The Second Spiking Threshold: Dynamics of Laminar Network Spiking in the Visual Cortex.

ABSTRACT: Most neurons have a threshold separating the silent non-spiking state and the state of producing temporal sequences of spikes. But neurons in vivo also have a second threshold, found recently in granular layer neurons of the primary visual cortex, separating spontaneous ongoing spiking from visually evoked spiking driven by sharp transients. Here we examine whether this second threshold exists outside the granular layer and examine details of transitions between spiking states in ferrets exposed to moving objects. We found the second threshold, separating spiking states evoked by stationary and moving visual stimuli from the spontaneous ongoing spiking state, in all layers and zones of areas 17 and 18 indicating that the second threshold is a property of the network. Spontaneous and evoked

SUBMITTER: Forsberg LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4987378 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature