Prefrontal chandelier cells encode stimulus salience to facilitate associative learning
報告人簡介：呂江騰課題組聚焦大腦神經元環路的組裝、運行及功能：從多維度探究皮層神經元的分型，解析皮層內微環路與全腦環路的整合協調關系，研究特定神經元及其環路在正常腦功能及神經精神疾病發生過程中的作用。實驗室綜合運用鈣成像及電生理技術、小鼠遺傳學、光/化學遺傳學以及動物行為學等方法：（1）揭示皮層中一類特殊的抑制性中間神經元-吊燈細胞（chandelier cells）-的環路的結構與功能，尤其是前額葉皮層吊燈細胞在認知過程及認知障礙中的作用；（2）探索前額葉皮層投射神經元的結構多樣性與認知過程的映射關系。
報告內容介紹：Title: Prefrontal chandelier cells encode stimulus salience to facilitate associative learning Abstract: The salience of a sensory stimulus relies on its physical properties and behavioral context. Proper processing of salience is crucial for attending to behaviorally relevant events, thereby facilitating learning. However, the underlying neuronal mechanism remains poorly understood. We discovered that a specific type of GABAergic interneurons, the chandelier cells (ChCs) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), are robustly activated by novel stimuli, regardless of their valence, as well as by reinforcing stimuli and their predictive cues. The responses of ChCs scale with the intensity of familiar stimuli. Importantly, reducing the ChCs’ ability to detect stimulus salience significantly impairs associative learning. Our findings uncover a novel physiological function of mPFC ChCs in detecting and processing stimulus salience, and in turn facilitating associative learning.
