Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Neuron. 2011 Sep 8;71(5):898-910. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.07.027.
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and ventral hippocampus (vHPC) functionally interact during innate anxiety tasks. To explore the consequences of this interaction, we examined task-related firing of single units from the mPFC of mice exploring standard and modified versions of the elevated plus maze (EPM), an innate anxiety paradigm. Hippocampal local field potentials (LFPs) were simultaneously monitored. The population of mPFC units distinguished between safe and aversive locations within the maze, regardless of the nature of the anxiogenic stimulus. Strikingly, mPFC units with stronger task-related activity were more strongly coupled to theta-frequency activity in the vHPC LFP. Lastly, task-related activity was inversely correlated with behavioral measures of anxiety. These results clarify the role of the vHPC-mPFC circuit in innate anxiety and underscore how specific inputs may be involved in the generation of behaviorally relevant neural activity within the mPFC.
内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）和腹侧海马体（vHPC）在先天焦虑任务中具有功能交互作用。为了探索这种相互作用的后果，我们研究了在探索高架十字迷宫（EPM）的标准和改良版本的任务期间，来自探索标准和改良版本的高架十字迷宫（EPM）的小鼠 mPFC 的单个单元的与任务相关的放电。同时监测海马体局部场电位（LFPs）。无论焦虑刺激的性质如何，mPFC 单元的群体都可以区分迷宫中安全和厌恶的位置。引人注目的是，与任务相关的活动更强的 mPFC 单元与 vHPC LFP 中的θ频带活动的耦合更强。最后，与任务相关的活动与焦虑的行为测量呈负相关。这些结果阐明了 vHPC-mPFC 回路在先天焦虑中的作用，并强调了特定输入如何参与在 mPFC 内产生与行为相关的神经活动。
