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Instantaneous correlation of excitation and inhibition during ongoing and sensory-evoked activities

Abstract

Temporal and quantitative relations between excitatory and inhibitory inputs in the cortex are central to its activity, yet they remain poorly understood. In particular, a controversy exists regarding the extent of correlation between cortical excitation and inhibition. Using simultaneous intracellular recordings in pairs of nearby neurons in vivo, we found that excitatory and inhibitory inputs are continuously synchronized and correlated in strength during spontaneous and sensory-evoked activities in the rat somatosensory cortex.

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Figure 1: Excitatory and inhibitory synaptic potentials of nearby neurons are synchronized during spontaneous activity.
Figure 2: Inhibition lags behind excitation during spontaneous activity.
Figure 3: The magnitude of excitatory and inhibitory potentials in paired recordings is positively correlated.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank E. Ahissar, I. Nelken, E. Schneidman and O. Barak for their comments on the manuscript, and all the members of the Lampl lab for their helpful contribution to this work. This work was supported by grants from the Israel Science Foundation (1037/03, 326/07), the National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel, the Henry S. and Anne Reich Research Fund for Mental Health, the Asher and Jeanette Alhadeff Research Award and the Sir Charles Clore fellowship.

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Correspondence to Ilan Lampl.

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Supplementary Figures 1–8, Methods and Results (PDF 1720 kb)

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Okun, M., Lampl, I. Instantaneous correlation of excitation and inhibition during ongoing and sensory-evoked activities. Nat Neurosci 11, 535–537 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2105

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