Journal article
Thalamic projections sustain prefrontal activity during working memory maintenance
Nature neuroscience, Vol.20(7), pp.987-996
07/01/2017
DOI: 10.1038/nn.4568
PMCID: PMC5501395
PMID: 28481349
Abstract
The mediodorsal thalamus (MD) shares reciprocal connectivity with the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and decreased MD-PFC connectivity is observed in schizophrenia patients. Patients also display cognitive deficits including impairments in working memory, but a mechanistic link between thalamo-prefrontal circuit function and working memory is missing. Using pathway-specific inhibition, we found directional interactions between mouse MD and medial PFC (mPFC), with MD-to-mPFC supporting working memory maintenance and mPFC-to-MD supporting subsequent choice. We further identify mPFC neurons that display elevated spiking during the delay, a feature that was absent on error trials and required MD inputs for sustained maintenance. Strikingly, delay-tuned neurons had minimal overlap with spatially tuned neurons, and each mPFC population exhibited mutually exclusive dependence on MD and hippocampal inputs. These findings indicate a role for MD in sustaining prefrontal activity during working memory maintenance. Consistent with this idea, we found that enhancing MD excitability was sufficient to enhance task performance.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Thalamic projections sustain prefrontal activity during working memory maintenance
- Creators
- Scott S Bolkan - Columbia UniversityJoseph M Stujenske - Columbia UniversitySebastien Parnaudeau - Neurosciences Paris-SeineTimothy J Spellman - Cornell UniversityCaroline Rauffenbart - Columbia UniversityAtheir I Abbas - Columbia UniversityAlexander Z Harris - Columbia UniversityJoshua A Gordon - Columbia UniversityChristoph Kellendonk - Columbia University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature neuroscience, Vol.20(7), pp.987-996
- DOI
- 10.1038/nn.4568
- PMID
- 28481349
- PMCID
- PMC5501395
- NLM abbreviation
- Nat Neurosci
- ISSN
- 1097-6256
- eISSN
- 1546-1726
- Grant note
- T32 MH018870 / NIMH NIH HHS T32 NS064928 / NINDS NIH HHS F31 MH102041 / NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH096274 / NIMH NIH HHS F30 MH107204 / NIMH NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984945144202771
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