Modulation of intercolumnar synchronization by endogenous electric fields in cerebral cortex

Neurons synaptically interacting in a conductive medium generate extracellular endogenous electric fields (EFs) that reciprocally affect membrane potential. Exogenous EFs modulate neuronal activity, and their clinical applications are being profusely explored. However, whether endogenous EFs contrib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2021-03, Vol.7 (10)
Main Authors: Rebollo, Beatriz, Telenczuk, Bartosz, Navarro-Guzman, Alvaro, Destexhe, Alain, Sanchez-Vives, Maria V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cognitive Sciences
Developmental Neuroscience
Life Sciences
Neurobiology
Neurons and Cognition
Neuroscience
Psychology and behavior
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Summary:Neurons synaptically interacting in a conductive medium generate extracellular endogenous electric fields (EFs) that reciprocally affect membrane potential. Exogenous EFs modulate neuronal activity, and their clinical applications are being profusely explored. However, whether endogenous EFs contribute to network synchronization remains unclear. We analyzed spontaneously generated slow-wave activity in the cerebral cortex network in vitro, which allowed us to distinguish synaptic from nonsynaptic mechanisms of activity propagation and synchronization. Slow oscillations generated EFs that propagated independently of synaptic transmission. We demonstrate that cortical oscillations modulate spontaneous rhythmic activity of neighboring synaptically disconnected cortical columns if layers are aligned. We provide experimental evidence that these EF-mediated effects are compatible with electric dipoles. With a model of interacting dipoles, we reproduce the experimental measurements and predict that endogenous EF-mediated synchronizing effects should be relevant in the brain. Thus, experiments and models suggest that electric-dipole interactions contribute to synchronization of neighboring cortical columns.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abc7772