Chemogenetic inhibition of prefrontal projection neurons constrains top-down control of attention in young but not aged rats.

ABSTRACT: The prefrontal cortex (PFC) governs top-down control of attention and is known to be vulnerable in aging. Cortical reorganization with increased PFC recruitment is suggested to account for functional compensation. Here, we hypothesized that reduced PFC output would exert differential effects on attentional capacities in young and aged rats, with the latter exhibiting a more robust decline in performance. A chemogenetic approach involving designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs was utilized to determine the impact of silencing PFC projection neurons in rats performing an operant attention task. Visual distractors were presented in all behavioral testing sessions to tax attentional resources. Under control conditions, aged rats exhibited impairments in discriminating signa

SUBMITTER: Duggan MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8355172 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature