It is well known that neurons in the visual cortex are tuned to specific coordinates in the visual field. “The reason we see shapes is because there are cells in the cortex that are sensitive to little oriented line segments, and these orientation-selective neurons set the stage for shape and form perception,” said Sur. The question was whether astrocytes in the visual cortex might be similarly tuned. Because astrocytes do not generate action potentials, the researchers had to come up with some way of monitoring their responses to visual stimulation other than electrophysiological recordings.

Joint lead authors James Schummers and Hongbo Yu used two-photon microscopy to measure calcium responses to visual stimuli. The first thing they found was that astrocytes in the ferret visual cortex responded with robust calcium increases to a line grating that drifted across the visual field (see figure below). Next, the researchers asked if those responses depended on the orientation of the stimulus, as they do in neurons. They found that not only do astrocytes respond to specific stimulus orientations, but that the preferred orientation is almost identical to that of nearby neurons, suggesting that there is spatial alignment between neurons and adjacent astrocytes. In fact, astrocytes seem tuned at a much finer resolution than neurons. On average, neurons will respond at about half-strength to a stimulus that is 20 degrees off the preferred orientation, whereas astrocytes barely respond at all. Mapping responses at single-cell resolution, the authors found that the orientation preference of astrocytes was just as precise and overlapped with that of adjacent neurons. “The idea of astrocytes as individual cells with unique response patterns stands in sharp contrast to the long-standing view that astrocytes form a continuous syncytium in the brain,” write Fred Wolf and Frank Kirchhoff, Max Planck Institute, Gottingen, Germany, in an accompanying Science perspective.

Visualizing Astrocyte Activation
A field of neurons (green) and astrocytes (purple) within the visual cortex, visualized by high-resolution two-photon imaging in the intact ferret brain. The astrocytes are labeled with the marker dye SR101, and both neurons and astrocytes are subsequently labeled with the calcium indicator OGB1. Activated astrocytes appear white. Image credit: James Schummers and Hongbo Yu, Laboratory of Mriganka Sur, MIT

As for the role of astrocytes in hemodynamics, Schummers and colleagues used optical imaging, under the same conditions as the two-photon measurements, to measure blood flow. They used the glutamate transporter antagonist DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate (TBOA) to selectively silence astrocyte responses to visual stimuli while leaving neuronal responses intact. In the presence of TBOA, local blood flow responses were eliminated. “After decades of hemodynamic brain imaging, we are finally able to visualize the cellular mediator of vascular responses in action,” write Wolf and Kirchhoff.

This work most likely has far-reaching consequences beyond the visual cortex. Sur strongly believes that astrocytes are behaving in the same way in other areas of the brain, including the hippocampus (see, e.g., Diamond et al., 1998) and that this may be why fMRI and other hemodynamic imaging analysis works. “One direct implication of our work is that the specificity of brain imaging is made possible because of the specificity of astrocyte function,” he said.—Tom Fagan.

References:
Schummers J, Yu H, Sur M. Tuned responses of astrocytes and their influence on hemodynamic signals in the visual cortex. Science. 2008 June 20; 320:1638-1643. Abstract

Wolf F, Kirchhoff F. Imaging Astrocyte Activity. Science, 2008 June 20;320:1597-1599. Abstract