Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, 141 83 Huddinge, Sweden.
Neuron. 2021 Jun 16;109(12):1925-1944. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.03.035. Epub 2021 Apr 23.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is considered to constitute the highest stage of neural integration and to be devoted to representation and production of actions. Studies in primates have laid the foundation for theories regarding the principles of prefrontal function and provided mechanistic insights. The recent surge of studies of the PFC in mice holds promise for evolvement of present theories and development of novel concepts, particularly regarding principles shared across mammals. Here we review recent empirical work on the mouse PFC capitalizing on the experimental toolbox currently privileged to studies in this species. We conclude that this line of research has revealed cellular and structural distinctions of the PFC and neuronal activity with direct relevance to theories regarding the functions of the PFC. We foresee that data-rich mouse studies will be key to shed light on the general prefrontal architecture and mechanisms underlying cognitive aspects of organized actions.
前额皮质（prefrontal cortex，PFC）被认为是构成神经整合的最高阶段，专门用于表示和产生动作。灵长类动物的研究为有关前额叶功能原则的理论奠定了基础，并提供了机械学上的见解。最近，在小鼠中对前额皮质的研究热潮有望发展目前的理论和新概念，特别是关于哺乳动物共有的原则。在这里，我们回顾了最近利用该物种目前优先进行研究的实验工具包进行的关于小鼠 PFC 的实证研究。我们得出的结论是，这项研究揭示了与前额叶功能理论直接相关的 PFC 的细胞和结构差异以及神经元活动。我们预计，富含数据的小鼠研究将是阐明组织化动作的认知方面的一般前额叶结构和机制的关键。
