Inhibitory Control of Prefrontal Cortex by the Claustrum

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.,

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          The claustrum strongly inhibits, rather than excites, prefrontal cortex


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          Prefrontal NPY and PV interneurons are activated by the claustrum


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          Claustrocortical feedforward inhibition is predominantly mediated by NPY neurons


    , The claustrum provides a dense synaptic input to the cortex, but how claustrocortical projections modulate cortical activity is not known. Jackson et al. show that claustrocortical connections serve to inhibit cortical neural networks by activating specific subtypes of cortical interneurons.

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(20/01/2024, 15:35:52 )

Feed-forward inhibition of the PFC

“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.” (Jackson et al., 2018, p. 1029)

“To explore how CLA activity affects cortical networks, we used pathway-speciﬁc optogenetic activation to show that claustrocortical projections drive robust feedforward inhibition (FFI) of excitatory pyramidal cells (PCs) within the PFC.” (Jackson et al., 2018, p. 1036)

[[FM3 Introduction]]

“The hyperconnected neuroanatomical organization of claustrocortical circuits (Atlan et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2017; White et al., 2017) has led to intense debate over how the claustrum (CLA) contributes to cortical information processing and brain function (Crick and Koch, 2005; Goll et al., 2015; Mathur, 2014).” (Jackson et al., 2018, p. 1029) introduction

“Theoretical and experimental work has suggested the CLA plays a role in attention (Crick and Koch, 2005; Goll et al., 2015), novelty coding (Kitanishi and Matsuo, 2017), sensorimotor integration (Smith et al., 2012), and stress (Seiriki et al., 2017). A common theme that could relate these various cognitive operations is the involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and indeed the CLA connects most densely with the PFC (Atlan et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2012; White et al., 2017; Zingg et al., 2014). Given the high degree of connectivity with the PFC, the CLA is likely to play an important role in the cortical control of behavior.” (Jackson et al., 2018, p. 1029)

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Feed-forward inhibition of the PFC

[[FM3 Introduction]]