Categories: Sensory processing & sleep

A long held hypothesis postulated that brain waves called sleep spindles inhibit transmission of information from thalamus to cortex. In here we disputed this claim by showing neurons in the primary auditory cortex (first station after the thalamus) respond similarly to sounds, regardless of the occurrence of sleep spindles.

Sleep entails a disconnection from the external environment. By and large, sensory stimuli do not trigger behavioral responses and are not consciously perceived as they usually are in wakefulness. Traditionally, sleep disconnection was ascribed to a thalamic “gate,” which would prevent signal propagation along ascending sensory pathways to primary cortical areas. Here, we compared single-unit […]