Inhibitory sharpening of receptive fields contributes to whisker map plasticity in rat somatosensory cortex.

ABSTRACT: The role of inhibition in sensory cortical map plasticity is not well understood. Here we tested whether inhibition contributes to expression of receptive field plasticity in developing rat somatosensory (S1) cortex. In normal rats, microiontophoresis of gabazine (SR 95531), a competitive gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A receptor antagonist, preferentially disinhibited surround whisker responses relative to principal whisker responses, indicating that GABA(A) inhibition normally acts to sharpen whisker tuning. Plasticity was induced by transiently depriving adolescent rats of all but one whisker; this causes layer 2/3 (L2/3) receptive fields to shift away from the deprived principal whisker and toward the spared surround whisker. In units with shifted receptive fields, gabazine preferentia

SUBMITTER: Foeller E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3070316 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature