Coordinated neuronal activity has been identified to play an important role in information processing and transmission in the brain. However, current research predominantly focuses on understanding the properties and functions of neuronal coordination in hippocampal and cortical areas, leaving subcortical regions relatively unexplored. In this study, we use single-unit recordings in female Sprague Dawley rats to investigate the properties and functions of groups of neurons exhibiting coordinated activity in the auditory thalamus—the medial geniculate body (MGB). We reliably identify coordinated neuronal ensembles (cNEs), which are groups of neurons that fire synchronously, in the MGB. cNEs are shown not to be the result of false-positive detections or by-products of slow-state oscillations in anesthetized animals. We demonstrate that cNEs in the MGB have enhanced information-encoding properties over individual neurons. Their neuronal composition is stable between spontaneous and evoked activity, suggesting limited stimulus-induced ensemble dynamics. These MGB cNE properties are similar to what is observed in cNEs in the primary auditory cortex (A1), suggesting that ensembles serve as a ubiquitous mechanism for organizing local networks and play a fundamental role in sensory processing within the brain.

协调的神经元活动已被确定在大脑的信息处理和传输中发挥重要作用。然而，目前的研究主要集中在了解海马和皮质区域神经元协调的特性和功能，而皮质下区域相对未被探索。在这项研究中，我们使用雌性斯普拉道利大鼠的单单元录音来研究听觉丘脑（内侧膝状体（MGB））中表现出协调活动的神经元组的特性和功能。我们可靠地识别了 MGB 中协调神经元群 (cNE)，即同步放电的神经元组。 cNE 并非假阳性检测的结果，也不是麻醉动物慢态振荡的副产品。我们证明 MGB 中的 cNE 比单个神经元具有增强的信息编码特性。它们的神经元组成在自发活动和诱发活动之间保持稳定，表明刺激引起的整体动力学有限。这些 MGB cNE 特性与在初级听觉皮层 (A1) 的 cNE 中观察到的特性相似，表明集合是组织局部网络的普遍机制，并在大脑内的感觉处理中发挥着基本作用。