BMI Seminar // Naoya Takahashi: Cortical mechanisms in tactile detection: from apical dendrites to top-down input”

Our perceptual experience of sensory stimuli is continuously shaped by context and task demands. Using the mouse whisker system as a model, my lab investigates the neural circuits and plasticity that underlie these dynamic changes in tactile perception. By combining in vivo imaging and genetic tools in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), we aim to understand the cellular- and network-level processes involved in a range of tactile tasks. In this talk, I will first discuss our previous work on the apical dendritic mechanisms in S1 neurons that modulate tactile detection sensitivity in mice. I will then share preliminary findings on the influence of cortical top-down input in modulating detection sensitivity. Specifically, we examined how secondary somatosensory (S2) input is organized in S1 over space and time, and how this impacts tactile detection.”