Why is the rodent whisker-barrel system is a good model for studying sensory processing?
-Each whisker is directly mapped to a discrete cluster of neurons (“barrel”) in layer IV of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1).
- The 1 to 1 relationship makes it easy to link a physical sensory input to specific cortical activity.
- Barrels are highly stereotyped across individuals, which makes experiments reproducible.
- Recordings can be made at every level of the pathway: whisker follicle → trigeminal ganglion → brainstem nuclei → thalamus → barrel cortex.
-The different cortical layer cell types within a barrel are well defined, meaning that there is a model microcircuit for studying general cortical computation.
-Whiskers are a natural model of active sensing
What is the role of the cortex in perception?
Cognition starts with perception, without cortical interpretation, sensory data wouldn’t become ‘experience’
What is the role of the prefrontal cortex and association cortices?
They work with the hippocampus to encode, store and retrieve memories
What is the role of the frontal and parietal corticies?
Coordinate selective attention
Which part of the cortex is important for executive functions: planning, working memory, reasoning, inhibiting impulses, and flexible decision-making?
Prefrontal cortex
What is the default mode network(DMN) and what does it do?
A set of cortical areas-activates introspection, daydreaming and mental simulation.
What is computation?
Transformations that neural systems perform on information-how the brain takes input, processes it and then produces an output
