somatostatin-expressing (Sst) interneurons tagged posts

Different Sst interneurons, or type of nerve cell (colored red), in the outer shell, or cerebral cortex, of the mouse brain are shown. Credit: Courtesy of Science

Specialized nerve cells, somatostatin-expressing (Sst) interneurons, in the cerebral cortex – play a key role in controlling how information flows in the brain when it is awake and alert. In experiments in mice, they found that the activity of Sst interneurons changes when the animal goes from not moving its whiskers (in a resting state) to moving them (in an active state), a process known as whisking. Specifically, the team discovered that the cortex contains a diverse set of Sst interneuron subtypes that reach into different layers of the cortex. Some of the subtypes turn on while others turn off during whisking...