RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dynamics of Cortical Dendritic Membrane Potential and Spikes in Freely Behaving Rats
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 096941
DO 10.1101/096941
A1 Jason J. Moore
A1 Pascal M. Ravassard
A1 David Ho
A1 Lavanya Acharya
A1 Ashley L. Kees
A1 Cliff Vuong
A1 Mayank R. Mehta
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/12/28/096941.abstract
AB Neural activity in vivo is primarily measured using extracellular somatic spikes, which provide limited information about neural computation. Hence, it is necessary to record from neuronal dendrites, which generate dendritic action potentials (DAP) and profoundly influence neural computation and plasticity. We measured neocortical sub- and supra-threshold dendritic membrane potential (DMP) from putative distal-most dendrites using tetrodes in freely behaving rats over multiple days with a high degree of stability and sub-millisecond temporal resolution. DAP firing rates were several fold larger than somatic rates. DAP rates were modulated by subthreshold DMP fluctuations which were far larger than DAP amplitude, indicting hybrid, analog-digital coding in the dendrites. Parietal DAP and DMP exhibited egocentric spatial maps comparable to pyramidal neurons. These results have important implications for neural coding and plasticity.One Sentence Summary Measurement of cortical dendritic membrane potential for several days in freely behaving rats reveals disproportionate dendritic spiking and analog and digital coding.