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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.04.14.439865

Visual Thalamocortical Mechanisms of Waking State Dependent Activity and Alpha Oscillations

Nestvogel, D. B.·McCormick, D. A.
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Abstract

The brain exhibits distinct patterns of recurrent activity closely related to the behavioral state of the animal. The neural mechanisms that underlie state-dependent activity in the awake animal are incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate that two types of state-dependent activity - rapid arousal/movement related signals and a 3-5 Hz alpha-like rhythm - in the primary visual cortex (V1) of mice strongly correlate with activity in the visual thalamus. Inactivation of V1 does not interrupt arousal/movement related signals in most visual thalamic neurons, but it abolishes the 3-5 Hz oscillation. Silencing of the visual thalamus similarly eradicates the alpha-like rhythm and perturbs arousal/movement-related activation in V1. Finally, we observed that whisker movement or locomotion is not required for rapid increases in cortical activation. Our results indicate that thalamocortical interactions together with cell-intrinsic properties of thalamocortical cells play a crucial role in shaping state-dependent activity in V1 of the awake animal. HighlightsO_LIWhisker movements correlate with rapid synaptic activation in V1 and visual thalamus C_LIO_LISilencing of V1 does not abolish movement related activation in most dLGN or LP cells C_LIO_LISilencing of visual thalamus strongly reduces movement related activation in V1 C_LIO_LIThalamocortical interactions generate state-dependent alpha frequency oscillation C_LIO_LIVisual thalamic cells exhibit LTS firing during alpha oscillation in the awake mouse C_LI

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Nestvogel, D. B., McCormick, D. A.. 2021-04-14. Visual Thalamocortical Mechanisms of Waking State Dependent Activity and Alpha Oscillations. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.14.439865

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