Action Selection and Flexible Switching Controlled by the Intralaminar Thalamic Neurons

• Published in: Cell reports (Cambridge) Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 2370 - 2382
• Main Authors: Kato, Shigeki, Fukabori, Ryoji, Nishizawa, Kayo, Okada, Kana, Yoshioka, Nozomu, Sugawara, Masateru, Maejima, Yuko, Shimomura, Kenju, Okamoto, Masahiro, Eifuku, Satoshi, Kobayashi, Kazuto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 27.02.2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Action Potentials; action selection; Animals; Behavior, Animal; behavioral flexibility; central lateral nucleus; chemogenetics; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; immunotoxin targeting; Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei - physiology; intralaminar thalamic nucleus; lentiviral vector; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Motor Activity; Motor Skills; Neurons - physiology; Receptors, Interleukin-2 - metabolism; retrograde gene transfer; Transgenes; behavioral flexibility; retrograde gene transfer; chemogenetics; immunotoxin targeting; intralaminar thalamic nucleus; central lateral nucleus; action selection; lentiviral vector
• ISSN: 2211-1247; 2211-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.02.016

Learning processes contributing to appropriate selection and flexible switching of behaviors are mediated through the dorsal striatum, a key structure of the basal ganglia circuit. The major inputs to striatal subdivisions are provided from the intralaminar thalamic nuclei, including the central lateral nucleus (CL) and parafascicular nucleus (PF). Thalamostriatal neurons in the PF modulate the acquisition and performance of stimulus-response learning. Here, we address the roles of the CL thalamostriatal neurons in learning processes by using a selective neural pathway targeting technique. We show that the CL neurons are essential for the performance of stimulus-response learning and for behavioral flexibility, including reversal and attentional set-shifting of learned responses. In addition, chemogenetic suppression of neural activity supports the requirements of these neurons for behavioral flexibility. Our results suggest that the main contribution of the CL thalamostriatal neurons is functional control of the basal ganglia circuit linked to the prefrontal cortex. [Display omitted] •The CL thalamostriatal neurons are crucial for frontostriatal circuit functioning•CL stimulation induces neuronal response in the dorsal striatum•The CL neurons regulate action selection in the performance phase of learning•The CL controls behavioral switching in response to changed environments Intralaminar thalamic nuclei provide the major inputs to the cortico-basal ganglia circuit. Kato et al. describe the essential roles of the thalamostriatal neurons in the CL in the performance of stimulus-response learning and in reversal and set-shifting of learned behaviors, forming a pivotal route that affects the frontostriatal circuit functions.