Functional connectivity in the thalamocorticostriatal axis of the Brown Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus, Berkenhout 1769),Functionale Konnektivität in der thalamocorticostriatal Achse von der Braunen Norwegen Ratte (Rattus norvegicus, Berkenhout 1769)
Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky
Erscheinungsjahr:
2009
Medientyp:
Text
Schlagworte:
barrel cortex
striatum
thalamus
functional connectivity
vibrissae
590 Tiere (Zoologie)
42.63 Tierphysiologie
42.63 Tierphysiologie
ddc:590
Beschreibung:
The vibrissae sensory pathway of the rat is topographically organised from the mystacial pad to the sensory thalamus and on to the barrel cortex. The latter is essential for the rat to perform whisker guided behavioural tasks, probably due to its projections to sub-cortical motor areas such as the basal ganglia. Indeed, the striatum - major input nucleus of the basal ganglia – enables action selection and behavioural reinforcement by integrating sensory and motor information. A large topographical projection from the rat barrel cortex to widely distributed areas of the striatum is assumed to be an important structural component supporting whisker-guided behaviour. Population responses to vibrissae stimulation have not been extensively studied in sub-cortical structures, in particular in the striatum. Connectivity between thalamic, cortical and striatal neuronal ensembles in the context of sensory stimulation has never been addressed on a functional level. We used a 10 Hz air puff, allowing un-damped movement of multiple whiskers, to look at functional connectivity in contra-lateral cortex, thalamus and striatum in response to sensory stimulation. Simultaneous recordings of thalamic, cortical and striatal local field potentials were made in male Brown Norway rats and functional connectivity was assessed using measures of coherence. Sensory specific functional circuits could thus be probed between neuronal populations in these three structures and their spatial distribution was assessed. Reversible abolishment of cortical activity enabled us to then uncover the directionality of the functional connectivity between thalamus and striatum through cortex. The following studies thus represent a novel approach to understanding information processing through functional circuits between neuronal populations in different structures of the vibrissae sensory system.