Regulation of arousal level by midline thalamic and prefrontal cortical connections

The midline thalamus has a key role in the regulation of working memory, cognitive processing and sleep-wake transition, as well as in controlling cortical oscillations.

Damage or loss of function in this network can contribute to various psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and schizophrenia.

 

Traditionally, this system was considered as homogeneous; however, our recent results and other literature data suggest a functional dichotomy in the midline thalamic-prefrontal cortical circuit. For these reason our investigation aim to characterize these parallel pathways, with the help of classical tract tracing techniques, special mouse and viral strains, molecular biological approaches, as well as in vivo acute anesthetized and chronic freely moving electrophysiological recordings, and behavioral experiments.

 

Related publications:

 

Molecular characteristics and laminar distribution of prefrontal neurons projecting to the mesolimbic system

Elife. 2022 Sep 5; 11:e78813. doi: 10.7554/eLife.78813.

 

AgRP neurons control structure and function of the medial prefrontal cortex

Mol Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 29. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01691-8.

 

Slow insertion of silicon probes improves the quality of acute neuronal recordings

Sci Rep 2019; 9:111. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36816-z.

 

A highly collateralized thalamic cell type with arousal-predicting activity serves as a key hub for graded state transitions in the forebrain

Nat Neurosci. 2018, 21:1551-1562. doi: 10.1038/s41593-018-0251-9.

<< Back