Title: Modeling the effect of locus coeruleus firing on cortical state dynamics and single-trial sensory processing
Abstract: Significance Understanding what makes a cortical neuron fire is fundamental to understand how neural circuits operate. We used simultaneous recordings from the locus coeruleus (the neuromodulatory nucleus releasing norepinephrine) and from the somatosensory cortex to formulate a mathematical model explaining how cortical responses originate from the interplay of the sensory drive that cortical neurons receive, the spontaneous dynamics of cortex, and the effect of neuromodulation. Our work provides a hypotheses about how the temporal structure of locus coeruleus burst firing regulates the amplitude and timing of changes in cortical excitability and may selectively amplify responses to salient sensory stimuli. It also suggests that downstream circuits may better decode the activity of a cortical sensory network after estimating its neuromodulatory state.