing or plasticity.
Keywords
Crossmodal input; Crossmodal response; Crossmodal plasticity; Sensory cortex; Crossmodal task; Sensory loss; GABAergic transmission
