Barrel cortex articles from across Nature Portfolio

The neural substrates of time perception are still unclear. Here, the authors show that as rats judged tactile stimuli, optogenetic manipulation of somatosensory cortex systematically altered perception of stimulus intensity and of duration, unveiling a multiplexed code.

The neocortex can filter out stimuli that distract us from our goals. Here the authors demonstrate in mice a mechanism of distractor filtering, in which top-down inputs from motor cortex to sensory cortex prevents the internal propagation of distractor stimuli.

Rodent sensory cortex contains intermixed representations of sensory features. Here the authors investigated the whisker somatotopic map among L2/3 pyramidal neurons in somatosensory cortex in awake mice performing a sensory discrimination task.

Cortical activity is modulated by an intricate network of feedforward and feedback connectivity. Here the authors demonstrate distinct organizational rules govern feedback projections from lateral medial area to V1 versus projections from vibrissal M1 to vibrissal S1.

Cortical neurons reduce spiking responses to repetitive sensory stimulation, but the perceptual impact of this adaptation has been difficult to assess. Work now shows that it has profound consequences for tactile perception.

Two recent studies show that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-expressing interneurons exert a disinhibitory effect on cortical pyramidal cells in a number of brain areas, and this has important implications for control of cortical processing and behaviour.