2. Academic Validation
  3. Chemogenetic inactivation reveals the inhibitory control function of the prefronto-striatal pathway in the macaque brain

Chemogenetic inactivation reveals the inhibitory control function of the prefronto-striatal pathway in the macaque brain

  • Commun Biol. 2021 Sep 16;4(1):1088. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02623-y.
Mineki Oguchi 1 2,  Shingo Tanaka 1 3,  Xiaochuan Pan 4,  Takefumi Kikusui 2,  Keiko Moriya-Ito 5,  Shigeki Kato 6,  Kazuto Kobayashi 6,  Masamichi Sakagami 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan.
  • 2 School of Veterinary Medicine, Azabu University, Kanagawa, Japan.
  • 3 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
  • 4 Institute for Cognitive Neurodynamics, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
  • 5 Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan.
  • 6 Department of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
  • 7 Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan. [email protected].
PMID: 34531520 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02623-y
Abstract

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) has a strong monosynaptic connection with the caudate nucleus (CdN) of the striatum. Previous human MRI studies have suggested that this LPFC-CdN pathway plays an important role in inhibitory control and working memory. We aimed to validate the function of this pathway at a causal level by pathway-selective manipulation of neural activity in non-human primates. To this end, we trained macaque monkeys on a delayed oculomotor response task with reward asymmetry and expressed an inhibitory type of chemogenetic receptors selectively to LPFC neurons that project to the CdN. Ligand administration reduced the inhibitory control of impulsive behavior, as well as the task-related neuronal responses observed in the local field potentials from the LPFC and CdN. These results show that we successfully suppressed pathway-selective neural activity in the macaque brain, and the resulting behavioral changes suggest that the LPFC-CdN pathway is involved in inhibitory control.

Figures
Products