Prefrontal chandelier cells encode stimulus salience to facilitate associative learning
報(bào)告人簡(jiǎn)介：呂江騰課題組聚焦大腦神經(jīng)元環(huán)路的組裝、運(yùn)行及功能：從多維度探究皮層神經(jīng)元的分型，解析皮層內(nèi)微環(huán)路與全腦環(huán)路的整合協(xié)調(diào)關(guān)系，研究特定神經(jīng)元及其環(huán)路在正常腦功能及神經(jīng)精神疾病發(fā)生過(guò)程中的作用。實(shí)驗(yàn)室綜合運(yùn)用鈣成像及電生理技術(shù)、小鼠遺傳學(xué)、光/化學(xué)遺傳學(xué)以及動(dòng)物行為學(xué)等方法：（1）揭示皮層中一類(lèi)特殊的抑制性中間神經(jīng)元-吊燈細(xì)胞（chandelier cells）-的環(huán)路的結(jié)構(gòu)與功能，尤其是前額葉皮層吊燈細(xì)胞在認(rèn)知過(guò)程及認(rèn)知障礙中的作用；（2）探索前額葉皮層投射神經(jīng)元的結(jié)構(gòu)多樣性與認(rèn)知過(guò)程的映射關(guān)系。
報(bào)告內(nèi)容介紹：Title: Prefrontal chandelier cells encode stimulus salience to facilitate associative learning Abstract: The salience of a sensory stimulus relies on its physical properties and behavioral context. Proper processing of salience is crucial for attending to behaviorally relevant events, thereby facilitating learning. However, the underlying neuronal mechanism remains poorly understood. We discovered that a specific type of GABAergic interneurons, the chandelier cells (ChCs) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), are robustly activated by novel stimuli, regardless of their valence, as well as by reinforcing stimuli and their predictive cues. The responses of ChCs scale with the intensity of familiar stimuli. Importantly, reducing the ChCs’ ability to detect stimulus salience significantly impairs associative learning. Our findings uncover a novel physiological function of mPFC ChCs in detecting and processing stimulus salience, and in turn facilitating associative learning.
