title: Medial prefrontal activity during delay period contributes to learning of a working memory task.
abstract: Cognitive processes require working memory (WM) that involves a brief period of memory retention known as the delay period. Elevated delay-period activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been observed, but its functional role in WM tasks remains unclear. We optogenetically suppressed or enhanced activity of pyramidal neurons in mouse mPFC during the delay period. Behavioral performance was impaired during the learning phase but not after the mice were well trained. Delay-period mPFC activity appeared to be more important in memory retention than in inhibitory control, decision-making, or motor selection. Furthermore, endogenous delay-period mPFC activity showed more prominent modulation that correlated with memory retention and behavioral performance. Thus, properly regulated mPFC delay-period activity is critical for information retention during learning of a WM task.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Ruiqing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Yulei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. tonylicy@ion.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Chengyu T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012903:Smell; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein
chemical_list: D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein