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Barrels XXVII meeting report: Barrels in the monument
city
Adesh Bajnath
a
, Philip Chu
b
, Robert Steger
b
& Joshua C. Brumberg
abc
a
Neuroscience Subprogram—Biology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA,
b
Neuropsychology Subprogram—Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA,
and
c
The Department of Psychology, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY, USA
Published online: 25 Jul 2015.
To cite this article: Adesh Bajnath, Philip Chu, Robert Steger & Joshua C. Brumberg (2015): Barrels XXVII meeting report:
Barrels in the monument city, Somatosensory & Motor Research
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/08990220.2015.1032407
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Somatosens Mot Res, Early Online: 1–6
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2015 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/08990220.2015.1032407
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Barrels XXVII meeting report: Barrels in the monument city
Adesh Bajnath
1
, Philip Chu
2
, Robert Steger
2
, & Joshua C. Brumberg
1,2,3
1
Neuroscience Subprogram—Biology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA,
2
Neuropsychology Subprogram—Psychology,
The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA, and
3
The Department of Psychology, Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY, USA
Abstract
The 27th annual Barrels meeting highlighted the latest advances in this rapidly growing field.
The Barrels meeting annually focuses on the role of the posterior medial thalamus in
somatosensation, dendritic processing, and the cortical dynamics involved during touch
perception. Speakers utilized diverse molecular, physiological, computational techniques to
understand the development, sensory processing, and motor commands that are involved with
the rodent mystacial vibrissae. The meeting was held Thursday, 13 November through Friday,
14 November 2014 on the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Keywords
Barrels, dendrites, whiskers
History
Received 17 March 2015
Accepted 18 March 2015
Published online 5 June 2015
The 27th annual Barrels conference convened in Baltimore,
Maryland at the Johns Hopkins University campus on 13–14
November 2014 in the Glass Pavilion not far from the
birthplace of the Barrel a few miles away at the Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine. The meeting
principally focused on the role of the secondary thalamus in
somatosensation, dendritic processing in the somatosensory
and visual cortices, and the cortical dynamics involved during
touch perception (see the Appendix for a complete listing of
the meeting talks and events).
The first session was moderated by Kevin Alloway
(Pennsylvania State University) and began with an overview
of the rodent secondary thalamus (posterior medial thala-
mus—POm). The somatotopic organization of POm along
with current knowledge of the underlying microcircuitry
between cortical and subcortical structures was discussed.
The role of POm specifically during whisking behaviors
remains an open question, and led to the first talk by Elaine
Zhang (Columbia University). Zhang’s research focused on
three feedback pathways to the somatosensory cortex
(primary motor cortex (M1), secondary somatosensory
cortex (S2), and POm) and their role in activating layer 2/3
neurons. After in vivo expression and light activation of
channel-rhodopsin within these three main pathways, it was
found that POm synapses strongly depolarized layer 2/3
neurons while responses of the same neurons to M1 and
primary somatosensory cortex (S1) activation were weak.
POm stimulation during active sensing evoked stronger
responses in layers 2/3, suggesting a possible role for POm
in supragranular modulation during active sensing.
Jeff Moore (University of California, San Diego) focused
on the role of the paralemniscal and lemniscal pathways
during vibrissae self-motion and touch. It is known that
neurons along the lemniscal pathway are robustly affected by
touch while neurons in the paralemniscal pathway are weakly
affected. Exactly which pathways encode self-motion and/or
touch remain unknown. This question was addressed and it
was found that neurons along the lemniscal pathway were
found to encode rhythmic whisking while paralemniscal
neurons showed no evidence of encoding active whisker
motion. Evidence suggests that both touch and self-motion are
encoded within the lemniscal pathway and a computational
model was put forth to describe how these neurons are
capable of encoding both signals.
Alison Barth (Carnegie Mellon University) discussed the
potential role of supragranular neurons in the composition
of whisker surround receptive fields in the barrel cortex.
A transgenic mouse line with an activity-dependent reporter
gene, fosGFP, was used, which robustly expressed within
layer 2 neurons of the barrel cortex of juvenile mice. In
response to whisker deflections, both fosGFP+ and fosGFP
neurons responded similarly to whisker deflections. When the
surround whiskers were deflected, fosGFP+ neurons
responded with shorter latency and larger amplitudes.
Optogenetic activation showed that axons of POm neurons
contact fosGFP+ neurons and that cortical fosGFP+ expres-
sion reveals broad surround receptive field excitatory neurons
targeted by POm in layer 2.
The final talk of the session was by Alex Groh
(Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany) who focused
on the role of corticothalamic pathways in the mouse whisker
Correspondence: J. C. Brumberg, PhD, The Department of Psychology,
Queens College, CUNY, 65–30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11367,
USA. Tel: +1 718 997 3541. Fax: +1 718 997 3257. E-mail:
joshua.brumberg@qc.cuny.edu
Downloaded by [Queen's College] at 06:56 10 August 2015
system. Two corticothalamic feedback pathways were dis-
cussed: (1) layer 6 neuron feedback to the ventral posterior
medial nucleus (VPM) and (2) layer 5 neuron feedback to
POm. It is known that layer 6 neurons feed back to VPM to
influence the thalamic firing mode and sensory adaptation.
The POm pathway, although sparse, appears to transmit spike
patterns that underlie cortical slow oscillations. During both
anesthesia and wakefulness, it was found that cortical
efferents affect the activity of POm neurons in a manner
independent of sensory input. These results demonstrate the
differences between the two corticothalamic feedback systems
and suggest two distinct functional roles for cortical feedback
within the VPM pathway and POm pathway.
After a brief intermission, Randy Bruno (Columbia
University) moderated the short platform talks. The first
talk by Adam Packer (University College London, UK)
showcased an all optical manipulation and recording
technique for neuronal circuits in vivo. Utilizing new dual
two-photon microscopy technology, it was shown to be
possible to select multiple neurons for precise optogenetic
stimulation and simultaneous fast Ca
2+
imaging with single
action potential resolution in the awake behaving animal.
Philip Chu (The Graduate Center, City University of New
York) discussed the impact of perineuronal net (PNN)
digestion on the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of
barrel cortex neurons. PNNs are extracellular matrix struc-
tures that are hypothesized to play a role in cortical plasticity.
Since the mechanisms of plasticity mediated by PNNs are
unknown, Chu’s study sought to uncover how the nets can
regulate intrinsic neuronal physiology by enzymatic digestion
of PNNs followed by whole cell patch-clamp recordings of
barrel cortex neurons in vitro. A novel method for in vitro
digestion of PNNs within an incubation chamber was
employed which resulted in decreases in action potential
amplitude and input resistance specifically within fast spiking
interneurons. These results are consistent with previously
published literature demonstrating that PNNs predominantly
ensheath this particular class of inhibitory interneuron.
Exactly how the PNNs modulate synaptic communication
was also examined; it was found that low threshold spiking
inhibitory interneurons showed significant decreases in
excitatory postsynaptic potential (PSP) frequency following
PNN digestion. Results of this study demonstrate that PNNs
are capable of modulating the intrinsic properties of neurons
in the barrel cortex.
Stuart Greenhill (Cardiff University, UK) focused on the
developmental plasticity in regular spiking (RS) and intrinsic
bursting (IB) cells in layer V of the mouse barrel cortex
in vivo. It was demonstrated that unilateral sensory depriva-
tion results in decreased firing rates in RS layer V cells in
response to whisker stimulation of both the principal and
adjacent whiskers. Subthreshold responses displayed
increases in amplitude with longer latencies when compared
to control. Spontaneous firing was also reduced in RS cells in
sensory-deprived animals. Conversely, IB cells displayed an
increase in action potential firing rate after 10 days of sensory
deprivation. Subthreshold IB responses displayed larger
amplitude and longer latency after deprivation. The results
are consistent with previously published data on rat layer V
RS and IB cells in that both mouse RS and IB cells have
different forms of plasticity in response to sensory
deprivation.
