Genetic tagging of active neurons in auditory cortex reveals maternal plasticity of coding ultrasonic vocalizations

Gen Ichi Tasaka, Casey J. Guenthner, Amos Shalev, Omri Gilday, Liqun Luo, Adi Mizrahi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cortical neurons are often functionally heterogeneous even for molecularly defined subtypes. In sensory cortices, physiological responses to natural stimuli can be sparse and vary widely even for neighboring neurons. It is thus difficult to parse out circuits that encode specific stimuli for further experimentation. Here, we report the development of a Cre-reporter mouse that allows recombination for cellular labeling and genetic manipulation, and use it with an activity-dependent Fos-CreERT2 driver to identify functionally active circuits in the auditory cortex. In vivo targeted patch recordings validate our method for neurons responding to physiologically relevant natural sounds such as pup wriggling calls and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). Using this system to investigate cortical responses in postpartum mothers, we find a transient recruitment of neurons highly responsive to USVs. This subpopulation of neurons has distinct physiological properties that improve the coding efficiency for pup USV calls, implicating it as a unique signature in parental plasticity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number871
JournalNature Communications
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Genetic tagging of active neurons in auditory cortex reveals maternal plasticity of coding ultrasonic vocalizations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this