title: A subcortical inhibitory signal for behavioral arrest in the thalamus.
abstract: Organization of behavior requires rapid coordination of brainstem and forebrain activity. The exact mechanisms of effective communication between these regions are presently unclear. The intralaminar thalamic nuclei (IL) probably serves as a central hub in this circuit by connecting the critical brainstem and forebrain areas. We found that GABAergic and glycinergic fibers ascending from the pontine reticular formation (PRF) of the brainstem evoked fast and reliable inhibition in the IL via large, multisynaptic terminals. This inhibition was fine-tuned through heterogeneous GABAergic and glycinergic receptor ratios expressed at individual synapses. Optogenetic activation of PRF axons in the IL of freely moving mice led to behavioral arrest and transient interruption of awake cortical activity. An afferent system with comparable morphological features was also found in the human IL. These data reveal an evolutionarily conserved ascending system that gates forebrain activity through fast and powerful synaptic inhibition of the IL.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thalamus Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: Kristóf
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Giber
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS, IBENS, Paris, F-75005 France.|Inserm, U1024, Paris, F-75005 France.|CNRS, UMR 8197, Paris, F-75005 France.
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Diana
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thalamus Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Plattner
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS, IBENS, Paris, F-75005 France.|Inserm, U1024, Paris, F-75005 France.|CNRS, UMR 8197, Paris, F-75005 France.
authors.forename: Guillaume P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Dugué
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thalamus Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: Hajnalka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bokor
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS, IBENS, Paris, F-75005 France.|Inserm, U1024, Paris, F-75005 France.|CNRS, UMR 8197, Paris, F-75005 France.
authors.forename: Charly V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cerebral Cortex Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsófia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Maglóczky
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology/ Department of Psychiatry St. Borbála Hospital, Tatabánya, H-2800, Hungary.
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Havas
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cerebral Cortex Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.|Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, 11724 USA.
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hangya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wildner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.|Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hanns Ulrich
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Zeilhofer
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS, IBENS, Paris, F-75005 France.|Inserm, U1024, Paris, F-75005 France.|CNRS, UMR 8197, Paris, F-75005 France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dieudonné
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Thalamus Research, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, H-1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Acsády
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D059330:GABAergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D005998:Glycine / Q000378:metabolism*; D020646:Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D062308:Optogenetics; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D065821:Pontine Tegmentum / Q000502:physiology*; D018079:Receptors, GABA / Q000378:metabolism; D018009:Receptors, Glycine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018079:Receptors, GABA; D018009:Receptors, Glycine; D005998:Glycine