Inhibition of impulsive action by projection-defined prefrontal pyramidal neurons

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000523117
• Publication Date: 2020-07-07T00:29:55Z
• Authors: Bing Li; Thao Phuong Nguyen; Chenyan Ma; Yang Dan
• Keywords: 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning; two-photon calcium imaging; Biological Psychology; Prefrontal Cortex; Basal Ganglia; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Underpinning research; impulsive behavior; Interneurons; Subthalamic Nucleus; Psychology; Animals; Inhibition; Visual Cortex; Neurons; Behavior; prefrontal cortex; subthalamic nucleus; 0303 health sciences; Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; Behavior, Animal; Animal; Pyramidal Cells; Neurosciences; lateral hypothalamus; Brain Disorders; Optogenetics; Inhibition, Psychological; Neurological; Impulsive Behavior; Psychological

Significance The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has long been recognized as a crucial region for suppressing impulsive behavior, but the specific neurons mediating the effect remained elusive. Using projection-specific labeling of PFC neurons for imaging and optogenetic manipulation in mice performing a go/no-go task, we showed that the subset of layer 5 pyramidal neurons projecting to the subthalamic nucleus, but not those projecting to the lateral hypothalamus or visual cortex, play a critical role in inhibiting impulsive responses. Our demonstration of a distinct functional property of a projection-defined PFC pyramidal neuron population provides an important entry point for delineating the PFC circuit underlying impulse control.