Event Details:
Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Sensory-Driven Traveling Waves
Abstract - Traveling waves are a ubiquitous feature of neuronal activity. Both evoked and spontaneous traveling waves across the spatiotemporal spectrum have been implicated in a wide range of cognitive functions, including sensory processing, motor control, and working memory. As these waves propagate across a cortical region, they coordinate local activity by influencing cellular excitability patterns via precise phase delays. Thus, understanding the circuit mechanisms underlying traveling waves is essential to our understanding of how neural computations maintain millisecond timing. Here, I will discuss ongoing work using microfabricated NeuroGrids combined with simultaneous multiphoton imaging to map traveling wave dynamics and their underlying circuit components. In mouse barrel cortex, we found that sensory input elicits distinct feedforward and feedback traveling waves that can be modulated by reward reinforcement. In particular, we link the feedback wave to two layer-specific circuit motifs: enhanced L2/3 network sparsity and sharpened L5 calcium in the apical dendrites. These results provide compelling evidence that traveling waves influence sensory perception by sculpting local microcircuit activity and cortical outputs.
Daniel Gonzales, Purdue University
Hosted by - Monique Mendes
About the BELONG Seminar Series
The BELONG seminar series features scientific talks from exceptional postdocs in the neurosciences who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or Person of Color. Sponsored by the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Committee for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, Equity and Justice (DIBEJ).
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