What single-cell stimulation has told us about neural coding

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2015-09, Vol.370 (1677), p.20140204-20140204
• Main Authors: Doron, Guy, Brecht, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Brain - cytology; Brain - physiology; Electric Stimulation - methods; Evoked Potentials; Humans; Models, Neurological; Motor Control; Motor Cortex - cytology; Motor Cortex - physiology; Motor Neurons - physiology; Nanostimulation; Neurons - physiology; Optogenetics - methods; Patch Clamp; Review; Sensation; Sensory Receptor Cells - physiology; Single Neuron; Single-Cell Analysis - methods; Somatosensory Cortex - cytology; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology
• ISSN: 0962-8436; 1471-2970
• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0204

In recent years, single-cell stimulation experiments have resulted in substantial progress towards directly linking single-cell activity to movement and sensation. Recent advances in electrical recording and stimulation techniques have enabled control of single neuron spiking in vivo and have contributed to our understanding of neuronal coding schemes in the brain. Here, we review single neuron stimulation effects in different brain structures and how they vary with artificially inserted spike patterns. We briefly compare single neuron stimulation with other brain stimulation techniques. A key advantage of single neuron stimulation is the precise control of the evoked spiking patterns. Systematically varying spike patterns and measuring evoked movements and sensations enables ‘decoding’ of the single-cell spike patterns and provides insights into the readout mechanisms of sensory and motor cortical spikes.