After a sumptuous lunch the Barrels meeting reconvened
for a session on dendritic processing in the somatosensory and
visual cortices moderated by Robert Sachdev (Charite
´
Universita
¨
ts Medizin, Berlin, Germany). He reminded the
audience that all dendrites are not created equal, with the
principal distinction being between the apical and basilar
dendrites. The first invited speaker of the afternoon was
Arthur Konnerth (Institute of Neuroscience, Technical
University Munich, Germany). He began his talk by posing
a key question; how are stimuli represented in the dendrite or
alternatively, how are inputs mapped onto the dendrites?
Using imaging techniques, he demonstrated that within the
primary visual cortex, all orientations are represented in the
dendrites in a sparse pattern. Similarly in the barrel cortex,
principal vs. adjacent whisker deflections evoked Ca
2+
transients in dendritic spine heads in a non-clustered fashion.
The Ca
2+
transients are evoked via N-methyl-D-aspartate
(NMDA) currents as its antagonist APV5 blocked them.
When evaluating latencies to response, the pr incipal whisker
had much shorter response times than the adjacent whisker.
Furthermore, the short latency responses tended to be closer
to the soma and the responses were of greater magnitude in
the spines vs. the dendritic shaft and they summed linearly.
The data suggested that individual cells respond in a cell-
specific manner as a function of the number and distribution
of activated inputs.
Matthew Larkum (Humboldt University, Berlin,
Germany) reminded the audience that NMDA spikes are
local, but can lead to large dendritic depolarizations. Once
again using imaging techniques he was able to show that
NMDA inputs evoked Ca
2+
spikes in the middle section of the
apical dendr ite and that spikes can also occur in the apical
tuft. In general, it was observed that there were more Ca
2+
events in the apical vs. the basilar dendrites in vivo.Itwas
then shown that NMDA spikes can be evoked by sensory
stimulation and that there was an increased likelihood of a
response when the sensory stimulation was paired with
stimulation of cortical layer 1. The findings emphasize that
not only are the sources of input important, but their
postsynaptic location is just as important.
Jeff Magee (Janelia Farm Research Campus) began his
talk defining top-down (layer 1 influencing a layer 5 cell) vs.
bottom-up (sensory stimulation influencing the same layer
5 cell) processing. He went on to show that the dendritic
plateau potential due to Ca
2+
influx served as a gain
mechanism for the neuron and that fast inactivating A-type
K+ channels in conjunction with hyperpolarization-activated
cation currents (HCN channels) regulate dendritic excitability.
Using a synthesis of Ca
2+
imaging and optogenetics in vivo he
was able to show that thalamocortical inputs targeted the
soma of layer 5b cells and layer 1 inputs targeted the apical
tuft of the same cells. The layer 1 evoked Ca
2+
plateau helped
to determine a temporal window of opportunity wherein
thalamocortical or other cortico-cortical inputs could be
integrated. Using a behavioral task where the mouse had to
identify the location of a pole in its whisking field they
monitored the impact of M1 inputs on responses of layer 5b
neurons in mouse barrel cortex. If M1 was inactivated with
2 A. Bajnath et al. Somatosens Mot Res, Early Online: 1–6
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muscimol, no Ca
2+
potentials were observed in the apical
dendrites and there was no refinement of the motor whisking
strategy.
Finally, Spencer Smith (University of North Carolina
School of Medicine) focused on the question of whether
dendritic Ca
2+
events are local in origin. During imaging of
the visual cortex of awake behaving mice, he was able to show
that mice could learn a visual discrimination task. Patching
in vivo on to neurons while the mouse was performing this
task showed that bursts of action potentials were orientation
tuned and that overall there were more action potentials in
the soma compared to the apical dendrite. In sum, these talks
reminded the audience of the critical role that dendrites have
in integrating inputs and shaping the responses of cortical
neurons.
