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PMID: 25126786 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

State-dependent architecture of thalamic reticular subnetworks.

Cell ·Vol. 158 ·No. 4 ·2014-08-14 ·Pages 808-821

Halassa MM, Chen Z, Wimmer RD, Brunetti PM, Zhao S, Zikopoulos B, Wang F, Brown EN, Wilson MA

Abstract

Behavioral state is known to influence interactions between thalamus and cortex, which are important for sensation, action, and cognition. The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is hypothesized to regulate thalamo-cortical interactions, but the underlying functional architecture of this process and its state dependence are unknown. By combining the first TRN ensemble recording with psychophysics and connectivity-based optogenetic tagging, we found reticular circuits to be composed of distinct subnetworks. While activity of limbic-projecting TRN neurons positively correlates with arousal, sensory-projecting neurons participate in spindles and show elevated synchrony by slow waves during sleep. Sensory-projecting neurons are suppressed by attentional states, demonstrating that their gating of thalamo-cortical interactions is matched to behavioral state. Bidirectional manipulation of attentional performance was achieved through subnetwork-specific optogenetic stimulation. Together, our findings provide evidence for differential inhibition of thalamic nuclei across brain states, where the TRN separately controls external sensory and internal limbic processing facilitating normal cognitive function. PAPERFLICK:

MeSH Terms
Animals Attention Behavior, Animal Cognition Limbic System/physiology Male Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Thalamic Nuclei/physiology Visual Perception
Authors & Affiliations
9 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Halassa Michael M
Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
Chen Zhe
Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Wimmer Ralf D
Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Brunetti Philip M
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Zhao Shengli
Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Zikopoulos Basilis
Department of Health Sciences and Program in Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Wang Fan
Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Brown Emery N
Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Institute of Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Wilson Matthew A
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
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Article Info
Journal
Cell
Abbr.
Cell
ISSN
1097-4172
Published
2014-08-14
Pages
808-821
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0413066
PMCID
PMC4205482
Subset
IM
Grants
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH061976 · United States
NCCDPHP CDC HHS · DP1MH103908 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R25 MH094612 · United States
NINDS NIH HHS · K99 NS078115 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01-MH061976 · United States
NINDS NIH HHS · R01NS077986 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01MH057414 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH057414 · United States
NINDS NIH HHS · K99 NS 078115 · United States
NINDS NIH HHS · R01 NS077986 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH101209 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM104948 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · DP1 MH103908 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · TR01-GM10498 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01MH101209 · United States
NINDS NIH HHS · R00 NS078115 · United States
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