Machado, M. M. F. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Prefrontal parvalbumin neurons as a target for enhancing cognition in non-pathological and 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome mice

A failure of organized communication in the PFC is thought to contribute to the emergence of cognitive impairments in psychiatric diseases, with attentional deficits occurring as a fundamental symptom across various conditions. The 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is a rare genetic condition that confers a high risk for developing psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, and mouse models have been shown to display attention impairments and PFC pathology that are relevant to clinical populations. Abnormalities in prefrontal parvalbumin-expressing neurons (PVNs) are part of the observed pathophysiology, and studies in rodents have shown that the direct manipulation of these cells can induce behavioral deficits that align with the cognitive symptoms observed in psychiatric diseases. In the present study, we expanded on the role of PVNs in supporting cognition by investigating their involvement in multiple aspects of attentional functions using a translationally relevant task of focused visual attention, in both non-pathological mice and a model of the 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. We observed that task-evoked prefrontal PVN activity was reduced in mice that exhibited poorer attention and in 22q11.2 mutant mice. While PVN activity was shaped across learning in non-pathological mice, mutant mice exhibited a lack of signal dynamics that coincided with attentional deficits. Importantly, we observed that task performance in both poor performing wild-types and 22q11.2 mutants could be alleviated by gamma frequency stimulation of PVNs. Thus, PVNs appear to be involved in the acquisition of task rules and execution of attention and continue to be a promising therapeutic target for cognitive dysfunction in disease.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Dissociable patterns of dopamine dynamics and causal contributions to stimulus-response behaviors across striatal subregions.

Rationale: Midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons project principally towards the striatum, serving as key regulators of movement, motivation, and cognition. Different striatal dopaminergic (DA) pathways may regulate different aspects of cognition. Objectives: We investigated how different striatal DA pathways contribute to a known function of the striatum, visuomotor conditional learning. Methods: Using fiber photometry, we recorded DA transients in these regions as mice learned the touchscreen Visuo-Motor Conditional Learning task. Results: DA transients in all regions dynamically tracked task events, but differed in the timing of peak responses and ramp-like activity preceding a choice, indicating region-specific temporal dynamics across learning. Manipulations of reward probability revealed DA transients in all regions during reward delivery and omission that are consistent with an interpretation in terms of reward prediction error. Thus, DA dynamics in all regions could indicate involvement in visuomotor conditional learning. Therefore, to determine whether nigrostriatal or mesolimbic DA is necessary for learning, we chemogenetically inhibited DA striatal afferents, revealing that only DLS-projecting nigrostriatal DA, and not NAc-projecting mesolimbic striatal DA, was necessary for learning the task. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate functional heterogeneity of aspects of striatal DA signaling, and selective causal roles in the learning of visuomotor conditional learning.

animal behavior and cognition↗