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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Published on: November 9, 2011

Cortically activated interneurons shape spatial aspects of cortico-accumbens processing.

Aaron J Gruber¹, Elizabeth M Powell, Patricio O'Donnell

¹Dept. Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn St., Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. agrub001@umaryland.edu

Journal of Neurophysiology

|January 30, 2009

Summary

Bursty prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity inhibits nucleus accumbens (NA) neurons, challenging winner-take-all models. This suggests local inhibition shapes basal ganglia function and disease pathways.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience

Background:

Basal ganglia circuits are modeled as competing parallel loops.
The role of lateral inhibition in striatal regions is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of prefrontal cortex (PFC) bursty activity in nucleus accumbens (NA) neural processing.
To explore the mechanisms of information processing within striatal circuits.

Main Methods:

Stimulation of the PFC using bursty patterns in corticoaccumbens slice preparations.
Recording of projection neuron firing in the nucleus accumbens.
Application of GABA(A) antagonists to block inhibition.

Main Results:

PFC bursty stimulation primarily inhibited NA projection neurons.
Neighboring PFC stimulation sites evoked inhibition in the same neuron.
PFC stimulation activated interneurons, and inhibition was GABA(A)-dependent.

Conclusions:

Bursty PFC activity recruits local inhibition in the NA.
This inhibition shapes projection neuron responses and allows for inhibition between parallel corticoaccumbens channels.
Striatal circuits exhibit complex information processing relevant to basal ganglia function and disease.