Remote cortical perturbation dynamically changes the network solutions to given tactile inputs in neocortical neurons

The neocortex is a widely interconnected neuronal network. All such networks have a connectivity structure, which limits the possible combinations of neuronal activations across it. In this sense, the network can be said to contain solutions, i.e., for each given external input the cortex may yield a specific combination of neuronal activations/output. If the cortex has a variety of states, a given input could result in a range of possible outputs. There will also be a vast range of outputs that are not possible due to the network structure. Here we use intracellular recordings in SI neurons to show that remote intracortical electrical perturbation can impact such constraints on the responses to given tactile input patterns. Whereas each given tactile input pattern induced a wide set of preferred response states, when combined with cortical perturbation they induced response states that did not otherwise occur. The findings indicate that the physiological network structure can dynamically change as the state of any given cortical region changes, thereby enabling a very rich, multifactorial, perceptual capability.