title: Deep brain stimulation of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus yields increases in the expression of zif-268 but not c-fos in the frontal cortex.
abstract: This study explores the regions activated by deep brain stimulation of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus through examination of immediate early genes as markers of neuronal activation. Stimulation was delivered unilaterally with constant current 100 μs duration pulses at a frequency of 130 Hz delivered at an amplitude of 200 μA for 3h. Brains were removed, sectioned and radio-labelled for the IEGs zif-268 and c-fos. In anaesthetised rats, deep brain stimulation of mediodorsal thalamic nucleus produced robust increases in the expression of zif-268 but not c-fos localised to regions that are reciprocally connected with the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus, including the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortices, and the premotor cortex indicating an increase in synaptic activity in these regions. These findings map those brain regions that are persistently, rather than transiently, activated by high frequency electrical stimulation of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus by a putatively antidromic mechanism which may be relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia in which thalamocortical systems are disrupted and in which DBS protocols are being considered.
authors: Bioengineering, University of Strathclyde, The Wolfson Centre, 106 Rottenrow East, Glasgow G1 0NW, UK. Electronic address: sam.ewing@gmail.com.
authors: Samuel G
authors: SG
authors: Ewing
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Porr
authors: Judith A
authors: JA
authors: Pratt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D016762:Genes, fos / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D020645:Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; C486110:Egr1 protein, rat
keywords: AcbC; AcbSh; BLA; CA1(2 or 3) region of the hippocampus; CA1(2,3); CM; CeM; Cg1; Cg2; DBS; DLO; DV; Electrical stimulation; GP; IEG; IL; IR; Immediate early genes; In situ hybridisation; LAN; LO; LSI; M2; MD; ML; MO; Neuromodulation; OF; PT; PrL; RC; ROD; ROI; Re; Rt; SEM; Schizophrenia; VO; basolateral amygdaloid nucleus; centeromedial amygdaloid nucleus; centromedian thalamic nucleus; cingulate cortex, area 1; cingulate cortex, area 2; core of the nucleus accumbens; deep brain stimulation; dorsolateral orbital cortex; dorsoventral; globus pallidum; immediate early gene; infra-red; infralimbic cortex; lateral amygdaloid nucleus; lateral orbital cortex; lateral septal nucleus, intermediate part; mediodorsal thalamic nucleus; mediolateral; open-field; paratenial thalamic nucleus; prelimbic cortex; region of interest; relative optical density; reticular thalamic nucleus; reuniens thalamic nucleus; rostrocaudal; secondary motor cortex; shell of the nucleus accumbens; standard error of the mean; vedial orbital cortex; ventral orbital cortex