To understand neocortical function, we must first define its cell types. Recent studies indicate that neurons in the deepest cortical layer play roles in mediating thalamocortical interactions and modulating brain state and are implicated in neuropsychiatric disease. However, understanding the functions of deep layer 6 (L6b) neurons has been hampered by the lack of agreed upon definitions for these cell types. We compared commonly used methods for defining L6b neurons, including molecular, transcriptional and morphological approaches as well as transgenic mouse lines, and identified a core population of L6b neurons. This population does not innervate sensory thalamus, unlike layer 6 corticothalamic neurons (L6CThNs) in more superficial layer 6. Rather, single L6b neurons project ipsilaterally between cortical areas. Although L6b neurons undergo early developmental changes, we found that their intrinsic electrophysiological properties were stable after the first postnatal week. Our results provide a consensus definition for L6b neurons, enabling comparisons across studies.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.04.621933 | DOI Listing |
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A consensus definition for deep layer 6 excitatory neurons in mouse neocortex.
bioRxiv
November 2024
Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA.
To understand neocortical function, we must first define its cell types. Recent studies indicate that neurons in the deepest cortical layer play roles in mediating thalamocortical interactions and modulating brain state and are implicated in neuropsychiatric disease. However, understanding the functions of deep layer 6 (L6b) neurons has been hampered by the lack of agreed upon definitions for these cell types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlial cells undergo rapid changes following acute chemogenetic manipulation of cortical layer 5 projection neurons.
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- Bidirectional communication between neurons and glial cells is essential for proper brain function, but the effects of sudden changes in neuronal activity on these interactions are not well understood.
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Layer 6b controls brain state via apical dendrites and the higher-order thalamocortical system.
Neuron
March 2024
Department of Biology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany. Electronic address:
The deepest layer of the cortex (layer 6b [L6b]) contains relatively few neurons, but it is the only cortical layer responsive to the potent wake-promoting neuropeptide orexin/hypocretin. Can these few neurons significantly influence brain state? Here, we show that L6b-photoactivation causes a surprisingly robust enhancement of attention-associated high-gamma oscillations and population spiking while abolishing slow waves in sleep-deprived mice. To explain this powerful impact on brain state, we investigated L6b's synaptic output using optogenetics, electrophysiology, and monoCaTChR ex vivo.
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Front Cell Neurosci
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Research Centre Jülich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 10 (INM-10), Jülich, Germany.
Cortical layer 6b is considered by many to be a remnant of the subplate that forms during early stages of neocortical development, but its role in the adult is not well understood. Its neuronal complement has only recently become the subject of systematic studies, and its axonal projections and synaptic input structures have remained largely unexplored despite decades of research into neocortical function. In recent years, however, layer 6b (L6b) has attracted increasing attention and its functional role is beginning to be elucidated.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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