Layer-specific interhemispheric functional connectivity in the somatosensory cortex of rats: resting state electrophysiology and fMRI studies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2016

Abstract

The spontaneous cerebral hemodynamic fluctuations observed during the resting state have been frequently visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). However, the neuronal populations and neuroelectric characteristics underlying the functional connectivity of cerebrohemodynamic activities are poorly understood. We investigated the characteristics of bi-hemispheric functional connectivity via electrophysiology and rsfMRI in the primary sensory cortex of rats anesthetized by α-chloralose. Unlike the evoked responses, the spontaneous electrophysiological activity was concentrated in the infragranular layers and could be classified into subtypes with distinctive current sources and sinks. Both neuroelectric and rsfMRI signals were interhemispherically correlated in a layer-specific manner, suggesting that there are independent neural inputs to infragranular and granular/supragranular layers. The majority of spontaneous electrophysiological activities were bilaterally paired with delays of up to ~50 ms between each pair. The variable interhemispheric delay implies the involvement of indirect, multi-neural pathways. Our findings demonstrated the diverse activity patterns of layer-specific electrophysiological substrates and suggest the recruitment of multiple, non-specific brain regions in construction of interhemispheric functional connectivity.

Identifier

84931057443 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Brain Structure and Function

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1073-0

e-ISSN

18632661

ISSN

18632653

PubMed ID

26077581

First Page

2801

Last Page

2815

Issue

5

Volume

221

Grant

R01 EB001954

Fund Ref

National Institutes of Health

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