Study of the roles of striatal populations in instrumental learning by optogenetic targeting
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1
Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Belgium
The basal ganglia, and particularly the dorsal striatum, play a critical role in motor planning and learning processes. The striatum contains a majority of intermingled projection neurons, called the medium spiny neurons (MSN). These MSN are divided in two sub-populations: the striatonigral neurons (forming the direct pathway) and the striatopallidal neurons (forming the indirect pathway). These two parallel basal ganglia pathways exert opposing influences on motor and reward functions[1]. Furthermore, the dorsal striatum can be functionally divided into a medial part (dorsomedial striatum, DMS) and an internal part (dorsolateral striatum, DLS).
The aim of our study is to assess the specific contribution of striatal sub-populations in DMS and DLS by selectively manipulating their neuronal activity during operant behaviours.
To interrogate this neural circuitry, we are using optogenetic, which allows rapid and reversible control by light of genetically-targeted neural populations at physiological level[2]. First, with our AAV rodent’s models expressing Channelrhodospin2 specifically in both populations, we have shown on living brain slices a specific activation of each neuronal population by light, validating our optogenetic approach. We are using chronic optic fiber implant to deliver light into the brain and we showed that in vivo unilateral optical activation of striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons in the DLS in awake behaving mice induce the predicted turning behaviour.
Now, these mice are studied in operant learning paradigms, such as acquisition of serial order, using a two-action sequence task[3]. We showed that activation of both populations in DLS affect the learning of a novel sequence.
References
1. Durieux, P. F., Schiffmann, S. N., and De Kerchove d’Exaerde, A. (2012). Differential regulation of motor control and response to dopaminergic drugs by D1R and D2R neurons in distinct dorsal striatum subregions. The EMBO journal 31, 640–53. doi:10.1038/emboj.2011.400.
2. Zhang, F., Gradinaru, V., Adamantidis, A. R., Durand, R., Airan, R. D., De Lecea, L., and Deisseroth, K. (2010). Optogenetic interrogation of neural circuits: technology for probing mammalian brain structures. Nature protocols 5, 439–56. doi:10.1038/nprot.2009.226.
3. Yin, H. H. (2010). The sensorimotor striatum is necessary for serial order learning. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience 30, 14719–14723. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3989-10.2010.
Keywords:
Medium spiny neurons (MSN),
dorsolateral striatum,
channelrhodopsin,
instrumental learning,
sequence learning
Conference:
11th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience, Mons, Belgium, 22 May - 22 May, 2015.
Presentation Type:
Poster presentation
Topic:
Neuroscience
Citation:
Laurent
M,
Schiffmann
SN and
De Kerchove D'Exaerde
A
(2015). Study of the roles of striatal populations in instrumental learning by optogenetic targeting.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
11th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2015.89.00052
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Received:
29 Apr 2015;
Published Online:
05 May 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Muriel Laurent, Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Bruxelles, 1070, Belgium, muriel.laurent.be@gmail.com