Synchrony of Thalamocortical Inputs Maximizes Cortical Reliability

Abstract

Precise and Efficient Cortical Communication How do thalamic neurons reliably transmit information to the cerebral cortex, despite making few synaptic connections onto their target neurons? Correlated input spikes from the thalamus have been reported, but the number of synchronous inputs and their precision and reliability is unclear. Wang et al. (p. 106 ) analyzed a unique data set of simultaneous thalamic and cortical recordings in vivo and compared them with simulations of a model cortical neuron. Using the recorded spike trains as inputs to the model, and constraining the model by the measured output spike trains, allowed strong predictions of the degree of convergence of synchronous inputs from the lateral geniculate nucleus. Synchrony, rather than the strength or frequency of synaptic inputs, was key to signaling, and the data suggest that there may be a region of optimal synchronous coding.