The DOI matches its Crossref record; 338 of the 338 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Barrel cortex function
Open accessAbstract
Neocortex, the neuronal structure at the base of the remarkable cognitive skills of mammals, is a layered sheet of neuronal tissue composed of juxtaposed and interconnected columns. A cortical column is considered the basic module of cortical processing present in all cortical areas. It is believed to contain a characteristic microcircuit composed of a few thousand neurons. The high degree of cortical segmentation into vertical columns and horizontal layers is a boon for scientific investigation because it eases the systematic dissection and functional analysis of intrinsic as well as extrinsic connections of the column. In this review we will argue that in order to understand neocortical function one needs to combine a microscopic view, elucidating the workings of the local columnar microcircuits, with a macroscopic view, which keeps track of the linkage of distant cortical modules in different behavioral contexts. We will exemplify this strategy using the model system of vibrissal touch in mice and rats. On the macroscopic level vibrissal touch is an important sense for the subterranean rodents and has been honed by evolution to serve an array of distinct behaviors. Importantly, the vibrissae are moved actively to touch - requiring intricate sensorimotor interactions. Vibrissal touch, therefore, offers ample opportunities to relate different behavioral contexts to specific interactions of distant columns. On the microscopic level, the cortical modules in primary somatosensory cortex process touch inputs at highest magnification and discreteness - each whisker is represented by its own so-called barrel column. The cellular composition, intrinsic connectivity and functional aspects of the barrel column have been studied in great detail. Building on the versatility of genetic tools available in rodents, new, highly selective and flexible cellular and molecular tools to monitor and manipulate neuronal activity have been devised. Researchers have started to combine these with advanced and highly precise behavioral methods, on par with the precision known from monkey preparations. Therefore, the vibrissal touch model system is exquisitely positioned to combine the microscopic with the macroscopic view and promises to be instrumental in our understanding of neocortical function.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Most information about whisker contact with objects is relayed through lemniscal pathway (8, 15, 43) (Fig. 5A).”
From Neural correlates of perceptual decision-making in the primary somatosensory cortex (2026) · cites this paper as [15]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The Mouse Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates
Paxinos, G. (2001) · Cited by 12,859
Distributed hierarchical processing in the primate cerebral cortex
Felleman, D. J., & Van Essen, D. C. (1991) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/1.1.1 · Cited by 7,783
Deep tissue two-photon microscopy
Helmchen, F., & Denk, W. T. (2005) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth818 · Cited by 4,288 · cited 1×
“Two-photon calcium imaging in L2/3 of barrel cortex in vivo (Helmchen and Denk, 2005; Wallace et al., 2008; Grewe and Helmchen, 2009) has provided additional insights into the spatiotemporal aspects of population reponses.”
BackgroundSelf-citationInterneurons of the neocortical inhibitory system
Markram, H., Toledo-Rodriguez, M., Wang, Y., Gupta, A., Silberberg, G., & Wu, C. (2004) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1519 · Cited by 2,954 · cited 2×
“This subcellular target structure specificity of the inhibitory neurons’ axon is the hallmark of many classifications and has been suggested to be independent of the laminar location of the cell body within a cortical column (Markram et al., 2004), but this view is far from unequivocal.”
BackgroundDriving fast-spiking cells induces gamma rhythm and controls sensory responses
Cardin, J. A., Carlén, M., Meletis, K., Knoblich, U., Zhang, F., Deisseroth, K., Tsai, L.-H., & Moore, C. I. (2009) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature08002 · Cited by 2,603
Imaging neural activity in worms, flies and mice with improved GCaMP calcium indicators
Tian, L., Hires, S. A., Mao, T., Huber, D., Chiappe, M. E., Chalasani, S. H., Petreanu, L., Akerboom, J., McKinney, S. A., Schreiter, E. R., et al. (2009) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth.1398 · Cited by 1,967 · cited 1×
“Particular potential is offered further by in vivo calcium imaging using genetically-encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) such as GCaMP-3 (Tian et al., 2009) or Yellow Cameleon 3.60 (Nagai et al., 2004; Lütcke et al., 2010).”
