Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 20057, USA.
Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 20057, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Jun 19;8(1):9369. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27577-w.
The basal ganglia are an evolutionarily old group of structures, with gross organization conserved across species. Despite this conservation, there is evidence suggesting that anatomical organization of a key output nucleus of the basal ganglia, the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr), diverges across species. Nevertheless, there are relatively few comparative studies examining the impact of manipulations of SNpr across species. Here, we evaluated the role of SNpr in a highly conserved behavior: prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response (PPI). We performed parallel experiments in both rats and rhesus macaques using intracranial microinfusions of GABA agonist muscimol to investigate the role of SNpr in PPI. SNpr inactivation significantly disrupted PPI in rats, congruent with prior studies; however, in macaques, SNpr inactivation resulted in facilitation of PPI. We suggest that this difference in circuit function results from a divergence in anatomical connectivity, underscoring the importance of circuit dissection studies across species.
基底神经节是一组进化古老的结构，其总体组织在物种间保持保守。尽管存在这种保守性，但有证据表明，基底神经节的一个关键输出核团——黑质网状部（SNpr）的解剖组织在物种间存在差异。然而，相对较少有比较研究检查 SNpr 在物种间的操作的影响。在这里，我们评估了 SNpr 在一种高度保守的行为中的作用：听觉惊跳反应的前脉冲抑制（PPI）。我们在大鼠和恒河猴中进行了平行实验，使用 GABA 激动剂 muscimol 的颅内微灌注来研究 SNpr 在 PPI 中的作用。SNpr 失活显著破坏了大鼠的 PPI，与先前的研究一致；然而，在猕猴中，SNpr 失活导致 PPI 增强。我们认为这种电路功能的差异是由于解剖连接的差异造成的，突出了跨物种进行电路解剖研究的重要性。