Following a short break there was a Data Blitz session that
briefly highlighted the most recent advances in the barrel
field followed by an engrossing dinner and poster session,
bringing to a close the first day of the 27th annual Barrels
meeting.
Friday morning began with a series of short talks
moderated by Mary Ann Wilson (Johns Hopkins
University). Rony Azouz (Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Israel) started the Friday morning session with the
examination of the functional organization of the rat whisker
pad. Most sensory information available to the rodent enters
through the somatosensory whisker system. This system can
be separated into the micro and macro vibrissal system, or
the ‘‘what’’ vs. ‘‘where’’ pathways, respectively. Examining
whisker angle and mystacial pad movement, it was discovered
that caudal whiskers are used for object localization
whereas rostral whiskers are most useful for fine texture
discrimination.
Next, Robert Egger (Max Planck Institute for Biological
Cybernetics, Tu
¨
bingen, Germany) revealed the barrel cor tex
connectome, a three-dimensional map of the synaptic
connections within the barrel cortex. Using statistical analysis
based on sparse neuronal connections, he was able to
reconstruct the dendrites and axons across cortical layers.
Creating a dense network of over half a million neurons, this
model is able to predict the connectivity beyond just neuron
pairs. Randy Bruno (Columbia University) followed by
asking what patterns of sensory stimuli drive the barrel
cortex. While there is a dense projection between layers 2/3
and layer 4 in the barrel cortex, layers 2/3 remain fairly
inactive. Using fentanyl-sedated rats, several whiskers were
deflected and cortical activity was recorded. Using reverse
correlations, every time a spike was evoked, the activity that
preceded it was examined. However, layers 2/3 remained
unresponsive through all conditions. The first morning session
concluded with Ariel Agmon (West Virginia University) and
his talk on thalamocortical inhibition by infragranular
somatostatin-containing interneurons. Agmon stimulated the
thalamus and recorded from two classes of interneurons in
layer V: parvalbumin positive (PV
+
) and somatostatin positive
(SOM
+
) cells. It was found that inhibiting SOM
+
cells stops
activity in RS cells. However, suppressing PV
+
cells did not
alter neuronal excitability. Agmon concluded that PV
+
cells
are not the main purveyors of the inhibitory–excitatory
balance as was previously believed.
Following a short break, a second session of short talks
was moderated by Rony Azouz (Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Israel). Chris Bresee (Northwestern University)
started off by presenting the constraints on vibrissal move-
ment in the three-dimensional setting, or how biomechanics
can influence the variability in rodent whisker protraction.
Quantifying the follicle length and the interfollicle gap, it was
found that the angles of the whiskers with respect to the skin
was constant, clustering at 60 degrees. Taking into account
the follicle diameter, it was shown that all follicles move
consistently. It appears all whiskers protract at similar angles,
but that doesn’t often occur behaviorally. It is unknown how
the rodent controls for the observed difference. Next, Mitra
Hartmann (Northwestern University) described her anato-
mical model of a whisker array. While rodents are housed in
plastic cages, it is not clear whether that is the best way to
observe natural behavior. Creating a whisker protraction
model in respect to changes in elevation and varying angles of
rotation, it was found that rodents use their visual system in
conjunction with their whiskers to sense space and predict
spatial structure.
Edward Zagha (Yale University School of Medicine) then
presented the motor cortex ensemble activities underlying
goal-directed behavior in a sensory detection task. Mice were
head fixed and trained to detect and whisk at a paddle that
appeared on either side of their mystacial pad. Making an
appropriate response would result in a reward. Recording
from layer 5 primary motor cortex, it was found that 50% of
the neuronal population would show activity at the onset of
the stimulus whereas 35% would turn off. Whisking behavior
alone only shows enhancement, but this pattern of activity is
task dependent which whisking behavior cannot fully account
for. The following presenter, Bing-Xing Huo (Pennsylvania
State University), investigated cortical neurovascular coupling
and decoupling during voluntary locomotion in awake
behaving mice. It is believed that increased neural activity
is associated with increased dilation of nearby blood vessels.
