Abstract
Executive functions and working memory are long known to involve the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and two PFC-projecting areas: midline/paramidline thalamus (MLT) and cornus ammonis 1 (CA1)/subiculum of the hippocampal formation (HF). An increasing number of rodent electrophysiology studies are examining these substrates together, thus providing circuit-level perspectives on input convergence, synaptic plasticity and functional coupling, as well as insights into cognition mechanisms and brain disorders. Our review article puts this literature into a method-oriented narrative. As revisited throughout the text, limbic thalamic and hippocampal afferents to the PFC gate one another’s inputs, which in turn are modulated by PFC interneurons and ascending monoaminergic projections. In addition, long-term synaptic plasticity, paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), and event-related potentials (ERP) dynamically vary across PFC-related circuits during learning paradigms and drug effects. Finally, thalamic-prefrontal loops, which have been shown to amplify both cognitive processes and limbic seizures, are also being implicated as relays in the prefrontal-hippocampal feedback, contributing to spatial navigation and decision making. Based on these issues, we conclude the review with a critical synthesis and some research directions.
Highlights
The ability to control behavioral actions upon environmental demands is critical for survival and social acceptance
As implied by the intersection of thalamic and hippocampal terminal fields in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rodents, as Hippocampal-Prefrontal-Thalamic Electrophysiology well as the prefrontal-thalamic-hippocampal coupling in goal-directed behaviors (Ito et al, 2015; Hallock et al, 2016), these limbic sites cooperate for an adaptive cognitive control
Because of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) stimulation (Little and Carter, 2012), these findings suggest a link between emotional processing and medial PFC of rodents (mPFC) input convergence
Summary
The ability to control behavioral actions upon environmental demands is critical for survival and social acceptance. Failing to do so can become maladaptive, or, in the case of humans, evolve into psychiatric symptoms Such a cognitive control, i.e., executive functions, could not rely on discrete brain sites, but rather on an extensive multimodal network. I.e., executive functions, could not rely on discrete brain sites, but rather on an extensive multimodal network This network crucially involves the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and two PFC-projecting areas: the midline/paramidline thalamus (MLT; Vertes et al, 2015) and the hippocampal formation (HF; Verwer et al, 1997). Revisiting this circuit is the aim of our review article, with an emphasis on rodent electrophysiology studies that examined the three substrates together. Offering such a scope while potentially assisting experiment designing is the aim of our review article
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