Dept. of Physiology, Interdepartamental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern Univ., Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
J Neurophysiol. 2012 Sep;108(5):1278-87. doi: 10.1152/jn.00305.2012. Epub 2012 Jun 13.
The barrel cortex (BC) is essential for the acquisition of whisker-signaled trace eyeblink conditioning and shows learning-related expansion of the trained barrels after the acquisition of a whisker-signaled task. Most previous research examining the role of the BC in learning has focused on anatomic changes in the layer IV representation of the cortical barrels. We studied single-unit extracellular recordings from individual neurons in layers V and VI of the BC as rabbits acquired the whisker-signaled trace eyeblink conditioning task. Neurons in layers V and VI in both conditioned and pseudoconditioned animals robustly responded to whisker stimulation, but neurons in conditioned animals showed a significant enhancement in responsiveness in concert with learning. Learning-related changes in firing rate occurred as early as the day of learning criterion within the infragranular layers of the primary sensory cortex.
大脑皮层的 barrels 区（BC）是获得胡须信号痕迹性眨眼条件反射的关键，并且在获得胡须信号任务后，其训练桶状皮层区表现出与学习相关的扩张。大多数先前研究皮层 barrels 区 IV 层的解剖结构变化，探讨 BC 在学习中的作用。当兔子获得胡须信号痕迹性眨眼条件反射任务时，我们对 BC 的 V 层和 VI 层的单个神经元进行了单细胞外记录。条件和假性条件动物的 V 层和 VI 层的神经元对胡须刺激有强烈的反应，但条件动物的神经元的反应能力显著增强，与学习一致。与学习相关的放电率变化早在初级感觉皮层颗粒下层的学习标准日就出现了。