However, it is possible to have a negative or zero correlation
between neural activity and vascular dynamics. Creating a
cranial window and using optical imaging, neural activity and
cerebral blood volume (CBV) were measured in mice during
voluntary locomotion. Where neural activity increased in
cortical areas associated with the forelimb, hindlimb as well
as the frontal region, CBV only increased in the forelimb and
hindlimb areas.
The last talk of this session was chronic cranial window
with access port allowing repeated cellular manipulations and
electrophysiology presented by Bern Kuhn (Okinawa
Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University,
Japan). While the cranial window has been a useful tool in
examining brain activity over several days or weeks, it is
difficult to reenter the brain for cellular manipulations. Using
a relatively simple alteration, it was possible to create a
cranial window with a resealable access port allowing for
different recording methods, including patch recordings,
without sacrificing imaging. This adjustment had been
described as cheap, easy, and adaptable allowing for greater
experimental possibility using the cranial window.
Following lunch, the final round of short platform
talks at Barrels XXVII was introduced and moderated by
DOI: 10.3109/08990220.2015.1032407 Barrels XXVII meeting report 3
Downloaded by [Queen's College] at 06:56 10 August 2015
Chia-Chien Chen (University of California, Santa Cruz).
Bryan Hooks (Janelia Farm Research Campus) led off the
session by presenting data from newly developed Cre-
recombinase driver lines for labeling long-range projection
neurons in the barrel cortex in the hope of elucidating the
details of multimodal integration between S1 and M1. The
two lines, derived from GENSAT BAC-Cre driver lines,
preferentially label layer 5 projection neurons. The first line
PL56 (Tlx3) projects ipsi- and contralaterally to cortex and
striatum. The second line KJ18 (Sim1) is expressed in
pyramidal tract type neurons that project to ipsilateral
thalamus, zona incerta, superior colliculus, contralateral
brain stem nuclei, and have collateral branches in the
ipsilateral striatum and contribute to the corticospinal tract.
He validated these mouse lines using fluorescent tracer
injections and used digital flattening of the cortex to visualize
the projection maps, thereby confirming these lines as
potential tools for studying circuitry of long-range projection
neurons in the cortex. The second afternoon speaker,
Alexander Van der Bourg (Brain Research Institute,
Zurich, Switzerland), pointed out that little is known about
the development of spontaneous and evoked activity in the
barrel cortex. Using two-photon imaging of bolus loaded
calcium indicators (Oregon Green BAPTA-1) and a novel
whisker stimulator that can exert both longitudinal force
(‘‘tapping’’) and transversal force, he described the develop-
ment of layer 2/3 barrel cortex neurons between postnatal day
(P)10 and P28. Highly synchronized responses to principal
whisker stimulation occurred until P12 which became lower
amplitude and decorrelated by P13. He noted that stimulus
selective neurons (longitudinal vs. transversal force) also
emerged at P13 at the same time that overall neuronal
population activity was decreasing. By P16, he noted that
population activity was highly selective and sparse, resem-
bling young adult activity. The results suggest that under-
standing the maturation of sensory cortices may inform
emerging behaviors during the transition from juvenile to
adult stages.
