title: The irregular firing properties of thalamic head direction cells mediate turn-specific modulation of the directional tuning curve.
abstract: Head direction cells encode an animal's heading in the horizontal plane. However, it is not clear why the directionality of a cell's mean firing rate differs for clockwise, compared with counterclockwise, head turns (this difference is known as the "separation angle") in anterior thalamus. Here we investigated in freely behaving rats whether intrinsic neuronal firing properties are linked to this phenomenon. We found a positive correlation between the separation angle and the spiking variability of thalamic head direction cells. To test whether this link is driven by hyperpolarization-inducing currents, we investigated the effect of thalamic reticular inhibition during high-voltage spindles on directional spiking. While the selective directional firing of thalamic neurons was preserved, we found no evidence for entrainment of thalamic head direction cells by high-voltage spindle oscillations. We then examined the role of depolarization-inducing currents in the formation of separation angle. Using a single-compartment Hodgkin-Huxley model, we show that modeled neurons fire with higher frequencies during the ascending phase of sinusoidal current injection (mimicking the head direction tuning curve) when simulated with higher high-threshold calcium channel conductance. These findings demonstrate that the turn-specific encoding of directional signal strongly depends on the ability of thalamic neurons to fire irregularly in response to sinusoidal excitatory activation. Another crucial factor for inducing phase lead to sinusoidal current injection was the presence of spike-frequency adaptation current in the modeled neurons. Our data support a model in which intrinsic biophysical properties of thalamic neurons mediate the physiological encoding of directional information.
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsanov
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chah
authors.affiliation: Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;
authors.forename: Muhammad S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.affiliation: Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;
authors.forename: Catriona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland;
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; and.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Aggleton
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jonathan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Erichsen
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; and.
authors.forename: Seralynne D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Vann
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; smomara@tcd.ie.
authors.forename: Shane M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: O'Mara
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D019416:Head Movements; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Hodgkin-Huxley model; anterior thalamus; head direction; high-voltage spindles