Responses in Rat Core Auditory Cortex are Preserved during Sleep Spindle Oscillations.

ABSTRACT:

Study objectives

Sleep is defined as a reversible state of reduction in sensory responsiveness and immobility. A long-standing hypothesis suggests that a high arousal threshold during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is mediated by sleep spindle oscillations, impairing thalamocortical transmission of incoming sensory stimuli. Here we set out to test this idea directly by examining sensory-evoked neuronal spiking activity during natural sleep.

Methods

We compared neuronal (n = 269) and multiunit activity (MUA), as well as local field potentials (LFP) in rat core auditory cortex (A1) during NREM sleep, comparing responses to sounds depending on the presence or absence of sleep spindles.

Results

We found that sleep spindles robustly modulated the timing of neuronal di

SUBMITTER: Sela Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4835306 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature