Cerebral cortex
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The ability to read the minds of others (i.e., to mentalize) requires that perceivers understand a wide range of different kinds of mental states, including not only others' beliefs and knowledge but also their feelings, desires, and preferences. Moreover, although such inferences may occasionally rely on observable features of a situation, perceivers more typically mentalize under conditions of "uncertainty," in which they must generate plausible hypotheses about a target's mental state from ambiguous or otherwise underspecified information. ⋯ Whereas ventral and dorsal aspects of medial prefrontal cortex responded more during ambiguous than unambiguous inferences regardless of the type of mental state, the right temporoparietal junction was sensitive to the distinction between beliefs and preferences irrespective of certainty. These results underscore the emerging consensus that, rather than comprising a single mental operation, social cognition makes flexible use of different processes as a function of the particular demands of the social context.
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Review Meta Analysis
Where is the semantic system? A critical review and meta-analysis of 120 functional neuroimaging studies.
Semantic memory refers to knowledge about people, objects, actions, relations, self, and culture acquired through experience. The neural systems that store and retrieve this information have been studied for many years, but a consensus regarding their identity has not been reached. Using strict inclusion criteria, we analyzed 120 functional neuroimaging studies focusing on semantic processing. ⋯ Secondary analyses showed specific subregions of this network associated with knowledge of actions, manipulable artifacts, abstract concepts, and concrete concepts. The cortical regions involved in semantic processing can be grouped into 3 broad categories: posterior multimodal and heteromodal association cortex, heteromodal prefrontal cortex, and medial limbic regions. The expansion of these regions in the human relative to the nonhuman primate brain may explain uniquely human capacities to use language productively, plan, solve problems, and create cultural and technological artifacts, all of which depend on the fluid and efficient retrieval and manipulation of semantic knowledge.
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Spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) is a strong candidate for an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent form of synaptic plasticity that could underlie the development of receptive field properties in sensory neocortices. Whilst induction of timing-dependent long-term potentiation (t-LTP) requires postsynaptic NMDA receptors, timing-dependent long-term depression (t-LTD) requires the activation of presynaptic NMDA receptors at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses in barrel cortex. Here we investigated the developmental profile of t-LTD at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses of mouse barrel cortex and studied their NMDA receptor subunit dependence. ⋯ Conversely, a GluN2A subunit-preferring antagonist blocked t-LTP but not t-LTD. The GluN2C/D subunit requirement for t-LTD appears to be synapse specific, as GluN2C/D antagonists did not block t-LTD at horizontal cross-columnar layer 2/3-to-layer 2/3 synapses, which was blocked by a GluN2B antagonist instead. These data demonstrate an NMDA receptor subunit-dependent double dissociation of t-LTD and t-LTP mechanisms at layer 4-to-layer 2/3 synapses, and suggest that t-LTD is mediated by distinct molecular mechanisms at different synapses on the same postsynaptic neuron.
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This study aims to clarify how endogenous release of cortical acetylcholine (ACh) modulates the balance between excitation and inhibition evoked in visual cortex. We show that electrical stimulation in layer 1 produced a significant release of ACh measured intracortically by chemoluminescence and evoked a composite synaptic response recorded intracellularly in layer 5 pyramidal neurons of rat visual cortex. The pharmacological specificity of the ACh neuromodulation was determined from the continuous whole-cell voltage clamp measurement of stimulation-locked changes of the input conductance during the application of cholinergic agonists and antagonists. ⋯ DHbetaE, the selective alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor antagonist, induced a depression of inhibition. Endogenous ACh could also enhance inhibition by acting directly on GABAergic interneurons, presynaptic to the recorded cell. We conclude that endogenous-released ACh amplifies the dominance of the inhibitory drive and thus decreases the excitability and sensory responsiveness of layer 5 pyramidal neurons.
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Previous studies have shown that paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocol, in which peripheral nerve stimuli are followed by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex at intervals that produce an approximately synchronous activation of cortical networks, enhances the amplitude of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by cortical stimulation. Indirect data support the hypothesis that the enhancement of MEPs produced by PAS involves long-term potentiation like changes in cortical synapses. The aim of present paper was to investigate the central nervous system level at which PAS produces its effects. ⋯ The descending volleys evoked by TMS represent postsynaptic activity of corticospinal neurones that can provide indirect information about the effectiveness of synaptic inputs to these neurones. PAS significantly enhanced the amplitude of later descending waves, whereas the earliest descending wave was not significantly modified by PAS. The present results show that PAS may increase the amplitude of later corticospinal volleys, consistent with a cortical origin of the effect of PAS.