Title: " Impulse Coding and the Cortico-Thalamic Network"

Robert Miller

University of Otago, New Zealand

Abstract:

Traditionally, it has been thought that the cerebral cortex and thalamus code information in terms of impulse frequency averaged over periods of 100s of milliseconds or more. In recent years, evidence has been growing that the networks of the cerebral cortex and thalamus are capable of coding information in terms of the exact timing of individual impulses. This talk discusses this evidence. One of the issues is whether the exact temporal coding is organized locally, or is a function of large-scale interaction in cortex and thalamus. Reasons for preferring the latter account of temporal coding will be presented. Two schemes of dynamic interplay will be described. One involves local interactions, between neurones in different cortical laminae, the other on a larger scale, involving interaction between cortex and thalamus. Evidence is also presented suggesting that the operation of the cortico-thalamic network is essentially bistable.