title: Subcellular connectivity underlies pathway-specific signaling in the nucleus accumbens.
abstract: We found that medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in both the direct and indirect pathways of the mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc) receive inputs from the cortex, thalamus and hippocampus. However, hippocampal inputs were much weaker onto indirect MSNs, where they contacted small spines located in the distal dendrites. This selective targeting means that these inputs must be gated by subthreshold depolarization to trigger action potentials and influence NAc output.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: MacAskill
authors.forename: Justin P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cassel
authors.forename: Adam G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000502:physiology