Gain Modulation by Corticostriatal and Thalamostriatal Input Signals during Reward-Conditioned Behavior
Kwang Lee,
Konstantin I. Bakhurin,
Leslie D. Claar,
Sandra M. Holley,
Natalie C. Chong,
Carlos Cepeda,
Michael S. Levine,
Sotiris C. Masmanidis
Affiliations
Kwang Lee
Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Konstantin I. Bakhurin
Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Leslie D. Claar
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Sandra M. Holley
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Brain Research Institute, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Natalie C. Chong
Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Carlos Cepeda
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Brain Research Institute, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Michael S. Levine
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Brain Research Institute, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Sotiris C. Masmanidis
Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California Nanosystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: The cortex and thalamus send excitatory projections to the striatum, but little is known about how these inputs, either individually or collectively, regulate striatal dynamics during behavior. The lateral striatum receives overlapping input from the secondary motor cortex (M2), an area involved in licking, and the parafascicular thalamic nucleus (PF). Using neural recordings, together with optogenetic terminal inhibition, we examine the contribution of M2 and PF projections on medium spiny projection neuron (MSN) activity as mice performed an anticipatory licking task. Each input has a similar contribution to striatal activity. By comparing how suppressing single or multiple projections altered striatal activity, we find that cortical and thalamic input signals modulate MSN gain and that this effect is more pronounced in a temporally specific period of the task following the cue presentation. These results demonstrate that cortical and thalamic inputs synergistically regulate striatal output during reward-conditioned behavior. : Lee et al. show that excitatory corticostriatal and thalamostriatal projections regulate striatal activity and gain in mice performing a Pavlovian reward conditioning task. They find that gain modulation by these projections is more evident in the period between cue and reward presentation. Keywords: Corticostriatal, thalamostriatal, secondary motor cortex, parafasicular thalamus, integration, multiplication, summation
