Similarly,
Thalamic feedback path found regulate:
The cerebral cortex processes sensory information via a complex network of neural connections. Furthermore, How are these signals modulated to refine perception? Similarly, A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) identified a mechanism by which certain thalamic projections target neurons. Consequently, modify their excitability. Consequently, This work. Meanwhile, published in Nature communicationsReveals a form of communication previously unknown between two regions of the brain, thalamus and somatosensory cortex. For example, This could explain why the same sensory stimulus does not always get the same feeling. Therefore, opens up new ways to understand certain mental disorders.
The same sensory stimulus can be perceived clearly and remain vague to others. Meanwhile, This phenomenon can be explained by the way the brain incorporates stimuli. For example, touching an object outside of our field of thalamic feedback path found regulate vision can be sufficient to identify it … Meanwhile, or not. Nevertheless, These perceptual variations remain poorly understood. Consequently, but can depend on factors such as the disturbing attention or presence of other stimuli. What is certain. according to neuroscientists is that when we touch something, the sensory signals of the skin receptors are interpreted by a specialized region called the Somatosensory Cortex.
On their way. the signals go through a complex network of neurons, including a crucial structure in the brain called Thalamus, which serves as a relay station. However, the process is not one -way. An important part of the thalamus also receives comments from the cortex, forming a reciprocal communication loop. But the exact role and the functioning of this feedback loop is still not clear. Could this play an active role in the way we perceive sensory information?
A new modulator route – Thalamic feedback path found regulate
To explore this question. thalamic feedback path found regulate unige neuroscientists have studied a region at the top of pyramidal neurons in the somatosensory cortex, rich in dendrites – extensions that receive electrical signals from other neurons. ” Pyramidal neurons have fairly strange forms. They are asymmetrical, both in shape and function. What is happening at the top of the neuron is different from what is happening below ”. explains Anthony Holtmaat, full professor of the basic department of neuroscience (Neufo) and the Synapsy Center for Neuroscience Research for Mental Health at the Faculty of Medicine of Unige, and director of the study.
His team has concentrated on a path in which the top of pyramidal neurons in mice receives projections of. a specific part of the thalamus. By stimulating the animal’s mustaches – the equivalent of touch in humans – a precise dialogue between these projections. the dendrites of pyramidal neurons has been revealed.
What is remarkable. thalamic feedback path found regulate unlike regular thalamic projections known to activate pyramidal neurons, is that the part of the thalamus providing feedback modulates their activity, in particular by making them more sensitive to stimuli. “”
Ronan Chereau, principal researcher to Neufo and co-author of the study
An unexpected receiver
Use of cutting -edge techniques – imaging, optogenetics, pharmacology and, above all, electrophysiology – the research team has been able to record the electrical activity of small structures such as dendrites. These approaches have contributed to clarifying the functioning of this modulation at the synaptic level. Normally, neurotransmitter glutamate acts as an activation signal. It helps neurons to transmit sensory information by triggering an electrical response in the following neuron.
In this newly discovered mechanism. glutamate released from thalamic projections binds to an alternative receiver located in a specific region of cortical pyramidal neuron. Rather than directly exciting the neuron. thalamic feedback path found regulate this interaction changes its state of responsiveness, effectively starting it for a future sensory entry. The neuron then becomes more easily activated, as if it were conditioned to better respond to a future sensory stimulus.
” This is a path previously unknown for modulation. Usually. modulation of pyramidal neurons is ensured by the balance between excitatory neurons and inhibitors, and not by this type of mechanism, ”explains Ronan Chereau.
Implications for perception. disorders
By demonstrating that a specific feedback loop between the somatosensorial cortex and the thalamus can modulate the excitability of cortical neurons, the study suggests that thalamic tracks do not simply transmit sensory signals, but also act as selective amplifiers of cortical activity. “In other words. our perception of touch is not only shaped by incoming sensory data, but also by dynamic interactions within the Thalamocortical network ”, adds Anthony Holtmaat. This mechanism could also help understand the thalamic feedback path found regulate perceptual flexibility observed in sleep or awakening states, when the sensory thresholds vary. Its alteration could also play a role in certain pathologies, such as disorders of the autism spectrum.
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