Input- and Output-Specific Regulation of Serial Order Performance by Corticostriatal Circuits.
The serial ordering of individual movements into sequential patterns is thought to require synaptic plasticity within corticostriatal circuits that route information through the basal ganglia. We used genetically and anatomically targeted manipulations of specific circuit elements in mice to isolate the source and target of a corticostriatal synapse that regulates the performance of a serial order task. This excitatory synapse originates in secondary motor cortex, terminates on direct pathway medium spiny neurons in the dorsolateral striatum, and is strengthened by serial order learning. This experience-dependent and synapse-specific form of plasticity may sculpt the balance of activity in basal ganglia circuits during sequential movements, driving a disparity in striatal output that favors the direct pathway. This disparity is necessary for execution of responses in serial order, even though both direct and indirect pathways are active during movement initiation, suggesting dynamic modulation of corticostriatal circuitry contributes to the choreography of behavioral routines.
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: rothwell@umn.edu.
Patrick E
PE
Rothwell
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Scott J
SJ
Hayton
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Gordon L
GL
Sun
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Marc V
MV
Fuccillo
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Byung Kook
BK
Lim
Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: malenka@stanford.edu.
Robert C
RC
Malenka
D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology
basal ganglia; circuit; medium spiny neuron; motor cortex; mouse; optogenetics; serial order; striatum; synaptic plasticity