title: A dendritic disinhibitory circuit mechanism for pathway-specific gating.
abstract: While reading a book in a noisy café, how does your brain 'gate in' visual information while filtering out auditory stimuli? Here we propose a mechanism for such flexible routing of information flow in a complex brain network (pathway-specific gating), tested using a network model of pyramidal neurons and three classes of interneurons with connection probabilities constrained by data. We find that if inputs from different pathways cluster on a pyramidal neuron dendrite, a pathway can be gated-on by a disinhibitory circuit motif. The branch-specific disinhibition can be achieved despite dense interneuronal connectivity, even with random connections. Moreover, clustering of input pathways on dendrites can naturally emerge through synaptic plasticity regulated by dendritic inhibition. This gating mechanism in a neural circuit is further demonstrated by performing a context-dependent decision-making task. The model suggests that cognitive flexibility engages top-down signalling of behavioural rule or context that targets specific classes of inhibitory neurons.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Guangyu Robert
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA.|NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai 200122, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning; D008959:Models, Neurological; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010320:Parvalbumins; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D055139:Sensory Gating; D013004:Somatostatin; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide
chemical_list: D010320:Parvalbumins; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D013004:Somatostatin