3.63 Developmental Trajectories of Gaba Receptor Subunits in Layer 3 Pyramidal and Gaba Neurons in Monkey Visual and Prefrontal Cortices

Abstract

Visuospatial working memory (WM) requires information transfer among cortical regions, including visual and prefrontal cortices, via layer 3 pyramidal neurons whose activity is regulated by GABAergic parvalbumin (PV) neurons. In primates, WM performance improves through adolescence and certain measures mature earlier in the visual cortex (V2) than the prefrontal cortex (PFC). GABA neurotransmission undergoes protracted postnatal maturation, with a progressive shift from a2 (GABRA2) to a1 (GABRA1) subunit containing GABA receptors, which is important for WM function. Evidence suggests that schizophrenia is a disorder of cognitive neurodevelopment, with impairments in WM and in layer 3 neurons. Thus, studying the maturation of key molecular components in layer 3 cortical circuitry is crucial for understanding the molecular pathogenesis of WM dysfunction in schizophrenia. Therefore, we examined the postnatal developmental trajectories of GABRA1 and GABRA2 messenger RNA (mRNA) in layer 3 pyramidal and PV neurons from a caudal (V2) and rostral region (PFC) in the WM network in rhesus monkeys.