Quantitative long-term imaging of the functional representation of a whisker in rat barrel cortex

In this study, we implement chronic optical imaging of intrinsic signals in rat barrel cortex and repeatedly quantify the functional representation of a single whisker over time, The success of chronic imaging for more than 1 month enabled an evaluation of the normal dynamic range of this sensory representation, In individual animals for a period of several weeks, we found that: (i) the average spatial extent of the quantified functional representation of whisker C2 is surprisingly large-1.71 mm(2) (area at half-height); (ii) the location of the functional representation is consistent; and (iii) there are ongoing but nonsystematic changes in spatiotemporal characteristics such as the size. shape, and response amplitude of the functional representation. These results support a modified description of the functional organization of barrel cortex, where although a precisely located module corresponds to a specific whisker. this module is dynamic, large, and overlaps considerably with the modules of many other whiskers.