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Cell Type-Specific Membrane Potential Changes in Dorsolateral Striatum Accompanying Reward-Based Sensorimotor
Tanya Sippy1, Corryn Chaimowitz2, Sylvain Crochet1
1Laboratory of Sensory Processing, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland.
Function (Oxford, England)
|March 25, 2022
Summary
Reinforcement learning involves cell-specific changes in the striatum. Direct and indirect pathway neurons become more depolarized, while cholinergic neurons hyperpolarize during sensorimotor learning.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- The striatum is crucial for integrating sensory and motivational information, underpinning reward-based learning and goal-directed behaviors.
- Understanding the precise cell type-specific mechanisms of reinforcement learning within the striatum is essential but remains incompletely determined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cell type-specific alterations in membrane potential dynamics within the dorsolateral striatum during the learning of a sensorimotor task.
- To compare neuronal responses in naïve versus expert mice trained on a reward-based licking task.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recordings were performed in three distinct dorsolateral striatal cell types: direct pathway striatonigral neurons (expressing DRD1), indirect pathway striatopallidal neurons (expressing DRD2), and tonically active, putative cholinergic neurons.
- Neuronal responses to whisker deflection and licking were analyzed in naïve and expert mice during a learned sensorimotor task.
Main Results:
- Task learning induced cell type-specific changes in membrane potential dynamics following sensory stimuli and task actions.
- Both striatonigral and striatopallidal projection neurons exhibited increased task-related depolarization with learning.
- Striatonigral neurons showed a notable enhancement in short-latency sensory-evoked depolarization in expert mice.
- Putative cholinergic neurons displayed a learning-induced hyperpolarizing response, leading to a pause in their firing.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals distinct changes in striatal neuron membrane potential dynamics across the learning of a goal-directed sensorimotor task.
- These cell type-specific adaptations contribute to the understanding of how different basal ganglia circuits support reinforcement learning and behavior modification.
