Cellular and synaptic analysis of rodent social facial touch

桶状皮质中胡须的精美地形表示，以及易于接触以进行操作或刺激的事实，极大地促进了该模型系统的成功。麻醉动物对单个胡须的定量控制触觉刺激提供了胡须系统的高分辨率生理学图像，这在任何其他哺乳动物的感觉系统中都是无与伦比的。然而，我们仍然不知道胡须到桶系统是如何处理复杂的具有生物学意义的刺激的。这一主题--复杂的具有生物学意义的刺激的处理--将在这个项目中进行。具体地说，我们将研究啮齿动物桶状皮质中社会性面部触摸的神经表征。这个项目由四个工作包组成，将建立在我们之前关于社会性面部触摸的工作基础上，以及在清醒、行为的动物中记录技术的发展。在工作包1中，我们将分析麻醉动物对被动社会触摸(被触摸)的神经反应。在工作包2中，我们将建立并验证头部固定准备，用于分析社交触摸过程中桶状皮质的细胞内反应。在工作包3中，将应用WP2中建立的技术来表征大鼠桶状皮质中社会性面部触摸的神经表征。在工作包4中，我们将准备将头部固定动物的工作扩展到自由交互/移动的动物。我们的项目将阐明社会接触的细胞学基础，并将首次深入了解桶状皮质中复杂刺激的处理。

The exquisite topographic representation of the whiskers in the barrel cortex and the fact that whiskers can be easily accessed for manipulation or stimulation has greatly contributed to the success of this model system. The quantitatively controlled tactile stimulation of single whiskers in anesthetized animals provided a high-resolution picture of physiology of the whisker system that is unmatched in any other mammalian sensory system. Nevertheless we are still ignorant about how the whisker-to-barrel system processes complex biologically meaningful stimuli. This theme – the processing of complex biologically meaningful stimuli – will be pursued in this project. Specifically we will investigate the neural representation of social facial touch in the rodent barrel cortex. This project consists of four work packages and will build on our previous work on social facial touch and the development for recording techniques in awake, behaving animals. In work package 1 we will analyze neural responses to passive social touch (being touched) in anesthetized animals. In work package 2 we will establish and validate a head-fixed preparation for analyzing intracellular responses in barrel cortex during social touch. In work package 3 will apply the techniques established in WP2 to characterize the neural representation of social facial touch in the rat barrel cortex. In work package 4 we will prepare to extend the work in head-fixed animals to freely interacting / moving animals. Our project will elucidate the cellular basis of social touch and will for the first time provide insight into the processing of complex stimuli in the barrel cortex.