Sensory Cortical Dynamics

Sensory cortical networks are commonly regarded as stable, changing only in the face of prolonged alteration of sensory input. There is increasing evidence, however, that the functional connectivity of cortical networks changes significantly, but reversibly, in response to conditions of sensory stimulation similar to those encountered in everyday life. In this review, we provide examples of sensory cortical dynamics at the single neuron and neural population levels. The dynamics detected at both levels of experimental observation suggest that a brief exposure (tens of milliseconds to tens of seconds) to sensory stimulation is accompanied by changes in the capacity of cortical networks to process and represent environmental stimuli. Candidate cellular mechanisms and the potential benefits of such stimulus-driven, rapid, and fully reversible sensory cortical dynamics are discussed.