title: Inhibition mediates top-down control of sensory processing.
abstract: In this issue of Neuron, Hamilton et al. (2013) stimulate identified inhibitory interneurons with optogenetics, revealing powerful control of the flow of sensory responses across cortical layers. During natural behavior, these influences may mediate the rapid adaptive abilities necessary for detection and perception of sensory signals in noisy environments.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems Research, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, 75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: sas@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Shihab A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shamma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D025461:Feedback, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D062308:Optogenetics