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Inhibitory top-down projections from zona incerta mediate neocortical memory
Anna Schroeder1, M Belén Pardi2, Joram Keijser3
1Institute for Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79108 Freiburg, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany.
Neuron
|January 7, 2023
Summary
Researchers discovered inhibitory top-down brain circuits from the zona incerta to the neocortex. These circuits are crucial for learning and memory, showing distinct roles in information processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Top-down projections influence sensory neocortex processing, integrating past experiences and current goals.
- The role of inhibitory top-down pathways in the neocortex remains largely unexplored, contrasting with known excitatory pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize inhibitory top-down projections to the neocortex.
- To investigate the function and plasticity of these projections during learning and memory formation.
Main Methods:
- Synaptic two-photon calcium imaging in mice.
- Circuit mapping and chemogenetics.
- Behavioral tasks assessing cortex-dependent learning.
Main Results:
- Identified GABAergic afferents from the subthalamic zona incerta as a major source of top-down neocortical input.
- Demonstrated robust plasticity of incertocortical transmission during learning, enhancing information transfer and mediating memory.
- Revealed that incertocortical afferents form a disinhibitory circuit encoding learned relevance bidirectionally, with negative responses driving stimulus representation changes.
Conclusions:
- Long-range inhibitory projections from the zona incerta play a distinctive role in neocortical computation.
- These disinhibitory circuits contribute significantly to the brain's computational flexibility and adaptive learning processes.
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