Abstract
We examined the spatial structure of noise in optical recordings made with two commonly used voltage-sensitive dyes (RH795 and RH1691) in mouse barrel cortex in vivo, and determined that the signal-to-noise ratio of the two dyes was comparable when averaging over barrel-sized areas, or at single pixels distant from large blood vessels. We examined the spatiotemporal development of whisker- and electrically-evoked optical responses by quantifying the area of activated cortical surface as a function of time. Whisker and electrical stimuli activated cortical areas between 0.2–2.0 mm2 depending on intensity. More importantly, both types of activation recruited cortical area at similar rates and showed a linear relationship between the maximal activated area and the peak rate of increase of the activated area. We propose a general rule of supragranular cortical activation in which the initial spreading speed of the response determines the total activated area, independent of the type of activation. Finally, despite comparable single-response kinetics, we observed greater paired-pulse depression of whisker-evoked responses relative to electrically-evoked responses.
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Acknowledgement
Sponsored by The Human Frontier Science Program Organization and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. The authors are grateful to Esther Garcia de Yebenes for histology.
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Civillico, E., Contreras, D. Comparison of Responses to Electrical Stimulation and Whisker Deflection Using Two Different Voltage-sensitive Dyes in Mouse Barrel Cortex in Vivo. J Membrane Biol 208, 171–182 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-005-0828-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-005-0828-6