Sub-Threshold Receptive Fields of Sensory Neocortex

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A novel method is being developed for study of sub-threshold synaptic events that occur within individual neurons in the awake mammalian brain. Unlike traditional methods which require impalement and resultant damage to a nerve cell by an intracellular microelectrode, the present method uses an electrode which is extracellular. Far less cellular damage results, therefore, and sub-threshold synaptic events can be studied for very long periods of time. The method entails passing extracellular current pulses through a recording microelectrode and measuring the threshold of the neuron under study to this direct electrical stimulation. This research explores the application of this new method to two problem areas in cortical neurophysiology: (1) the analysis of sub- threshold receptive fields and components of receptive fields in sensory neocortex, and (2) the analysis of sub-threshold synaptic inputs to neurons studied with chronically implanted electrodes over very long periods of time. This research will contribute to a better understanding of the cortical neuronal substrates of sensory perception and the dynamic mechanisms by which the properties of individual neurons are modified by experience over long periods of time.