Nature Neuroscience 9, 543 - 551 (2006)
Published online: 19 March 2006; | doi:10.1038/nn1671
A somatotopic map of vibrissa motion direction within a barrel
columnMark L Andermann1
& Christopher I Moore21
Harvard Program in Biophysics, Medical School
Campus, Building C-2 Room 122, 240 Longwood
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts
02115, USA. 2
McGovern Institute for Brain Research and
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 46-2171 Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Christopher I Moore cim@mit.edu Most mammals possess high-resolution visual perception, with
primary visual cortices containing fine-scale, inter-related feature
representations (for example, orientation and ocular dominance). Rats
lack precise vision, but their vibrissa sensory system provides a
precise tactile modality, including vibrissa-related 'barrel' columns
in primary somatosensory cortex. Here, we examined the subcolumnar
organization of direction preference and somatotopy using a new
omni-directional, multi-vibrissa stimulator. We discovered a
direction map that was systematically linked to somatotopy, such that
neurons were tuned for motion toward their preferred surround
vibrissa. This sub-barrel column direction map demonstrated an
emergent refinement from layer IV to layer II/III. These data suggest
that joint processing of multiple sensory features is a common
property of high-resolution sensory systems.
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