University of Leicester
Browse
- No file added yet -

Cortical Local Field Potential Power Is Associated with Behavioral Detection of Near-threshold Stimuli in the Rat Whisker System: Dissociation between Orbitofrontal and Somatosensory Cortices.

Download (1.92 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2017-11-15, 12:09 authored by Rachel E. Rickard, Andrew M. J. Young, Todor V. Gerdjikov
There is growing evidence that ongoing brain oscillations may represent a key regulator of attentional processes and as such may contribute to behavioral performance in psychophysical tasks. OFC appears to be involved in the top-down modulation of sensory processing; however, the specific contribution of ongoing OFC oscillations to perception has not been characterized. Here we used the rat whiskers as a model system to further characterize the relationship between cortical state and tactile detection. Head-fixed rats were trained to report the presence of a vibrotactile stimulus (frequency = 60 Hz, duration = 2 sec, deflection amplitude = 0.01-0.5 mm) applied to a single vibrissa. We calculated power spectra of local field potentials preceding the onset of near-threshold stimuli from microelectrodes chronically implanted in OFC and somatosensory cortex. We found a dissociation between slow oscillation power in the two regions in relation to detection probability: Higher OFC but not somatosensory delta power was associated with increased detection probability. Furthermore, coherence between pFC and barrel cortex was reduced preceding successful detection. Consistent with the role of OFC in attention, our results identify a cortical network whose activity is differentially modulated before successful tactile detection.

Funding

We thank the University of Leicester Biomedical Workshop for excellent technical support. Funded in part by the Royal Society (UK). RR was in receipt of a University of Leicester postgraduate studentship.

History

Citation

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2017, pp. 1-8

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND PSYCHOLOGY/MBSP Non-Medical Departments/Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Published in

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

Publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (MIT Press) With Cognitive Neuroscience Institute

issn

0898-929X

eissn

1530-8898

Copyright date

2017

Available date

2017-11-15

Publisher version

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn_a_01187

Language

en

Usage metrics

    University of Leicester Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Keywords

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC