Prelimbic cortex

…The prelimbic cortex (PL) is required for fear memory retrieval across time and is densely interconnected with many subcortical and cortical areas involved in recent and remote memory recall, including the temporal association area (TeA). While the behavioral expression of a memory may remain constant over time, the neural activity mediating memory-guided behavior is dynamic. In PL, different neurons underlie recent and remote memory retrieval and remote memory-encoding neurons have

…Here, we investigated prefrontal cortex (PFC) alterations and cerebellum-PFC connectivity in the IB2 KO mouse model of ASD. Significant alterations in signal processing and plasticity have been reported in the cerebellar granular layer of IB2 KO mice, confirming the crucial cerebellar involvement in ASD pathophysiology. Given the PFC renowned role in ASD and its functional connections with the cerebellum, we explored the prelimbic cortex (PrL) microcircuitry in IB2 KO and WT mice at differe

The prefrontal cortex plays a key role in the representation of cognitive parameters, including task-relevant sensory cues, action selection and context. However, the contribution of GABAergic inhibitory interneuron types to the representation of these task features in active cell assemblies and their formation is incompletely understood. Here we focus specifically on parvalbumin (PVIs) and somatostatin (SOMIs) expressing interneurons within the prelimbic cortex (PL) of mice, as these interneuron types have been described to be involved in context encoding.We designed a contextual-auditory sti

…The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a key integration hub within the associative recognition memory circuit as it receives long range excitatory inputs from the nucleus reuniens (NRe) and intermediate hippocampus (iCA1), both pathways being critical for learning. Inhibitory interneurons play essential roles in spatial and working memory function by gating signal flow and sculpting microcircuit d

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a crucial role in the control of social behaviour. However, its projections to the medial preoptic area (MPOA) have not been investigated. Our research team has previously shown that ascending inputs to the MPOA increase the extent of social interactions between rats. Therefore, we determined the projection pattern of mPFC neurons projecting to the MPOA and examined their role in social behaviour. Retrogradely transferred adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing Cre recombinase was injected into the MPOA followed by an mPFC injection of an AAV encoding

This study aims to elucidate the specific role of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, particularly its micro-architecture, in memory consolidation. While the importance of sleep for memory consolidation is well established, the focus has traditionally been on Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep. The distinct roles and interactions of the phasic and tonic substates of REM sleep in memory processes are less appreciated and are the focus of our current investigation. We employed a novel behavioral task, the Object Space Task (OST), to probe the neural underpinnings of simple and complex memory consol

…connected both with the neocortex and with the hippocampal system, however, little is known about their interaction during sleep. We performed large-scale unit recordings from

Neuroligin-2 (Nlgn2) is a postsynaptic adhesion protein that regulates the organization of GABAergic inhibitory synapses. NLGN2 gene variants have been linked to several psychiatric disorders, and deletion of Nlgn2 in mice results in a pronounced increase in innate anxiety-related avoidance behaviors. It is unknown, however, whether Nlgn2 also regulates other forms of defensive behaviors, and through which neuronal circuits these effects are mediated. Here, we therefore investigated the consequences of Nlgn2 deletion on the neuronal circuits that control associative fear learning in mice. We f

Goal-directed action control relies on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), where distinct subsections collaborate in functional networks. The extent to which the network favors a hierarchical system, characterized by early convergence within the PFC, versus a shallow brain hypothesis, featuring numerous parallel circuits from the cortex to downstream targets, remains elusive (Suzuki et al. 2023). Employing optogenetic modulation, behavioral assessments, and fMRI, we investigate the impact of PFC subarea-stimulation on motor control and whole-brain activation patterns. We quantified error rate and rea

Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a specialized protocol of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), is a non-invasive method used to study brain function in health and disease in both animal models and humans. Despite increasing interest, fundamental questions regarding the cellular and molecular effects of iTBS/rTMS on brain activity remain unanswered. It is generally recognized that c-Fos can be used as a molecular marker of neuronal activity following different types of stimuli. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of seven-day iTBS application on c

…and plasticity in the Frontal Cortex (FC). Perineuronal nets (PNNs), which enwrap the cell-body and proximal dendrites of neurons, have been proposed as a candidate mechanism for modulating neuroplasticity. We investigated the changes in activation (cFos expression) and in plasticity (PNN expression) in different regions of the FC through immunolabeling and confocal microscopy in rats selected as high or

Recognizing members of the same social group as in-group individuals occurs swiftly and without conscious effort. The exploration of the neural processes underlying this process can be advanced through behavioral experiments designed to trigger naturalistic social interactions. Here we show a novel experimental approach to studying the formation of social bonds between two groups of mice: genetically identical, however unfamiliar with each other. Animals were placed in Eco-HAB, an automated environment that replicates natural conditions, for 21 days. The habitat was initially split into two, p

…and include the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In the present study, we investigated effects of acute psilocin on stimulus-evoked excitatory postsynaptic

The prefrontal areas of the cortex have been implicated in decision making and flexible behaviour in different species spanning from rodents to non-human primates and humans. In particular, the orbitofrontal cortex has been associated with value representation and integration and the prelimbic cortex with strategy changes. However, the neuronal mechanism underlying such cognitive processes remains elusive. We aim to gain further mechanistic insights into how neuronal circuits of the prefrontal cortex compute decisions, both at a single neuron and population level, and how circuit operations ca

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive function that allows for the short-term maintenance and manipulation of information when no longer accessible to the senses. It relies on temporarily storing stimulus features in the neuronal activity. However, the mechanisms protecting WM from task-irrelevant influences are unknown. Recent studies involving WM tasks have suggested that neural activity before and after distractors can be decomposed into two orthogonal subspaces, one invariant across distraction, thus protecting WM from interferences. However, whether orthogonalization is a general mechanism f

…hippocampus (HC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Within mPFC, manipulation studies and prior research suggest that prelimbic cortex (PL) contains strategy representations making it especially important for this interaction. To ex

…The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in set-shifting behaviour, consistent with its well-established role in processing conflicts during cognitive tasks in primates and humans. However, the neural circuit

Normative development in adolescence indicates that the prefrontal cortex is still under development thereby unable to exert efficient top-down inhibitory control on subcortical regions such as the basolateral amygdala and the nucleus accumbens. This imbalance in the developmental trajectory between cortical and subcortical regions is implicated in expression of the prototypical impulsive, compulsive, reward seeking and risk-taking adolescent behavior. Here we demonstrate that a chronic mild unpredictable stress procedure during adolescence in male Wistar rats arrests the normal behavioral mat

Motivational drives are internal states that can be different even in similar interactions with external stimuli. Curiosity as the motivational drive for novelty-seeking and investigating the surrounding environment is for survival as essential and intrinsic as hunger. Curiosity, hunger, and appetitive aggression drive three different goal-directed behaviors—novelty seeking, food eating, and hunting— but these behaviors are composed of similar actions in animals. This similarity of actions has made it challenging to study novelty seeking and distinguish it from eating and hunting in nonarticul

…receives glutamatergic inputs from the prelimbic cortex (PL) and midline regions of the thalamus (mTH). However, little is known about what is represented in PL or mTH neurons that project to NAc (PL-NAc and mTH-NAc). By comparing these inputs during a reinforcement learning task in mice, we discovered that i) PL-NAc preferentially represents actions and choices, ii) mTH-NAc preferentially represents cues, iii) choice-selective activity in PL-NAc is organized in s