MethodInfluentialNEURONAL CIRCUITS OF THE NEOCORTEX
Douglas, R. J., & Martin, K. A. C. (2004) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144152 · Cited by 1,886 · cited 3×
“From data obtained in cat visual cortex, Douglas and Martin defined a ‘canonical’ microcircuit of neocortex implying that most cortical areas have a rather similar basic neuronal network structure (Gilbert and Wiesel, 1983; Gilbert, 1983; Douglas and Martin, 1991, 2004).”
BackgroundA resource of Cre driver lines for genetic targeting of GABAergic neurons in cerebral cortex
Taniguchi, H., He, M., Wu, P., Kim, S., Paik, R., Sugino, K., Kvitsani, D., Fu, Y., Lu, J., Lin, Y., et al. (2011) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.07.026 · Cited by 1,828 · cited 1×
“…different molecules and their combinations, including oligopeptide co-transmitters, calcium binding proteins, and receptor subunits, suggesting a huge functional variability amongst cortical GABAergic neurons (Markram et al., 2004; Sugino et al., 2006; Ascoli et al., 2008; Taniguchi et al., 2011).”
BackgroundAmaral, D. G., Schumann, C. M., & Nordahl, C. W. (2008) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2007.12.005 · Cited by 1,492 · cited 1×
“Knowledge about its development may contribute important aspects needed to understand its mechanisms of operation in the adult, both under physiological as well as pathophysiological conditions, such as neurodevelopmental disorders (for review Amaral et al., 2008; Courchesne et al., 2007).”
BackgroundPetilla terminology: nomenclature of features of GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex
The Petilla Interneuron Nomenclature Group (PING) (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2402 · Cited by 1,491 · cited 2×
“The literature on neocortical GABAergic neurons is vast and many efforts have been made to describe their features and to characterize their synaptic connections (e.g. Ascoli et al., 2008).”
Background
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Kölbl, 2010, Fast spiking inhibitory neurons in layer 4 of rat barrel cortex, Acta Physiologica (Oxford), 198, 90
- Oberlaender, 2011, Cell type-specific three-dimensional structure of thalamocortical circuits in a column of rat vibrissal cortex, Cerebral Cortex
- Ramon, 1921, Textura de la corteza visual del gato translation in: Cajal on the cerebral cortex, Archivos de Neurobiologiá, 2, 338
- Waiblinger, 2011, Physical cues used for discrimination of vibrotactile signals in the rat vibrissal system, Society for Neuroscience
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–353 of 353
Domanski, A. P. F., Booker, S. A., Wyllie, D. J. A., Isaac, J. T. R., & Kind, P. C. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/403725
Afarinesh, M. R., & Behzadi, G. (2015) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)
Tactile discrimination learning in mice
Pacchiarini, N. (2019) · ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University)
Enhanced sensory coding in mouse vibrissal and visual cortex through TRPA1Preprint
Kheradpezhouh, E., Tang, M. F., Mattingley, J. B., & Arabzadeh, E. (2019) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2019.12.19.881896
“The rodent vS1 provides an excellent model to investigate neuronal coding due to its functional efficiency [17] and structural organization [18–20].”
BackgroundSense and Action across the Layers of the Rat Posterior Parietal Cortex
Nigro, M. J. (2020) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2289-19.2019
“Rodents explore their environment through a stereotyped movement of their whiskers, and the information from the whiskers enters the cortex mainly through the primary somatosensory cortex, specifically, the barrel cortex (Feldmeyer et al., 2013).”
BackgroundPater, B. A. (2020) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-8059
“Demzufolge wird den PV- Diskussion 61 Neuronen der Schicht IV eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Prozessierung somatosensorischer Information zugesprochen (Feldmeyer et al. 2013).”
BackgroundPatterns of Whisker Movement Activity in the States of Sleep and Waking in Neonatal Rats
Nasretdinov, A., Valeeva, G. R., & Khazipov, R. (2020) · Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology · doi:10.1007/s11055-020-00967-2
Opposing Influence of Sensory and Motor Cortex on Striatal Circuitry and Choice BehaviorPreprint
Lee, C. R., Yonk, A. J., Wiskerke, J., Paradiso, K. G., Tepper, J. M., & Margolis, D. J. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3279421
Cheng, Y.-P., Huang, J., Yeh, C.-I., & Pei, Y. (2021) · Frontiers in Neural Circuits · doi:10.3389/fncir.2021.708459
“, 2012, 2017) and whisker-map reorganization (Van der Loos and Woolsey, 1973; Fox, 2002; Petersen et al., 2003; Feldman and Brecht, 2005; Feldmeyer et al., 2013; Adibi, 2019; Petersen, 2019).”
