A nonlinear inhibition pathway underlying cortical responses to tuned holographic optogenetic perturbations

Ho Yin Chau, Ian Antón Oldenburg, Kenneth D. Miller, Agostina Palmigiano · 2026

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Description

Ho Chau and co-authors explain why stimulating look-alike brain cells together can silence a neighborhood, in a 2026 study. Light-based optogenetics lets scientists poke single cortical cells, but the network's reply often defies linear intuition. Working with mouse visual cortex data, the team built a nonlinear theory of such holographic pokes. A puzzling effect drove the work: clustered cells with similar tuning suppress their surroundings far more than scattered ones.

The model traces that suppression to a feature-tuned inhibitory pathway involving somatostatin-positive interneurons. It predicts those interneurons flare while their parvalbumin cousins quiet down. The spread of the interneuron response sets how strong the effect runs. A predictive theory now guides targeted brain interventions.

Catalog record

CREATORHo Yin Chau, Ian Antón Oldenburg, Kenneth D. Miller, Agostina Palmigiano
YEAR2026
COLLECTIONPAPERS
FORMATTXT
FILE SIZE1 KB
VERSION1.0
LICENSECC BY 4.0
RIGHTSCC BY
SOURCEEurope PMC

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13684442

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