Role of Posterior Medial Thalamus in the Modulation of Striatal Circuitry and Choice Behavior

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.98563.1
• Publication Date: 2024-07-08T16:25:48Z
• Authors: Alex J Yonk; Ivan Linares-García; Logan Pasternak; Sofia E Juliani; Mark A Gradwell; Arlene J George; David J Margolis
• Keywords: Medium spiny neuron; Ventral striatum

The posterior medial (POm) thalamus is heavily interconnected with sensory and motor circuitry likely involved in behavioral modulation sensorimotor integration. POm provides axonal projections to the dorsal striatum, a hotspot of processing, yet role POm-striatal has remained undetermined. Using optogenetics slice electrophysiology, we found that robust synaptic input direct indirect pathway striatal spiny projection neurons (D1- D2-SPNs, respectively) parvalbumin-expressing fast spiking interneurons (PVs). During performance whisker-based tactile discrimination task, displayed learning-related activation correlating anticipatory, but not reward-related, pupil dilation. Inhibition axons across learning caused slower reaction times an increase number training sessions for expert performance. Our data indicate inputs provide behaviorally relevant arousal-related signal, which may prime efficient integration subsequent choice-related inputs.