From elementary synaptic circuits to information processing in primary auditory cortex.
2011
A key for understanding how information is processed in the cortex is to unravel the dauntingly complex
cortical neural circuitry. Recent technical innovations, in particular the in vivo whole-cell voltage-clamp
recording techniques, make it possible to directly dissect the excitatory and inhibitory inputs underlying
an individual cortical neuron’s processing function. This method provides an essential complement to
conventional approaches, with which the transfer functions of the neural system are derived by correlating
neuronal spike outputs to sensory inputs. Here, we intend to introduce a potentially systematic
strategy for resolving the structure of functional synaptic circuits. As complex circuits can be built upon
elementary modules, the primary focus of this strategy is to identify elementary synaptic circuits and
determine how these circuit units contribute to specific processing functions. This review will summarize
recent studies on functional synaptic circuits in the primary auditory cortex, comment on existing
experimental techniques for in vivo circuitry studies, and provide a perspective on immediate future
directions.
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