Journal article
Rapid Whisker Movements in Sleeping Newborn Rats
Current biology, Vol.22(21), pp.2075-2080
11/06/2012
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.009
PMCID: PMC3494768
PMID: 23084988
Abstract
Spontaneous activity in the sensory periphery drives infant brain activity and is thought to contribute to the formation of retinotopic and somatotopic maps [1–3]. In infant rats during active (or REM) sleep, brainstem-generated spontaneous activity triggers hundreds of thousands of skeletal muscle twitches each day [4]; sensory feedback from the resulting limb movements is a primary activator of forebrain activity [1]. The rodent whisker system, with its precise isomorphic mapping of individual whiskers to discrete brain areas, has been a key contributor to our understanding of somatotopic maps and developmental plasticity [5–7]. But although whisker movements are controlled by dedicated skeletal muscles [8, 9], spontaneous whisker activity has not been entertained as a contributing factor to the development of this system [10]. Here we report in 3- to 6-day-old rats that whiskers twitch rapidly and asynchronously during active sleep; furthermore, neurons in whisker thalamus exhibit bursts of activity that are tightly associated with twitches but occur infrequently during waking. Finally, we observed barrel-specific cortical activity during periods of twitching. This is the first report of self-generated, sleep-related twitches in the developing whisker system, a sensorimotor system that is unique for the precision with which it can be experimentally manipulated. The discovery of whisker twitching will allow us to attain a better understanding of the contributions of peripheral sensory activity to somatosensory integration and plasticity in the developing nervous system [11–13].
[Display omitted]
► Whiskers twitch rapidly and asynchronously in sleeping infant rats ► Whisker twitches result from activation of dedicated whisker skeletal muscles ► Whisker twitches trigger bursts of neural activity in whisker thalamus ► Barrel cortex exhibits discrete activation during periods of twitching
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Rapid Whisker Movements in Sleeping Newborn Rats
- Creators
- Alexandre Tiriac - Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USABrandt D Uitermarkt - Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USAAlexander S Fanning - Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USAGreta Sokoloff - Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USAMark S Blumberg - Department of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Current biology, Vol.22(21), pp.2075-2080
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.009
- PMID
- 23084988
- PMCID
- PMC3494768
- NLM abbreviation
- Curr Biol
- ISSN
- 0960-9822
- eISSN
- 1879-0445
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/06/2012
- Academic Unit
- Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984002491802771
Metrics
19 Record Views