Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 20 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5883, pp. 1638 - 1643
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156120
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Tuned Responses of Astrocytes and Their Influence on Hemodynamic Signals in the Visual Cortex

James Schummers,* Hongbo Yu,* Mriganka Sur{dagger}

Astrocytes have long been thought to act as a support network for neurons, with little role in information representation or processing. We used two-photon imaging of calcium signals in the ferret visual cortex in vivo to discover that astrocytes, like neurons, respond to visual stimuli, with distinct spatial receptive fields and sharp tuning to visual stimulus features including orientation and spatial frequency. The stimulus-feature preferences of astrocytes were exquisitely mapped across the cortical surface, in close register with neuronal maps. The spatially restricted stimulus-specific component of the intrinsic hemodynamic mapping signal was highly sensitive to astrocyte activation, indicating that astrocytes have a key role in coupling neuronal organization to mapping signals critical for noninvasive brain imaging. Furthermore, blocking astrocyte glutamate transporters influenced the magnitude and duration of adjacent visually driven neuronal responses.

Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: msur{at}mit.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: Visually evoked activity in cortical cells imaged in freely moving animals.
J. Sawinski, D. J. Wallace, D. S. Greenberg, S. Grossmann, W. Denk, and J. N. D. Kerr (2009)
PNAS 106, 19557-19562
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Remapping the Somatosensory Cortex after Stroke: Insight from Imaging the Synapse to Network.
I. R. Winship and T. H. Murphy (2009)
Neuroscientist 15, 507-524
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Barrel Cortex as a Model to Study Dynamic Neuroglial Interaction.
C. Giaume, M. Maravall, E. Welker, and G. Bonvento (2009)
Neuroscientist 15, 351-366
   Abstract »    PDF »
Functional Connectivity of the Macaque Brain across Stimulus and Arousal States.
S. Moeller, N. Nallasamy, D. Y. Tsao, and W. A. Freiwald (2009)
J. Neurosci. 29, 5897-5909
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Astrocytes going live: advances and challenges.
A. Nimmerjahn (2009)
J. Physiol. 587, 1639-1647
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Radially expanding transglial calcium waves in the intact cerebellum.
T. M. Hoogland, B. Kuhn, W. Gobel, W. Huang, J. Nakai, F. Helmchen, J. Flint, and S. S.-H. Wang (2009)
PNAS 106, 3496-3501
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Synchronous Hyperactivity and Intercellular Calcium Waves in Astrocytes in Alzheimer Mice.
K. V. Kuchibhotla, C. R. Lattarulo, B. T. Hyman, and B. J. Bacskai (2009)
Science 323, 1211-1215
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Oxidative Neuroenergetics in Event-Related Paradigms.
B. G. Sanganahalli, P. Herman, H. Blumenfeld, and F. Hyder (2009)
J. Neurosci. 29, 1707-1718
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Stimulus-Induced Changes in Blood Flow and 2-Deoxyglucose Uptake Dissociate in Ipsilateral Somatosensory Cortex.
A. Devor, E. M. C. Hillman, P. Tian, C. Waeber, I. C. Teng, L. Ruvinskaya, M. H. Shalinsky, H. Zhu, R. H. Haslinger, S. N. Narayanan, et al. (2008)
J. Neurosci. 28, 14347-14357
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)