The development of layer 2/3 sensory maps in rat barrel cortex (BC) is experience dependent with a critical period around postnatal days (PND) 10-14. The role of intrinsic response properties of neurons in this plasticity has not been investigated. Here we characterize the development of BC layer 2/3 intrinsic responses to identify possible sites of plasticity. Whole cell recordings were perfor...

Nanowhisker formation on substrates activated by catalyst drops is studied by Monte Carlo simulation. Dependences of the whisker growth rate on diameter are investigated for various growth modes. The influence of deposition conditions on whisker morphology is examined. It is shown that straight thin whiskers of uniform thickness can be obtained only using a catalyst having a large contact angle...

Due to recent advances that enable real-time electrophysiological recordings in brains of awake behaving rodents, effective methods for analyzing the large amount of behavioral data thus generated, at millisecond resolution, are required. We describe a semiautomated, efficient method for accurate tracking of head and mystacial vibrissae (whisker) movements in freely moving rodents using high-sp...

This article describes the elastomer-based whisker system that has been implemented in the artificial rat Psikharpax. The corresponding system calls upon two arrays of 33 whiskers each, which mimic as closely as possible the organization of a rat's vibrissae. The capacity of each whisker to perform texture discrimination is demonstrated. However, it is suggested that such task and others like o...

Several theories have proposed a functional role for synchronous neuronal firing in generating the neural code of a sensory perception. Synchronous neural activity develops during a critical postnatal period of cortical maturation, and severely reducing neural activity in a sensory pathway during this period could interfere with the development of coincident discharge among cortical neurons. Lo...

Experience modifies synaptic connectivity through processes that involve dendritic spine rearrangements in neuronal circuits. Although cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) has a key function in spines changes, its role in activity-dependent rearrangements in brain regions of rodents interacting with the surrounding environment has received little attention so far. Here we studied the ef...

Rodents explore the world by palpating objects with their whiskers. Whiskers interact with objects, causing stresses in whisker follicles and spikes in sensory neurons, which are interpreted by the brain to produce tactile perception. The mechanics of the whisker thus couple self-movement and the structure of the world to sensation. Whiskers are elastic thin rods; hence, they tend to vibrate. W...

Recent advances in functional imaging and neuronal recording techniques demonstrate that the spatial spread and amplitude of whisker functional representation in the somatosensory cortex of the adult rodent is extensive, but subject to modulations. One of the strongest modulators is naturalistic whisker use. In the cortices of rodents that have been transferred from their home cage to live for ...

Tungsten powder mixed with an appropriate amount of nickel and iron powders is used as raw material to fabricate large-scale tungsten whisker-like structure. The morphology, microstructure and composition of the whisker-like tungsten are observed and tested by scanning electron microscope and FESEM, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The m...

Tactile information available to the rat vibrissal system begins as external forces that cause whisker deformations, which in turn excite mechanoreceptors in the follicle. Despite the fundamental mechanical origin of tactile information, primary sensory neurons in the trigeminal ganglion (Vg) have often been described as encoding the kinematics (geometry) of object contact. Here we aimed to det...