Functional analysis of microcolumns in neocortical layer V

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Mesoscopic neurocircuitry: towards understanding of the functional and structural basis of brain information processing
• Project/Area Number: 22115004
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: HOSOYA Toshihiko 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 脳科学総合研究センター, チームリーダー (70272466)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MARUOKA Hisato 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 脳科学総合研究センター, 研究員 (60443032) ; TSURUNO Shun 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 脳科学総合研究センター, 研究員 (80548991)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 脳 / 神経 / 大脳新皮質 / 哺乳類 / マウス / 視覚 / 体性感覚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The computational architecture of the nervous system is largely determined by the structure of its circuit. In the mammalian neocortex, whether the circuit has an elementary unit that repeats along the cortical sheet remains unknown. We found that subcerebral projection neurons (SCPNs), excitatory neurons in layer 5 projecting to extracortical targets, are organized into microcolumnar clusters. These microcolumns were arranged periodically along the cortical sheet into an approximately hexagonal pattern. SCPNs in individual microcolumns were connected by gap junctions during development and later received common synaptic inputs. In the visual, somatosensory and motor cortices, neuronal activity was synchronized specifically within microcolumns. These results indicate that microcolumns represent repeating units in the neocortical circuit, and suggest that parallel processing in a regular array of microcolumns is a basic computational architecture of the neocortex.

Free Research Field

神経科学