α4* Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Modulate Experience-Based Cortical Depression in the Adult Mouse Somatosensory Cortex
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The molecular mechanisms that mediate experience-based changes in the function of the cerebral cortex, particularly in the adult animal, are poorly understood. Here we show using in vivo voltage-sensitive dye imaging, that whisker trimming leads to depression of whisker-evoked sensory responses in primary, secondary and associative somatosensory cortical regions. Given the importance of cholinergic neurotransmission in cognitive and sensory functions, we examined whether α4-containing (α4*) nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) mediate cortical depression. Using knock-in mice that express YFP-tagged α4 nAChRs subunits, we show that whisker trimming selectively increased the number α4*-YFP nAChRs in layer 4 of deprived barrel columns within 24 h, which persisted until whiskers regrew. Confocal and electron microscopy revealed that these receptors were preferentially increased on the cell bodies of GABAergic neurons. To directly link these receptors with functional cortical depression, we show that depression could be induced in normal mice by topical application or micro-injection of α4* nAChR agonist in the somatosensory cortex. Furthermore, cortical depression could be blocked after whisker trimming with chronic infusions of an α4* nAChR antagonist. Collectively, these results uncover a new role for α4* nAChRs in regulating rapid changes in the functional responsiveness of the adult somatosensory cortex.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".