Thalamic reticular nucleus induces fast and local modulation of arousal state
Laura D Lewis,
Jakob Voigts,
Francisco J Flores,
L Ian Schmitt,
Matthew A Wilson,
Michael M Halassa,
Emery N Brown
Affiliations
Laura D Lewis
Society of Fellows, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Jakob Voigts
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Francisco J Flores
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States; Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States; Department of Anesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
L Ian Schmitt
Neuroscience Institute, New York University, New York, United States
Matthew A Wilson
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States; Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Michael M Halassa
Neuroscience Institute, New York University, New York, United States
Emery N Brown
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States; Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States; Department of Anesthesia, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States; Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
During low arousal states such as drowsiness and sleep, cortical neurons exhibit rhythmic slow wave activity associated with periods of neuronal silence. Slow waves are locally regulated, and local slow wave dynamics are important for memory, cognition, and behaviour. While several brainstem structures for controlling global sleep states have now been well characterized, a mechanism underlying fast and local modulation of cortical slow waves has not been identified. Here, using optogenetics and whole cortex electrophysiology, we show that local tonic activation of thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) rapidly induces slow wave activity in a spatially restricted region of cortex. These slow waves resemble those seen in sleep, as cortical units undergo periods of silence phase-locked to the slow wave. Furthermore, animals exhibit behavioural changes consistent with a decrease in arousal state during TRN stimulation. We conclude that TRN can induce rapid modulation of local cortical state.
