Correction: Stability of spontaneous, correlated activity in mouse auditory cortex.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.

Stability of spontaneous, correlated activity in mouse auditory cortex.

Neural systems can be modeled as complex networks in which neural elements are represented as nodes linked to one another through structural or functional connections. The resulting network can be analyzed using mathematical tools from network science and graph theory to quantify the system's topological organization and to better understand its function. Here, we used two-photon calcium imaging to record spontaneous activity from the same set of cells in mouse auditory cortex over the course of several weeks.

Cortical inhibitory interneurons control sensory processing.

Inhibitory and excitatory neurons form intricate interconnected circuits in the mammalian sensory cortex. Whereas the function of excitatory neurons is largely to integrate and transmit information within and between brain areas, inhibitory neurons are thought to shape the way excitatory neurons integrate information, and they exhibit context-specific and behavior-specific responses. Over the last few years, work across sensory modalities has begun unraveling the function of distinct types of cortical inhibitory neurons in sensory processing, identifying their contribution to controlling stimulus selectivity of excitatory neurons and modulating information processing based on the behavioral state of the subject.

Complementary control of sensory adaptation by two types of cortical interneurons.

Reliably detecting unexpected sounds is important for environmental awareness and survival. By selectively reducing responses to frequently, but not rarely, occurring sounds, auditory cortical neurons are thought to enhance the brain's ability to detect unexpected events through stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). The majority of neurons in the primary auditory cortex exhibit SSA, yet little is known about the underlying cortical circuits.

Bidirectional effects of aversive learning on perceptual acuity are mediated by the sensory cortex.

Although emotional learning affects sensory acuity, little is known about how these changes are facilitated in the brain. We found that auditory fear conditioning in mice elicited either an increase or a decrease in frequency discrimination acuity depending on how specific the learned response was to the conditioned tone. Using reversible pharmacological inactivation, we found that the auditory cortex mediated learning-evoked changes in acuity in both directions.

Retinal ganglion cells can rapidly change polarity from Off to On.

Retinal ganglion cells are commonly classified as On-center or Off-center depending on whether they are excited predominantly by brightening or dimming within the receptive field. Here we report that many ganglion cells in the salamander retina can switch from one response type to the other, depending on stimulus events far from the receptive field. Specifically, a shift of the peripheral image--as produced by a rapid eye movement--causes a brief transition in visual sensitivity from Off-type to On-type for approximately 100 ms.