Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada.
The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT, UK.
Neuron. 2018 Sep 5;99(5):1029-1039.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.07.031. Epub 2018 Aug 16.
The claustrum is a small subcortical nucleus that has extensive excitatory connections with many cortical areas. While the anatomical connectivity from the claustrum to the cortex has been studied intensively, the physiological effect and underlying circuit mechanisms of claustrocortical communication remain elusive. Here we show that the claustrum provides strong, widespread, and long-lasting feedforward inhibition of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) sufficient to silence ongoing neural activity. This claustrocortical feedforward inhibition was predominantly mediated by interneurons containing neuropeptide Y, and to a lesser extent those containing parvalbumin. Therefore, in contrast to other long-range excitatory inputs to the PFC, the claustrocortical pathway is designed to provide overall inhibition of cortical activity. This unique circuit organization allows the claustrum to rapidly and powerfully suppress cortical networks and suggests a distinct role for the claustrum in regulating cognitive processes in prefrontal circuits.
屏状核是一个较小的皮质下核团，与许多皮质区域有广泛的兴奋性连接。虽然屏状核到皮质的解剖连接已经被深入研究，但屏-皮质通讯的生理效应和潜在的回路机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们发现屏状核对前额叶皮层（PFC）提供强大、广泛和持久的前馈抑制，足以沉默正在进行的神经活动。这种屏-皮质前馈抑制主要由含有神经肽 Y 的中间神经元介导，其次是含有 PV 的中间神经元。因此，与 PFC 的其他长程兴奋性输入相反，屏-皮质通路的设计旨在提供对皮质活动的整体抑制。这种独特的电路组织允许屏状核快速而有力地抑制皮质网络，并提示屏状核对调节前额叶回路中的认知过程具有独特的作用。
