Translaminar Synchronous Neuronal Activity is Required for Columnar Synaptic Strengthening in the Mouse Neocortex

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Date 2025 Feb 3

PMID 39900899

Authors

John Vargas-Ortiz

Lin Lin

Vena K Martinez

Rong-Jian Liu

Rachel Babij

Zhe Ran S Duan

Sam Wacks

Liyuan Sun

Amanda Wang

Sajida Khan

John Lee Soto-Vargas

Natalia V De Marco Garcia

Alicia Che

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Synchronous neuronal activity is a hallmark of the developing mouse primary somatosensory cortex. While the patterns of synchronous neuronal activity in cortical layer 2/3 have been well described, the source of the robust layer 2/3 activity is still unknown. Using a novel microprism preparation and in vivo 2-photon imaging in neonatal mice, we show that synchronous neuronal activity is organized in barrel columns across layers. Monosynaptic rabies tracing and slice electrophysiology experiments reveal that layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons receive significant layer 5 inputs during the first postnatal week, and silencing layer 5 synaptic outputs results in a significant reduction in spontaneous activity, abnormal sensory-evoked activity and disrupted layer 4-layer 2/3 connectivity. Our results demonstrate that translaminar layer 5-layer 2/3 connectivity plays an important role in synchronizing the developing barrel column to ensure the strengthening of layer 4-layer 2/3 connections, supporting the formation of the canonical cortical organization in barrel cortex.

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