Thalamocortical control of cell-type specificity drives circuits for processing whisker-related information in mouse barrel cortex

Timothy R. Young, Mariko Yamamoto, Satomi S. Kikuchi, Aya C. Yoshida, Takaya Abe, Kenichi Inoue, Joshua P. Johansen, Andrea Benucci, Yumiko Yoshimura and Tomomi Shimogori ()
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Timothy R. Young: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Mariko Yamamoto: National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Satomi S. Kikuchi: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Aya C. Yoshida: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Takaya Abe: RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research
Kenichi Inoue: RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research
Joshua P. Johansen: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Andrea Benucci: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Yumiko Yoshimura: National Institutes of Natural Sciences
Tomomi Shimogori: RIKEN Center for Brain Science

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Abstract Excitatory spiny stellate neurons are prominently featured in the cortical circuits of sensory modalities that provide high salience and high acuity representations of the environment. These specialized neurons are considered developmentally linked to bottom-up inputs from the thalamus, however, the molecular mechanisms underlying their diversification and function are unknown. Here, we investigated this in mouse somatosensory cortex, where spiny stellate neurons and pyramidal neurons have distinct roles in processing whisker-evoked signals. Utilizing spatial transcriptomics, we identified reciprocal patterns of gene expression which correlated with these cell-types and were linked to innervation by specific thalamic inputs during development. Genetic manipulation that prevents the acquisition of spiny stellate fate highlighted an important role for these neurons in processing distinct whisker signals within functional cortical columns, and as a key driver in the formation of specific whisker-related circuits in the cortex.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41749-x

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