Poulet, James F. A.Fernandez, Laura M. J.Crochet, SylvainPetersen, Carl C. H.2012-03-292012-03-292012-03-29201210.1038/nn.3035https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/79101WOS:000300793100009We investigated the impact of thalamus on ongoing cortical activity in the awake, behaving mouse. We demonstrate that the desynchronized cortical state during active behavior is driven by a centrally generated increase in thalamic action potential firing, which can also be mimicked by optogenetic stimulation of the thalamus. The thalamus therefore is key in controlling cortical states.Behaving MiceBarrel CortexResponsesModulationMechanismsNetworksDynamicstext::journal::journal article::research article