BackgroundMeeuwissen, A. (2022) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-9058
Badura, S. (2022) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-9155
Ultrastructural Characterization of The Output of VIP Expressing Interneurons in Mouse Barrel Cortex
Zhou, X. (2017) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-6559
Feldmeyer, D. (2015) · Atlantis Press eBooks · doi:10.2991/978-94-6239-133-8_42 · Cited by 1
Self-citationМарченко, В. Г., & Зайченко, М. И. (2023) · Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology · doi:10.1007/s11055-023-01381-0
Imaging Somatosensory Cortex in Rodents
Panniello, M., Limal, S., & Kohl, M. M. (2023) · Neuromethods · doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-3068-6_17
Mishra, W., Kheradpezhouh, E., & Arabzadeh, E. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.06.06.543981
Hostetler, R. E. (2023) · The Research Repository @ WVU (West Virginia University) · doi:10.33915/etd.12253
Dyce, G., Singh, T., Mattingley, J. B., & Arabzadeh, E. (2024) · eLife · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4368226/v1 · Cited by 1
Liu, Y., Bech, P., Tamura, K., Délez, L. T., Crochet, S., & Petersen, C. C. H. (2024) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.97602.2
Self-citationMinimizing Information Loss Reduces Spiking Neuronal Networks to Differential EquationsPreprint
Chang, J., Li, Z., Wang, Z., Tao, L., & Xiao, Z.-C. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5054727
Afarinesh, M. R., Ahmadi, B. B. M., Sabzalizadeh, M., & Sheibani, V. (2025) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115093
Su, X., Chen, H.-C., Cao, J., Zhang, Y.-S., Kang, Y., Wang, L., Yin, J., & Jing, Y. (2025) · Journal of Alzheimer's Disease · doi:10.1177/13872877251379079
“43 Previous studies have demonstrated that depriving sensory experience can induce dendritic and spine plasticity in super fi cial layers of the cortex.”
Silbaugh, A. M., Koster, K. P., & Hansel, C. (2025) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.109183.1
Retrosplenial cortex enables context-dependent goal-directed sensorimotor transformation
Bech, P., Dard, R. F., Lebert, J. M., Smith, L., Bisi, A., Renard, A., Crochet, S., & Petersen, C. C. H. (2026) · eLife · doi:10.1101/2025.10.31.685738
Self-citationSilbaugh, A. M., Koster, K. P., & Hansel, C. (2025) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.109183.2
Su, M., Liu, J., Yu, B., Zhou, K., Sun, C., Yang, M., & Zhao, C. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14404387
Dyce, G., Singh, T., Mattingley, J. B., & Arabzadeh, E. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4368226/v2
Yáñez, F., Messore, F., Qi, G., Dehghani, N., Meyer, H., Feldmeyer, D., Sakmann, B. J., & Oberlaender, M. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.03.05.709819 · Cited by 1
Self-citationDyce, G., Singh, T., Mattingley, J. B., & Arabzadeh, E. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4368226/v3
Albrecht, S., Vandevelde, J. R., Vecchi, E., Berra, G., Bassetti, D., Stüttgen, M. C., Luhmann, H. J., & Horenko, I. (2026) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2026.1605209
“To explore the capability of computational methods to comply with these constraints in a BMBI scenario, the rodent barrel cortex provides an advantageous experimental model (Feldmeyer et al., 2013).”
Self-citationAltwegg‐Boussac, T. (2015) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/b00291fezcae2z498az82e5zaf11f0672b45
Behavioral and electrophysiological study of spatial pattern discrimination in the rat
Kerekes, P. (2017) · doi:10.70675/493321cbzeb7cz4538z8939z0efbfc13f5b2
“From Jin et al., 2004.”
BackgroundInfluentialUne approche tout optique pour l'étude de schémas remarquables de connectivité fonctionnelle
Tressard, T. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/8a629ef0zb182z4315zbf9az0c3f999e9868
Dynamique de l’excitabilité corticale dans l’épilepsie-absence et intégration sensorielle
Williams, M. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/f3f16401z6809z4b94z8a26z7ab6e7bd4a9f
From AMPAR lateral diffusion to whisker perception : a new model for cortical remapping
Campelo, T. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/522bd21az83c3z4251z9e4dz4955a2c5c273
Abbasi, A. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/d2187cf3z47a0z4420z8005zb0c6f6b4e73f
Impact of PV interneuron - OPC synapse disruption on cognitive functioning
Vidal, M. (2021) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/66c1e527zbd3ez49f6z8736ze9817c27856d
Physiopathologie des comas isoélectriques : de l’EEG au neurone
Carton‐Leclercq, A. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/7e9150a6z8959z43baza4b4zcaf0222fc163
Revah, O., Wolf, F., Gutnick, M. J., & Neef, A. (2026) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003789
“Here, we overcome these problems by studying the encoding performance of a stable population of well-described cortical neurons: the excitatory cells of Layer 4 (L4) of the mouse somatosensory cortex [14–18].”
Retrosplenial cortex enables context-dependent goal-directed sensorimotor transformationPreprint
Bech, P., Dard, R. F., Lebert, J. M., Smith, L., Bisi, A., Renard, A., Crochet, S., & Petersen, C. C. H. (2026) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.109717.2
Self-citationWei, H.-Z., Li, Y.-Y., Jia, H.-Y., Zhao, T.-Y., Ren, X., Qiu, X.-T., Zhang, F.-X., Li, Y.-Q., & Zhang, M.-M. (2026) · Brain Informatics · doi:10.1186/s40708-026-00315-z · Cited by 1
“Cluster 1 neurons, with their focused projections to SSp subregions, particularly in SSp-bfd, likely contribute to fine tactile discrimination and sensory processing [33].”
Song, X., Zhang, F., Han, D., Yu, J., Xin, X., & Guo, R. (2026) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/wnr.0000000000002284
Kato, R., Kajiwara, M., Kobayashi, S., & Kobayashi, M. (2026) · Chemical Senses · doi:10.1093/chemse/bjag019
Layer 5 and 6b Extratelencephalic Neurons Encode Distinct Sound Features in Auditory Cortex
Ghimire, M., & Williamson, R. S. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0512-26.2026 · Cited by 1
An in silico framework for dissecting the mechanistic origins of in vivo recorded neuronal activity
Meulemeester, B., Bast, A., Royo, M., Fruengel, R., Saka, S., Kastrinakis, F., & Oberlaender, M. (2026) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014617
Zhan, X., Tan, P., Tan, T., & Chen, C.-C. (2026) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2026.1932616
“…because it contains the most recognizable barrel structures and serves as the principal thal-amorecipient lamina for whisker-derived inputs, where afferent sensory information first enters the cortical circuit for subsequent processing (Petersen, 2007; Wimmer et al., 2010; Feldmeyer et al., 2013).”
Neural mechanisms for reducing uncertainty in 3D depth perception
Murphy, A. P. (2015) · University of Birmingham Institutional Research Archive (University of Birmingham)
Ólafsdóttir, H. F. (2014) · UCL Discovery (University College London)
Metadata
- Authors
- Feldmeyer, D., Brecht, M., Helmchen, F., Petersen, C. C. H., Poulet, J. F. A., Staiger, J. F., Luhmann, H. J., & Schwarz, C.
- Affiliations
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Max Delbrück Center (DE)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schwarz, Cornelius
- ORCID
- Venue
- Progress in Neurobiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-04
- Volume
- 103
- Pages
- 3-27
- ISSN
- 0301-0082 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2119610099
- Cited by
- 354
- References
- 338
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 16
- FWCI
- 1.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Progress in Neurobiology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- MDC Repository (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- GRO (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 1341)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- barrel cortex, barrel columns, neocortex, whisker representation, primary somatosensory cortex, cortical microcircuits, sensorimotor integration, genetic instruments, rodent behavior, cortical connectivity
- MeSH terms
- Afferent Pathways, Animals, Somatosensory Cortex, Vibrissae, Neocortex, Mice, Rats, Touch Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
