Department of Neurophysiology, Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
Front Comput Neurosci. 2011 Jun 8;5:23. doi: 10.3389/fncom.2011.00023. eCollection 2011.
Precise temporal synchrony of spike firing has been postulated as an important neuronal mechanism for signal integration and the induction of plasticity in neocortex. As prefrontal cortex plays an important role in organizing memory and executive functions, the convergence of multiple visual pathways onto PFC predicts that neurons should preferentially synchronize their spiking when stimulus information is processed. Furthermore, synchronous spike firing should intensify if memory processes require the induction of neuronal plasticity, even if this is only for short-term. Here we show with multiple simultaneously recorded units in ventral prefrontal cortex that neurons participate in 3 ms precise synchronous discharges distributed across multiple sites separated by at least 500 μm. The frequency of synchronous firing is modulated by behavioral performance and is specific for the memorized visual stimuli. In particular, during the memory period in which activity is not stimulus driven, larger groups of up to seven sites exhibit performance dependent modulation of their spike synchronization.
精确的尖峰发射时间同步已被认为是新皮层中信号整合和诱导可塑性的重要神经元机制。由于前额叶皮层在组织记忆和执行功能方面起着重要作用，多个视觉通路汇聚到 PFC 预测神经元在处理刺激信息时应该优先同步它们的尖峰。此外，如果记忆过程需要诱导神经元可塑性，即使只是短期的，同步尖峰发射也应该增强。在这里，我们通过腹侧前额叶皮层中的多个同时记录的单元显示，神经元参与了跨越至少 500μm 的多个位点分布的 3ms 精确同步放电。同步放电的频率受行为表现的调节，并且与记忆的视觉刺激特异性相关。特别是在活动不受刺激驱动的记忆期间，多达七个位点的更大组表现出对其尖峰同步的性能依赖性调制。
