title: D1-dependent 4 Hz oscillations and ramping activity in rodent medial frontal cortex during interval timing.
abstract: Organizing behavior in time is a fundamental process that is highly conserved across species. Here we study the neural basis of timing processes. First, we found that rodents had a burst of stimulus-triggered 4 Hz oscillations in the medial frontal cortex (MFC) during interval timing tasks. Second, rodents with focally disrupted MFC D1 dopamine receptor (D1DR) signaling had impaired interval timing performance and weaker stimulus-triggered oscillations. Prior work has demonstrated that MFC neurons ramp during interval timing, suggesting that they underlie temporal integration. We found that MFC D1DR blockade strongly attenuated ramping activity of MFC neurons that correlated with behavior. These macro- and micro-level phenomena were linked, as we observed that MFC neurons with strong ramping activity tended to be coherent with stimulus-triggered 4 Hz oscillations, and this relationship was diminished with MFC D1DR blockade. These data provide evidence demonstrating how D1DR signaling controls the temporal organization of mammalian behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and.
authors.forename: Krystal L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5759-7440
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and.
authors.forename: Kuan-Hua
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7227-4102
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and.
authors.forename: Johnathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kingyon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131.
authors.forename: James F
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2428-3562
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cavanagh
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Aging Mind and Brain Initiative, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, and nandakumar-narayanan@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Nandakumar S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Narayanan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1
keywords: Parkinson's disease; dopamine; interval timing; medial frontal cortex