Heterogeneous side effects of cortical inactivation in behaving animals.

ABSTRACT: Cortical inactivation represents a key causal manipulation allowing the study of cortical circuits and their impact on behavior. A key assumption in inactivation studies is that the neurons in the target area become silent while the surrounding cortical tissue is only negligibly impacted. However, individual neurons are embedded in complex local circuits composed of excitatory and inhibitory cells with connections extending hundreds of microns. This raises the possibility that silencing one part of the network could induce complex, unpredictable activity changes in neurons outside the targeted inactivation zone. These off-target side effects can potentially complicate interpretations of inactivation manipulations, especially when they are related to changes in behavior. Here, we demonstrat

SUBMITTER: Andrei AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8457825 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature