The Transformation of Adaptation Specificity to Whisker Identity from Brainstem to Thalamus.

ABSTRACT: Stimulus specific adaptation has been studied extensively in different modalities. High specificity implies that deviant stimulus induces a stronger response compared to a common stimulus. The thalamus gates sensory information to the cortex, therefore, the specificity of adaptation in the thalamus must have a great impact on cortical processing of sensory inputs. We studied the specificity of adaptation to whisker identity in the ventral posteromedial nucleus of the thalamus (VPM) in rats using extracellular and intracellular recordings. We found that subsequent to repetitive stimulation that induced strong adaptation, the response to stimulation of the same, or any other responsive whisker was equally adapted, indicating that thalamic adaptation is non-specific. In contrast, adaptation o

SUBMITTER: Jubran M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4917531 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature