scholarly journals BigBrain 3D atlas of cortical layers: Cortical and laminar thickness gradients diverge in sensory and motor cortices

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. e3000678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Wagstyl ◽  
Stéphanie Larocque ◽  
Guillem Cucurull ◽  
Claude Lepage ◽  
Joseph Paul Cohen ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Wagstyl ◽  
Stéphanie Larocque ◽  
Guillem Cucurull ◽  
Claude Lepage ◽  
Joseph Paul Cohen ◽  
...  

AbstractHistological atlases of the cerebral cortex, such as those made famous by Brodmann and von Economo, are invaluable for understanding human brain microstructure and its relationship with functional organization in the brain. However, these existing atlases are limited to small numbers of manually annotated samples from a single cerebral hemisphere, measured from 2D histological sections. We present the first whole-brain quantitative 3D laminar atlas of the human cerebral cortex. This atlas was derived from a 3D histological model of the human brain at 20 micron isotropic resolution (BigBrain), using a convolutional neural network to segment, automatically, the cortical layers in both hemispheres. Our approach overcomes many of the historical challenges with measurement of histological thickness in 2D and the resultant laminar atlas provides an unprecedented level of precision and detail.We utilized this BigBrain cortical atlas to test whether previously reported thickness gradients, as measured by MRI in sensory and motor processing cortices, were present in a histological atlas of cortical thickness, and which cortical layers were contributing to these gradients. Cortical thickness increased across sensory processing hierarchies, primarily driven by layers III, V and VI. In contrast, fronto-motor cortices showed the opposite pattern, with decreases in total and pyramidal layer thickness. These findings illustrate how this laminar atlas will provide a link between single-neuron morphology, mesoscale cortical layering, macroscopic cortical thickness and, ultimately, functional neuroanatomy.


1983 ◽  
Vol 245 (6) ◽  
pp. F755-F762 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Iversen ◽  
L. Morkrid ◽  
J. Ofstad

The afferent arteriolar diameter (dAA) was investigated during development of hypertensive renal disease in normal and uninephrectomized control rats, in chronic DOCA-salt (DOCA), post-DOCA (p-DOCA), and chronic two-kidney one-clip (2K-1C) hypertensive rats, and in post-two-kidney one-clip (p-2K-1C) normotensive rats. dAA was measured by the microsphere method. Nephron loss was present in the kidneys exposed to elevate blood pressure. The dAA was reduced from 19.9 to 17.2 micron in the DOCA group (P less than 0.001) and from 19.1 to 16.3 micron in the nonclipped kidneys in the 2K-1C group (P less than 0.001). The dAA increased from 19.9 to 20.7 micron in the p-DOCA group. Afferent arteriolar dilatation from 19.1 to 21.0 micron (P less than 0.001) was present about 50 days after clipping in the 2K-1C group; in the clipped kidneys the dAA returned to normal (18.9 micron) after declipping. No relation between the dAA and plasma renin concentration was observed. In all models dAA was the same in three cortical layers of equal thickness. Accordingly, chronic renal DOCA-salt hypertension constricts the afferent arteriole with angiotensin-independent mechanisms. Autoregulatory dilatation of the afferent arteriole seems to be maintained for at least 50 days. When the hypertension is moderate, dAA in damaged kidneys may be dilated.


1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 2427-2445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath S. Lukatch ◽  
M. Bruce Maciver

Lukatch, Heath S. and M. Bruce MacIver. Physiology, pharmacology, and topography of cholinergic neocortical oscillations in vitro. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 2427–2445, 1997. Rat neocortical brain slices generated rhythmic extracellular field [microelectroencephalogram (micro-EEG)] oscillations at theta frequencies (3–12 Hz) when exposed to pharmacological conditions that mimicked endogenous ascending cholinergic and GABAergic inputs. Use of the specific receptor agonist and antagonist carbachol and bicuculline revealed that simultaneous muscarinic receptor activation and γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA)-mediated disinhibition werenecessary to elicit neocortical oscillations. Rhythmic activity was independent of GABAB receptor activation, but required intact glutamatergic transmission, evidenced by blockade or disruption of oscillations by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione and (±)-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, respectively. Multisite mapping studies showed that oscillations were localized to areas 29d and 18b (Oc2MM) and parts of areas 18a and 17. Peak oscillation amplitudes occurred in layer 2/3, and phase reversals were observed in layers 1 and 5. Current source density analysis revealed large-amplitude current sinks and sources in layers 2/3 and 5, respectively. An initial shift in peak inward current density from layer 1 to layer 2/3 indicated that two processes underlie an initial depolarization followed by oscillatory activity. Laminar transections localized oscillation-generating circuitry to superficial cortical layers and sharp-spike-generating circuitry to deep cortical layers. Whole cell recordings identified three distinct cell types based on response properties during rhythmic micro-EEG activity: oscillation-on (theta-on) and -off (theta-off) neurons, and transiently depolarizing glial cells. Theta-on neurons displayed membrane potential oscillations that increased in amplitude with hyperpolarization (from −30 to −90 mV). This, taken together with a glutamate antagonist-induced depression of rhythmic micro-EEG activity, indicated that cholinergically driven neocortical oscillations require excitatory synaptic transmission. We conclude that under the appropriate pharmacological conditions, neocortical brain slices were capable of producing localized theta frequency oscillations. Experiments examining oscillation physiology, pharmacology, and topography demonstrated that neocortical brain slice oscillations share many similarities with the in vivo and in vitro theta EEG activity recorded in other brain regions.


Author(s):  
Vinay Parameshwarappa ◽  
Laurent Pezard ◽  
Arnaud Jean Norena

In the auditory modality, noise trauma has often been used to investigate cortical plasticity as it causes cochlear hearing loss. One limitation of these past studies, however, is that the effects of noise trauma have been mostly documented at the granular layer, which is the main cortical recipient of thalamic inputs. Importantly, the cortex is composed of six different layers each having its own pattern of connectivity and specific role in sensory processing. The present study aims at investigating the effects of acute and chronic noise trauma on the laminar pattern of spontaneous activity in primary auditory cortex of the anesthetized guinea pig. We show that spontaneous activity is dramatically altered across cortical layers after acute and chronic noise-induced hearing loss. First, spontaneous activity was globally enhanced across cortical layers, both in terms of firing rate and amplitude of spike-triggered average of local field potentials. Second, current source density on (spontaneous) spike-triggered average of local field potentials indicates that current sinks develop in the supra- and infragranular layers. These latter results suggest that supragranular layers become a major input recipient and that the propagation of spontaneous activity over a cortical column is greatly enhanced after acute and chronic noise-induced hearing loss. We discuss the possible mechanisms and functional implications of these changes.


1975 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Merzenich ◽  
P. L. Knight ◽  
G. L. Roth

The representation of sound frequency (and of the cochlear partition) within primary auditory cortex has been investigated with use of microelectrode-mapping techniques in a series of 25 anesthetized cats. Among the results were the following: 1) Within vertical penetrations into AI, best frequency and remarkably constant for successively studied neurons across the active middle and deep cortical layers. 2) There is an orderly representation of frequency (and of represented cochlear place) within AI. Frequency is rerepresented across the mediolateral dimension of the field. On an axis perpendicular to this plane of rerepresentation, best-frequency (represented cochlear place) changes as a simple function of cortical location. 3) Any given frequency band (or sector of the cochlear partition) is represented across a belt of cortex of nearly constant width that runs on a nearly straight axis across AI. 4) There is a disproportionately large cortical surface representation of the highest-frequency octaves (basal cochlea) within AI. 5) The primary and secondary field locations were somewhat variable, when referenced to cortical surface landmarks. 6) Data from long penetrations passing down the rostral bank of the posterior ectosylvian sulcus were consistent with the existence of a vertical unit of organization in AI, akin to cortical columns described in primary visual and somatosensory cortex. 7) Responses to tonal stimuli were encountered in fields dorsocaudal, caudal, ventral, and rostral to AI. There is an orderly representation of the cochlea within the field rostal to AI, with a reversal in best frequencies across its border with AI. 8) Physiological definitions of AI boundaries are consistent with their cytoarchitectonic definition. Some of the implications of these findings are discussed.


1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Sun ◽  
A. B. Bonds

AbstractThe two-dimensional organization of receptive fields (RFs) of 44 cells in the cat visual cortex and four cells from the cat LGN was measured by stimulation with either dots or bars of light. The light bars were presented in different positions and orientations centered on the RFs. The RFs found were arbitrarily divided into four general types: Punctate, resembling DOG filters (11%); those resembling Gabor filters (9%); elongate (36%); and multipeaked-type (44%). Elongate RFs, usually found in simple cells, could show more than one excitatory band or bifurcation of excitatory regions. Although regions inhibitory to a given stimulus transition (e.g. ON) often coincided with regions excitatory to the opposite transition (e.g. OFF), this was by no means the rule. Measurements were highly repeatable and stable over periods of at least 1 h. A comparison between measurements made with dots and with bars showed reasonable matches in about 40% of the cases. In general, bar-based measurements revealed larger RFs with more structure, especially with respect to inhibitory regions. Inactivation of lower cortical layers (V-VI) by local GABA injection was found to reduce sharpness of detail and to increase both receptive-field size and noise in upper layer cells, suggesting vertically organized RF mechanisms. Across the population, some cells bore close resemblance to theoretically proposed filters, while others had a complexity that was clearly not generalizable, to the extent that they seemed more suited to detection of specific structures. We would speculate that the broadly varying forms of cat cortical receptive fields result from developmental processes akin to those that form ocular-dominance columns, but on a smaller scale.


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