Li Zhao, Chen Zhilong, Fan Guoqing, Li Anan, Yuan Jing, Xu Tonghui
Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering Sciences, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Neuroanat. 2018 Oct 16;12:84. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2018.00084. eCollection 2018.
The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is clearly implicated in reward processing and drug addiction, as well as in numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders; nevertheless, the circuit mechanisms underlying the diverse functions of the NAc remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized the whole-brain and monosynaptic inputs to two main projection cell types - D1 dopamine receptor expressing medium spiny neurons (D1R-MSNs) and D2 dopamine receptor expressing medium spiny neurons (D2R-MSNs) - within the NAc core and NAc shell by rabies-mediated trans-synaptic tracing. We discovered that D1R-MSNs and D2R-MSNs in both NAc subregions receive similar inputs from diverse sources. Inputs to the NAc core are broadly scattered, whereas inputs to the NAc shell are relatively concentrated. Furthermore, we identified numerous brain areas providing important contrasting inputs to different NAc subregions. The anterior cortex preferentially innervates the NAc core for both D1R-MSNs and D2R-MSNs, whereas the lateral hypothalamic area (LH) preferentially targets D1R-MSNs in the NAc shell. Characterizing the cell-type-specific connectivity of different NAc subregions lays a foundation for studying how diverse functions of the NAc are mediated by specific pathways.
伏隔核(NAc)显然与奖赏处理、药物成瘾以及众多神经和精神疾病有关;然而,NAc多种功能背后的神经回路机制仍知之甚少。在这里,我们通过狂犬病介导的跨突触示踪,描绘了NAc核心和NAc壳内两种主要投射细胞类型——表达D1多巴胺受体的中等棘状神经元(D1R-MSNs)和表达D2多巴胺受体的中等棘状神经元(D2R-MSNs)——的全脑和单突触输入。我们发现,两个NAc亚区域中的D1R-MSNs和D2R-MSNs从不同来源接收相似的输入。NAc核心的输入广泛分散,而NAc壳的输入相对集中。此外,我们确定了许多向不同NAc亚区域提供重要对比输入的脑区。前额叶皮层优先支配NAc核心中的D1R-MSNs和D2R-MSNs,而下丘脑外侧区(LH)优先靶向NAc壳中的D1R-MSNs。描绘不同NAc亚区域的细胞类型特异性连接性为研究NAc的多种功能如何通过特定途径介导奠定了基础。