A Hippocampus-Accumbens Tripartite Neuronal Motif Guides Appetitive Memory in Space.

ABSTRACT: Retrieving and acting on memories of food-predicting environments are fundamental processes for animal survival. Hippocampal pyramidal cells (PYRs) of the mammalian brain provide mnemonic representations of space. Yet the substrates by which these hippocampal representations support memory-guided behavior remain unknown. Here, we uncover a direct connection from dorsal CA1 (dCA1) hippocampus to nucleus accumbens (NAc) that enables the behavioral manifestation of place-reward memories. By monitoring neuronal ensembles in mouse dCA1→NAc pathway, combined with cell-type selective optogenetic manipulations of input-defined postsynaptic neurons, we show that dCA1 PYRs drive NAc medium spiny neurons and orchestrate their spiking activity using feedforward inhibition mediated by dCA1-connected pa

SUBMITTER: Trouche S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6424821 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature