Local inhibitory dynamics underpin temporal integration and functional segregation between barrels and septa in the mouse barrel cortex.

Overview

1. Laboratory of Neural Circuit Assembly, Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
2. Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
3. Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada
4. Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
5. University Research Priority Program (URPP), Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract

Mice, like humans, enhance tactile perception through repeated sampling of spatially segregated sensory inputs. In the whisker system, individual whisker identity is preserved along the whisker-brainstem-thalamus-cortex pathway, culminating in distinct cortical domains: barrels and septa. Using simultaneous in vivo recordings from barrel and septal domains, we identify a progressive divergence in spiking activity during repeated single- and multi-whisker stimulation. While the multi- to single-whisker response ratio remains stable in barrels, it increases progressively in septa, suggesting recruitment of local inhibitory circuits. Genetic fate mapping and tissue clearing revealed distinct laminar and regional distributions of SST+ and VIP+ interneurons in barrel and septal domains. Calcium imaging showed that both interneuron types respond to whisker stimulation, but SST+ interneurons were preferentially recruited during repeated multi-whisker stimulation. Deletion of Elfn1, a regulator of excitatory synaptic dynamics onto SST+ interneurons, abolished the progressive increase in septal multi- to single-whisker response ratios. Temporal decoding analyses further demonstrated a loss of barrel-septa functional segregation in Elfn1 knockout mice. Finally, viral tracing combined with whole-brain clearing revealed distinct projection patterns from barrels and septa to secondary somatosensory (S2) and motor (M1) cortices. Together, these findings support a model in which Elfn1-dependent recruitment of SST+ interneurons contributes to preferential multi-whisker integration and functional specialization within the mouse somatosensory cortex.

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Data

Datasets cited

• doi:10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qt8 — at Dryad; found in DataCite

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed during this study are available in the Dryad Digital Repository at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qt8. Custom MATLAB scripts used for data processing, statistical analysis, decoding, and figure generation are provided as Supplementary Source Code files.

The following dataset was generated:

Argunşah A, Stachniak T, Yang J, Cai L, van der Bourg A, Kastli R, Karayannis T. 2026. Data from: Local inhibitory dynamics underpin temporal integration and functional segregation between barrels and septa in the mouse barrel cortex. Dryad Digital Repository.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 7 authors, 1 keyword, 7 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 80 references, 11 RRIDs.

Cite

This paper

Argunşah, A. Ö., Stachniak, T. J., Yang, J.-W., Cai, L., van der Bourg, A., Kastli, R., & Karayannis, T. (2026). Local inhibitory dynamics underpin temporal integration and functional segregation between barrels and septa in the mouse barrel cortex. eLife, 14, RP107099. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.107099

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