Journal article
Wakefulness suppresses retinal wave-related neural activity in visual cortex
Journal of neurophysiology, Vol.118(2), pp.1190-1197
08/01/2017
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00264.2017
PMCID: PMC5547270
PMID: 28615335
Abstract
In the developing visual system before eye opening, spontaneous retinal waves trigger bursts of neural activity in downstream structures, including visual cortex. At the same ages when retinal waves provide the predominant input to the visual system, sleep is the predominant behavioral state. However, the interactions between behavioral state and retinal wave-driven activity have never been explicitly examined. Here we characterized unit activity in visual cortex during spontaneous sleep-wake cycles in 9- and 12-day-old rats. At both ages, cortical activity occurred in discrete rhythmic bursts, ~30-60 s apart, mirroring the timing of retinal waves. Interestingly, when pups spontaneously woke up and moved their limbs in the midst of a cortical burst, the activity was suppressed. Finally, experimentally evoked arousals also suppressed intraburst cortical activity. All together, these results indicate that active wake interferes with the activation of the developing visual cortex by retinal waves. They also suggest that sleep-wake processes can modulate visual cortical plasticity at earlier ages than has been previously considered.
By recording in visual cortex in unanesthetized infant rats, we show that neural activity attributable to retinal waves is specifically suppressed when pups spontaneously awaken or are experimentally aroused. These findings suggest that the relatively abundant sleep of early development plays a permissive functional role for the visual system. It follows, then, that biological or environmental factors that disrupt sleep may interfere with the development of these neural networks.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Wakefulness suppresses retinal wave-related neural activity in visual cortex
- Creators
- Didhiti Mukherjee - DeLTA Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IowaAlex J Yonk - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IowaGreta Sokoloff - DeLTA Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IowaMark S Blumberg - DeLTA Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of neurophysiology, Vol.118(2), pp.1190-1197
- DOI
- 10.1152/jn.00264.2017
- PMID
- 28615335
- PMCID
- PMC5547270
- NLM abbreviation
- J Neurophysiol
- ISSN
- 0022-3077
- eISSN
- 1522-1598
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- R01 HD063071 / NICHD NIH HHS R37 HD081168 / NICHD NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984002408302771
Metrics
31 Record Views