Somatostatin neurons shape peripheral neurons

The cerebral cortex of the brain is made up of different regions that involve countless processes

The researchers set out to determine whether somatostatin neurons play similar or different

The researchers found that in both regions, when somatostatin neurons became active, other somatostatin neurons nearby also tended to become active

"The local network of the cerebral cortex consists of excitatory neurons and inhibitory neurons that interact and process incoming signals

Runyan added: "The findings suggest that although cortical gyrus in different regions are composed of the same general cell type, these neurons as a way of interacting in groups may specifically target processing targets in brain regions, such as sensory processing or memory

Dr.

"Spatial patterns of SOM neurons and neural activity in the sensory cortex have been extensively studied," said Khoury, who also works at Pitt's Center for Cognitive Neural Foundations

Tracking inhibitory population activity in the sensory cortex and the combined cortex, the co-authors were able to perform two-photon calcium imaging and label these somatostatin (SOM) neurons in two regions

The spatial scale of somatostatin subnetworks increases from sensory to association cortex