Influence of norepinephrine on somatosensory neuronal responses in the rat thalamus: A combined modeling and in vivo multi-channel, multi-neuron recording study

Abstract Norepinephrine released within primary sensory circuits from locus coeruleus afferent fibers can produce a spectrum of modulatory actions on spontaneous or sensory-evoked activity of individual neurons. Within the ventral posterior medial thalamus, membrane currents modulated by norepinephr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2007-05, Vol.1147, p.105-123
Main Authors: Moxon, Karen A, Devilbiss, David M, Chapin, John K, Waterhouse, Barry D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Central nervous system
Computer model
Electric Stimulation
Electrophysiology
Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory - physiology
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology
Locus Coeruleus - cytology
Locus Coeruleus - physiology
Male
Models, Neurological
Neural Networks (Computer)
Neural Pathways - cytology
Neural Pathways - physiology
Neurology
Neurons, Afferent - physiology
Norepinephrine - physiology
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Thalamus - cytology
Thalamus - physiology
Trigeminal
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Whisker
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Summary:Abstract Norepinephrine released within primary sensory circuits from locus coeruleus afferent fibers can produce a spectrum of modulatory actions on spontaneous or sensory-evoked activity of individual neurons. Within the ventral posterior medial thalamus, membrane currents modulated by norepinephrine have been identified. However, the relationship between the cellular effects of norepinephrine and the impact of norepinephrine release on populations of neurons encoding sensory signals is still open to question. To address this lacuna in understanding the net impact of the noradrenergic system on sensory signal processing, a computational model of the rat trigeminal somatosensory thalamus was generated. The effects of independent manipulation of different cellular actions of norepinephrine on simulated afferent input to the computational model were then examined. The results of these simulations aided in the design of in vivo neural ensemble recording experiments where sensory-driven responses of thalamic neurons were measured before and during locus coeruleus activation in waking animals. Together the simulated and experimental results reveal several key insights regarding the regulation of neural network operation by norepinephrine including: 1) cell-specific modulatory actions of norepinephrine, 2) mechanisms of norepinephrine action that can improve the tuning of the network and increase the signal-to-noise ratio of cellular responses in order to enhance network representation of salient stimulus features and 3) identification of the dynamic range of thalamic neuron function through which norepinephrine operates.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.02.006