Molecular characteristics and laminar distribution of prefrontal neurons projecting to the mesolimbic system.

ABSTRACT: Prefrontal cortical influence over the mesolimbic system - including the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) - is implicated in various cognitive processes and behavioral malfunctions. The functional versatility of this system could be explained by an underlying anatomical complexity; however, the detailed characterization of the medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) innervation of the NAc and VTA is still lacking. Therefore, combining classical retrograde and conditional viral tracing techniques with multiple fluorescent immunohistochemistry, we sought to deliver a precise, cell- and layer-specific anatomical description of the cortico-mesolimbic pathways in mice. We demonstrated that NAc- (mPFC_NAc) and VTA-projecting mPFC (mPFC_VTA) populations s

SUBMITTER: Babiczky A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9444245 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature