Temporal and Directional Properties of Barrel Cortical Neurons

In this project, we use recent findings from electrophysiological recordings and a previous model of the cellular properties of barrel cortical neurons to explore their implications on the dynamic properties of directional tuning in barrel cortex. We find that directional tuning is influenced by the frequency and speed of whisker directions, even in the low frequency range of natural whisking. We also explore the effects of deflecting multiple whiskers under different thalamic and barrel interconnectivity paradigms. Finally, we use the model to propose how recent experimental manipulations of cortical blood flow may influence tuning in the model. 1