近日，中国科学院脑科学与智能技术卓越创新中心姚海珊及其团队完成小鼠特定眶额皮层神经元输入和输出的全脑图谱绘制。相关论文于2024年5月27日在线发表在《神经科学通报》杂志上。

研究人员绘制了五种投射特异性眶额皮层（ORB）神经元的输入以及ORB输出到两种抑制性神经元的图谱。研究人员发现，不同的投射特异性ORB神经元从相似的皮层和丘脑区域接收输入，尽管存在数量上的差异，尤其是在躯体运动区和背侧丘脑的内侧群。

通过计算由特定ORB亚区域神经元支配的小清蛋白（PV）或体生长抑素（SST）中间神经元，研究人员发现感觉皮层中的PV神经元比例较高，而内侧ORB神经元所针对的皮层下区域中的SST神经元比例较高。这些结果为了解和研究特定ORB神经元的功能提供了启示。

据了解，ORB是一个对刺激-奖赏联想、决策和灵活行为至关重要的区域，它与其他脑区广泛相连。然而，投射定义的ORB神经元的全脑输入以及特定ORB亚区神经元突触后抑制性神经元的分布特征仍然不甚明了。

附：英文原文

Title: Whole-brain Mapping of Inputs and Outputs of Specific Orbitofrontal Cortical Neurons in Mice

Author: Zhang, Yijie, Zhang, Wen, Wang, Lizhao, Liu, Dechen, Xie, Taorong, Le, Ziwei, Li, Xiangning, Gong, Hui, Xu, Xiao-Hong, Xu, Min, Yao, Haishan

Issue&Volume: 2024-05-27

Abstract: The orbitofrontal cortex (ORB), a region crucial for stimulus-reward association, decision-making, and flexible behaviors, extensively connects with other brain areas. However, brain-wide inputs to projection-defined ORB neurons and the distribution of inhibitory neurons postsynaptic to neurons in specific ORB subregions remain poorly characterized. Here we mapped the inputs of five types of projection-specific ORB neurons and ORB outputs to two types of inhibitory neurons. We found that different projection-defined ORB neurons received inputs from similar cortical and thalamic regions, albeit with quantitative variations, particularly in somatomotor areas and medial groups of the dorsal thalamus. By counting parvalbumin (PV) or somatostatin (SST) interneurons innervated by neurons in specific ORB subregions, we found a higher fraction of PV neurons in sensory cortices and a higher fraction of SST neurons in subcortical regions targeted by medial ORB neurons. These results provide insights into understanding and investigating the function of specific ORB neurons.

DOI: 10.1007/s12264-024-01229-8

Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12264-024-01229-8