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Published on: September 28, 2018
Dynamics of a disinhibitory prefrontal microcircuit in controlling social competition
Chaoyi Zhang1, Hong Zhu1, Zheyi Ni1
1Department of Psychiatry of First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China; Liangzhu Laboratory, The MOE Frontier Research Center of Brain & Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, 1369 West Wenyi Road, Hangzhou 311121, China.
Abstract:
Social competition plays a pivotal role in determining individuals' social status. While the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) is essential in regulating social competition, it remains unclear how information is processed within its local networks. Here, by applying optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations in a dominance tube test, we reveal that, in accordance with pyramidal (PYR) neuron activation, excitation of the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or inhibition of the parvalbumin (PV) interneurons induces winning. The winning behavior is associated with sequential calcium activities initiated by VIP and followed by PYR and PV neurons. Using miniature two-photon microscopic (MTPM) and optrode recordings in awake mice, we show that VIP stimulation directly leads to a two-phased activity pattern of both PYR and PV neurons-rapid suppression followed by activation. The delayed activation of PV implies an embedded feedback tuning. This disinhibitory VIP-PV-PYR motif forms the core of a dmPFC microcircuit to control social competition.
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