Clonally related visual cortical neurons show similar stimulus feature selectivity

A fundamental feature of the mammalian neocortex is its columnar organization¹. In the visual cortex, functional columns consisting of neurons with similar orientation preferences have been characterized extensively^2-4, but how these columns are constructed during development remains unclear⁵. The radial unit hypothesis⁶ posits that the ontogenetic columns formed by clonally related neurons migrating along the same radial glial fibre during corticogenesis⁷ provide the basis for functional columns in adult neocortex¹. However, a direct correspondence between the ontogenetic and functional columns has not been demonstrated⁸. Here we show that, despite the lack of a discernible orientation map in mouse visual cortex^4,9,10, sister neurons in the same radial clone exhibit similar orientation preferences. Using a retroviral vector encoding green fluorescent protein to label radial clones of excitatory neurons, and in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to measure neuronal response properties, we found that sister neurons preferred similar orientations whereas nearby non-sister neurons showed no such relationship. Interestingly, disruption of gap junction coupling by viral expression of a dominant-negative mutant of Cx26 (also known as Gjb2) or by daily administration of a gap junction blocker, carbenoxolone, during the first postnatal week greatly diminished the functional similarity between sister neurons, suggesting that the maturation of ontogenetic into functional columns requires intercellular communication through gap junctions. Together with the recent finding of preferential excitatory connections among sister neurons, our results support the radial unit hypothesis and unify the ontogenetic and functional columns in the visual cortex.