Following a stimulating discussion and coffee break
Daniel O’Connor (Johns Hopkins University) introduced
and moderated the final round of invited long talks of Barrels
XXVII. First to speak was Takayuki Yamashita (E
´
cole
Polytechnique Fe
´
de
´
rale de Lausanne, Switzerland) who used
in vivo patch-clamp recordings of layer 2/3 neurons in awake
behaving mice to dissect intracortical circuits during active
whisker touch. Using retrograde Alexa labeling in M1 and S2
in conjunction with recordings in S1, he reported that M1
projecting neurons have lower input resistances and receive
depressing inputs during repetitive whisker contact, phase
lock to whisking, and exhibit firing rates that scale with
contact. In contrast, S2 projecting neurons show facilitation
during repetitive whisker contact, do not phase lock to
whisking, and show greater latency to fire following passive
whisker stimulation. Further, M1 projecting neurons show
larger amplitude PSPs, but S2 projecting neurons exhibit
larger PSPs during cortical upstates during whisking. He
proposes that transient S1 to M1 projections may be
optimized for object detection whereas sustained and facil-
itating S1 to S2 projections may underlie object feature
recognition. Jerry Chen (Universita
¨
tZu
¨
rich, Switzerland)
followed with the penultimate talk of the barrels meeting.
Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging with genetically
encoded calcium indicators (TD tomato CRE) and fluorescent
retrograde tracer injections (yellow chameleon nano 140), he
monitored the long-range connectivity between S1 to M1 and
S1 to S2 during texture discrimination tasks to determine
where plasticity was occurring during learning. Mice
whiskers’ ‘‘slip–stick’’ events and curvature changes were
monitored during their training and the activity of M1 vs. S2
projecting neurons in layers 2/3 of the barrel cortex was
correlated to learning efficacy. He reported that M1
projecting neurons reliably encode basic whisker kinematic
features throughout training, but that S2 projecting neurons
show increased turnover through reductions of non-
touch-related neurons once animals reached a high level of
discrimination performance. Overall, he proposes that learn-
ing-related changes in S1 may affect downstream areas in a
pathway-specific manner that is relevant for behavior.
Garrett Stanley (Georgia Institute of Technology) capped
off the final talk at the Johns Hopkins University’s Glass
Pavilion. Following an instructive summary of the historical
aspects of behavioral and perceptual threshold studies in the
barrel community, he presented data using in vivo imaging
using voltage-sensitive dyes (VSD) to examine how response
adaptation is gated by the thalamus through neuronal bursting
patterns and how that may affect perceptual detection. First he
showed that through VSD imaging in barrel cortex in vivo,
discrimination responses between whiskers is present in layers
2/3. Then using multiunit thalamic local field potential
recordings in vivo, he showed that adaptation is also present at
the level of the thalamus which, based on computational
models, is sufficient to generate adaptation in the cortex. He
also showed that decreasing signal to noise ratios decreases
thalamic bursting probability and that the balance between
bursting and single spiking is important for optimal signal
detection. He further suggested that bottom-up adaptation and
bursting may be mechanisms to regulate signal detection in
sensory systems.
The meeting was concluded with an announcement that
Shane Crandall (Brown University) would be the inaugural
winner of the Hendrik Van der Loos prize for the best
presentation by either a graduate student or postdoctoral
fellow. It was also announced that starting with the 28th
annual Barrels meeting there will be a Thomas A. Woolsey
prize for individuals who have made significant contributions
to the Barrels field and will be presented for the first time to
Thomas Woolsey in Chicago at the next Barrels meeting to be
held on 15–16 October 2015 at the Northwestern University
School of Law.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Appendix
Barrels XXVII—complete schedule
13–14 November 2014, Johns Hopkins University
Thursday, 13 November
8:45–9:00 Continental Breakfast, Name Tag Pickup
9:00–9:05 Welcome: Joshua C. Brumberg, Queens College, CUNY
4 A. Bajnath et al. Somatosens Mot Res, Early Online: 1–6
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Daniel O’Connor, Johns Hopkins University
9:05–12:00 Secondary Thalamus in Somatosensation
9:05–9:15 Introduction/Overview: Kevin Alloway, Pennsylvania
State University
9:15–9:45 Elaine Zhang, Columbia University
In vivo dissection of L1 inputs in the barrel cortex
9:45–10:15 Jeff Moore, University of California, San Diego
Trigeminal and thalamic representation of vibrissa self-motion versus
touch
10:15–10:45 Alison Barth, Carnegie Mellon University
The origin of surround receptive fields in superficial layers of the
barrel cortex
10:45–11:15 Alex Groh, Technische Universitaet Muenchen,
Germany
Corticothalamic feedback in higher-order thalamus during dif ferent
behavioral states
11:15–11:30 Coffee Break
11:30–12:00 Discussion
12:00–1:00 Short Platform Talks 1
Moderator: Randy Bruno, Columbia University
12:00–12:15 Alexander Van der Bourg and Fritjof Helmchen
Brain Research Institute, Zurich, Switzerland
Postnatal development of sensory-evoked neuronal population activ-
ity in mouse barrel cortex (Due to scheduling issues this talk was
swapped with Packer et al.)
12:15–12:30 Philip Chu
1
, Reena Abraham
2
, Usma Khan
2
,
Kumarie Budhu
3
, and Joshua C. Brumberg
1,2,3,4
1
Psychology PhD Program, The Graduate Center, City University of
New York (CUNY),
2
Neuroscience Major, Queens College, CUNY,
3
Psychology Department, Queens College, CUNY, and
4
Neuroscience–
Biology PhD Subprogram, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Perineuronal nets as regulators of the intrinsic physiology of barrel
cortex neurons
12:30–12:45 Stuart D. Greenhill and Kevin D. Fox
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK
Development of sub- and suprathreshold plasticity in RS and IB cells
in layer V of the mouse barrel cor tex in vivo
12:45–1:00 Discussion
1:00–2:30 Lunch Break
2:30–5:10 Dendritic Processing in Somatosensory and Visual
Cortices
2:30–2:40 Moderator: Robert Sachdev, Charite
´
Universita
¨
ts
Medizin, Berlin, Germany
2:40–3:10 Arthur Konnerth, Institute of Neuroscience, Technical
University Munich, Germany
Dendritic integration in cortical neurons in vivo
3:10–3:40 Matthew Larkum, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Influence of NMDA receptors on dendritic integration
3:40–4:10 Jeff Magee, Janelia Farm Research Campus
Active dendritic integration in L5 pyramidal neurons contributes to
sensorimotor learning
4:10–4:40 Spencer Smith, University of North Carolina School of
Medicine
Active dendritic synaptic integration and dendrite-targeted inhibition
in visual cortical circuitry during sensory processing
4:40–4:50 Coffee Break
4:50–5:10 Discussion
5:10–5:30 Data Blitz
Moderator: Joshua C. Brumberg, Queens College, CUNY
5:30–8:00 Poster Session
6:30 Dinner (Posters and Pizza)
Friday, 14 November
8:45–9:00 Continental Breakfast
9:00–11:00 Short Platform Talks 2
Moderator: Mary Ann Wilson, Johns Hopkins University
9:00–9:15 Rony Azouz
Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Zlotowski Center for
Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Israel
Functional organization of the whisker pad
9:15–9:45 R. Egger
1,2
, V. J. Derksen
3
, D. Udvsry
1,2
, H.-C. Hege
3
,
and M. Oberlaender
1,4,5
1
Computational Neuroanatomy, Max Planck Institute for Biological
Cybernetics, Tu
¨
bingen, Germany,
2
Graduate School of Neural
Infor mation Processing, University of Tuebingen, Germany,
3
Visualization and Data Analysis, Zuse Institute Berlin, Germany,
4
Digital Neuroanatomy, Max Planck Florida Institute, Jupiter, FL, and
5
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Tuebingen,
Germany
The barrel cortex connectome—dense connectivity from sparse
reconstructions of neural circuits
9:45–10:00 Alejandro Ramirez, Eftychios A. Pnevmatikakis,
Josh Merel, Liam Paninski, Kenneth D. Miller, and Randy M.
Bruno
Departments of Neuroscience and Statistics, Kavli Institute for Brain
Science, Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, and the Grossman Center
for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University
Which patterns of sensory stimuli drive barrel cortex neurons?
10:00–10:15 Hang Hu and Ariel Agmon
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the Sensory
Neuroscience Research Center, West Virginia University
Thalamocortical feedforward inhibition by infragranular somatosta-
tin-containing interneurons
10:15–10:30 Discussion
10:30–11:00 Coffee Break
11:00–12:30 Short Platform Talks 3
Moderator: Rony Azouz, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
11:00–11:15 Chris S. Bresee
1
, Lucie A. Huet
2
, Jasmine L.
Alade’Fa
3
, Hayley M. Belli
3
, and Mitra J. Z. Hartmann
2,3
1
Interdepar tmental Neuroscience Program,
2
Department of
Mechanical Engineering, and
3
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Northwestern University
Constraints on vibrissal movement imposed by the three-dimensional
anatomy of the follicles
11:15–11:30 Jennifer A. Hobbs
1
, Lucie A. Huet
2
, and Mitra J. Z.
Hartmann
2,3
1
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
2
Department of Mechanical
Engineering, and
3
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern
University
The whisking search space and steps towards quantifying the
vibrisso-tactile natural scene
11:30–11:45 Edward Zagha, Xinxin Ge, and David A. McCormick
Yale University School of Medicine
Motor cor tex ensemble activities underlying goal-directed behavior
in a sensory detection task
11:45–12:00 Bing-Xing Huo, Jared B. Smith, and Patrick J. Drew
Center for Neural Engineering, Department of Engineering Science
and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University
Cortical neurovascular coupling and decoupling during voluntary
locomotion in awake, behaving mice
12:00–12:15 Discussion
12:15–1:45 Lunch Break
1:45–2:45 Short Platform Talks 4
Moderator: Chia-Chien Chen, University of California, Santa Cruz
1:45–2:00 Bryan M. Hooks
1,2,3
, Zengcai Guo
1
, Nuo Li
1
, Tsai-Wen
Chen
1
, Karel Svoboda
1
, and Charles R. Gerfen
1,2
1
Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA,
2
National Institutes
of Health, NIMH, Bethesda, MD, and
3
Department of Neurobiology,
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Cre-recombinase driver lines for pyramidal neurons of primary
sensory and motor areas involved in vibrissal somatosensation
2:00–2:15 Adam M. Packer, Henry W. P. Dalgleish, Lloyd Russell,
and Michael Hausser
Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College
London, UK
All-optical manipulation and recording of neural circuit activity
in vivo (Due to scheduling issues this talk was swapped with Van der
Bourg and Helmchen)
2:15–2:30 Christopher J. Roome and Bernd Kuhn
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University,
Japan
Chronic cranial window with access port allowing repeated cellular
manipulations and electrophysiology
2:30–2:45 Discussion
2:45–3:00 Coffee Break
3:00–5:00 Cortical Dynamics during Touch Perception
3:00–3:10 Introduction/Overview: Daniel O’Connor, Johns Hopkins
University
3:10–3:40 Takayuki Yamashita,E
´
cole Polytechnique Fe
´
de
´
rale de
Lausanne, Switzerland
DOI: 10.3109/08990220.2015.1032407 Barrels XXVII meeting report 5
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Physiology and function of cortico-cortical projection neurons in
mouse barrel cortex
3:40–4:10 Jerry Chen, Universita
¨
tZu
F
rich, Switzerland
Functional reorganization of long-range projection neurons in mouse
barrel cortex during task learning
4:10–4:40 Garrett Stanley, Georgia Institute of Technology
How dynamic is encoding? Adaptive tradeoffs between detectability
and discriminability
4:40–5:00 Discussion
5:00 Adjourn
6 A. Bajnath et al. Somatosens Mot Res, Early Online: 1–6
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