Itch perception is reflected by neuronal ignition in the primary somatosensory cortex  

作　　者：Xiao-Jun Chen Yan-He Liu Ning-Long Xu Yan-Gang Sun 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Neuroscience,State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience,Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 200031,China [2]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China [3]Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology,Shanghai 201210,China

出　　处：《National Science Review》2022年第6期85-94,共10页国家科学评论（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771158, 31825013 and 61890952);the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (2018SHZDZX05);the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB32010200)。

摘　　要：Multiple cortical areas including the primary somatosensory cortex(S1) are activated during itch signal processing, yet cortical representation of itch perception remains unknown. Using novel miniature two-photon microscopic imaging in free-moving mice, we investigated the coding of itch perception in S1.We found that pharmacological inactivation of S1 abolished itch-induced scratching behavior, and the itch-induced scratching behavior could be well predicted by the activity of a fraction of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons, suggesting that a subpopulation of S1 pyramidal neurons encoded itch perception, as indicated by immediate subsequent scratching behaviors. With a newly established optogenetics-based paradigm that allows precisely controlled pruritic stimulation, we found that a small fraction of S1 neurons exhibited an ignition-like pattern at the detection threshold of itch perception. Our study revealed the neural mechanism underlying itch perceptual coding in S1, thus paving the way for the study of cortical representation of itch perception at the single-neuron level in freely moving animals.

关 键 词：ITCH PERCEPTION primary somatosensory cortex miniature two-photon microscopic imaging 

分 类 号：TN911.7[电子电信—通信与信息系统] R338.3[电子电信—信息与通信工程]