Sensitivity to perturbations in vivo implies high noise and suggests rate coding in cortex

Michael London, Arnd Roth, Lisa Beeren, Michael Häusser and Peter E. Latham ()
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Michael London: Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Arnd Roth: Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Lisa Beeren: Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Michael Häusser: Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Peter E. Latham: Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK

Nature, 2010, vol. 466, issue 7302, 123-127

Abstract: Neural coding: no time for noise Neural responses are variable — identical sensory stimuli produce different responses — but it is not clear whether this variability carries important information, or whether it is just noise. London et al. characterize the sensitivity to small fluctuations of in vivo cortical networks in rat barrel cortex in the context of their consequences for neural coding. A perturbation equivalent to adding a single spike in one neuron produces about 28 additional spikes in its projection targets and a detectable increase in local firing rate. Simulations suggest that this amplification leads to large intrinsic variations in the system that are pure noise, carrying no information about the input, and therefore unsuited for carrying a reliable temporal code. The authors conclude that rat barrel cortex is likely to use primarily a rate code.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09086

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