Noradrenergic activation amplifies bottom-up and top-down signal-to-noise ratios in sensory thalamus.

ABSTRACT: Thalamocortical cells receive sensory signals via primary sensory afferents and cortical signals via corticothalamic afferents. These signals are influenced by a variety of neuromodulators that are released in the thalamus during specific behavioral states. Hence, different neuromodulators may set different thalamic modes of sensory information processing. We found that noradrenergic activation affects sensory and corticothalamic signals in the whisker thalamus differently than cholinergic activation. Whereas cholinergic activation increases the spontaneous firing (noise) and enlarges the receptive fields of ventroposterior medial thalamus (VPM) cells, noradrenergic activation decreases spontaneous firing and focuses receptive fields. Consequently, for sensory signals, noradrenergic activa

SUBMITTER: Hirata A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6674001 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature