Perhaps the oldest, most widely recognized, and least understood electrical phenomena of the human brain is sickness and in health are its characteristic large amplitude electrical oscillations. Recently, there has been a major advance towards understanding the relationship between brain oscillations and brain function. Electrocortical oscillations in the high frequency gamma band (approx.40 Hz) appear to play a role in the temporal synchronization of information processing in sensory cortex. Yet, their functional significance and mechanism of neurogenesis is still a matter of much speculation and controversy. In this experimental series, both of these issues will be addressed by performing high resolution mapping of the two dimensional distribution of evoked and spontaneous gamma oscillation on the surface of vibrissa/barrel cortex in the rat using 64 channel electrode arrays, and by comparing these spatiotemporal maps to concurrent recordings performed in specific and nonspecific nuclei of somatosensory thalamus. Results previously obtained in the auditory system, concerning thalamic modulation of cortical gamma oscillations, will first be extrapolated to the somatosensory system, to establish structural and functional analogies that should strongly support or refute hypothesis about the participation of distinct thalamic systems in the generation or modulation of cortical gamma oscillations. Second, possible synchronization within reciprocally connected thalamocortical circuits during gamma oscillation will be studied. The vibrissa thalamocortical interactions at the level of individual cortical columns. The spatial and temporal properties of gamma oscillation in the vibrissa/barrel field, and possible thalamocortical synchronization, will be studied in the unanesthetized and unrestrained rat perfuming an active tactile discrimination task. These experiments would provide a basis for understanding the neurogenesis of gamma oscillations in the rodent, and their relationship to underlying anatomy and synaptic innervation, bridging a major gap in our understanding between single cell properties and the response properties of larger multi-synaptic neural systems. These experiments will also provide a starting point for conduction similar more limited studies in humans, the long range goal of our research program.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01NS036981-01A1S1
Application #
6054511
Study Section
Neurology A Study Section (NEUA)
Program Officer
Jacobs, Margaret
Project Start
1998-08-15
Project End
2001-06-30
Budget Start
1998-08-15
Budget End
1999-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Colorado at Boulder
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Boulder
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80309
Rodgers, Krista M; Deming, Yuetiva K; Bercum, Florencia M et al. (2014) Reversal of established traumatic brain injury-induced, anxiety-like behavior in rats after delayed, post-injury neuroimmune suppression. J Neurotrauma 31:487-97
Rodgers, Krista M; Bercum, Florencia M; McCallum, Danielle L et al. (2012) Acute neuroimmune modulation attenuates the development of anxiety-like freezing behavior in an animal model of traumatic brain injury. J Neurotrauma 29:1886-97
Benison, Alexander M; Chumachenko, Serhiy; Harrison, Jacqueline A et al. (2011) Caudal granular insular cortex is sufficient and necessary for the long-term maintenance of allodynic behavior in the rat attributable to mononeuropathy. J Neurosci 31:6317-28
Rodgers, Krista M; Hutchinson, Mark R; Northcutt, Alexis et al. (2009) The cortical innate immune response increases local neuronal excitability leading to seizures. Brain 132:2478-86
Christianson, John P; Benison, Alexander M; Jennings, Joshua et al. (2008) The sensory insular cortex mediates the stress-buffering effects of safety signals but not behavioral control. J Neurosci 28:13703-11
Rodgers, Krista M; Benison, Alexander M; Klein, Andrea et al. (2008) Auditory, somatosensory, and multisensory insular cortex in the rat. Cereb Cortex 18:2941-51
Benison, Alexander M; Rector, David M; Barth, Daniel S (2007) Hemispheric mapping of secondary somatosensory cortex in the rat. J Neurophysiol 97:200-7
Benison, Alexander M; Ard, Tyler D; Crosby, Allison M et al. (2006) Temporal patterns of field potentials in vibrissa/barrel cortex reveal stimulus orientation and shape. J Neurophysiol 95:2242-51
Rodgers, Krista M; Benison, Alexander M; Barth, Daniel S (2006) Two-dimensional coincidence detection in the vibrissa/barrel field. J Neurophysiol 96:1981-90
Menzel, Richard R; Barth, Daniel S (2005) Multisensory and secondary somatosensory cortex in the rat. Cereb Cortex 15:1690-6

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