title: Hierarchical organization of long-range circuits in the olfactory cortices.
abstract: How sensory information is processed within olfactory cortices is unclear. Here, we examined long-range circuit wiring between different olfactory cortical regions of acute mouse brain slices using a channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)-based neuronal targeting approach. Our results provide detailed information regarding the synaptic properties of the reciprocal long-range monosynaptic glutamatergic projections (LRMGP) between and within anterior piriform cortex (aPC), posterior piriform cortex (pPC), and lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC), thereby creating a long-range inter- and intracortical circuit diagrams at the level of synapses and single cortical neurons. Our results reveal the following information regarding hierarchical intra- and intercortical organizations: (i) there is massive bottom-up (i.e., rostral-caudal) excitation within the LRMGP accompanied with strong feedforward (FF) inhibition; (ii) there are convergent FF connections onto LEC from both aPC and pPC; (iii) feedback (FB) intercortical connections are weak with a significant fraction of presumptive silent synapses; and (iv) intra and intercortical long-range connections lack layer specificity and their innervation of interneurons are stronger than neighboring pyramidal neurons. The elucidation of the distinct hierarchical organization of long-range olfactory cortical circuits paves the way for further understanding of higher order cortical processing within the olfactory system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY Graduate Neuroscience Program, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY.
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY neuron@uwyo.edu.
authors.forename: Qian-Quan
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: Interneuron; Neural circuit; Piriform cortex; Synapse