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Long-range synchronization of neural oscillations correlates with distinct behaviors, yet its causal role remains unproven. In mice, tests of anxiety-like avoidance behavior evoke increases in theta-frequency (~8 Hz) oscillatory synchrony between the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). To test the causal role of this synchrony, we dynamically modulated vHPC-mPFC terminal activity using optogenetic stimulation. Oscillatory stimulation at 8 Hz maximally increased avoidance behavior compared to 2, 4 and 20 Hz. Moreover, avoidance behavior was selectively increased when 8 Hz stimulation was delivered in an oscillatory but not pulsatile manner. Furthermore, 8 Hz oscillatory stimulation enhanced vHPC-mPFC neurotransmission and entrained neural activity in the vHPC-mPFC network, resulting in increased synchrony between vHPC theta activity and mPFC spiking. These data suggest a privileged role for vHPC-mPFC theta-frequency communication in generating avoidance behavior, and provide direct evidence that synchronized oscillations play a role in facilitating neural transmission and behavior.

Summary Decreased hippocampal-prefrontal synchrony may mediate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, but it remains unclear which cells orchestrate this long-range synchrony. Parvalbumin (PV)- and somatostatin (SOM)-expressing interneurons show histological abnormalities in individuals with schizophrenia and are hypothesized to regulate oscillatory synchrony within the prefrontal cortex. To examine the relationship between interneuron function, long-range hippocampal-prefrontal synchrony, and cognition, we optogenetically inhibited SOM and PV neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of mice performing a spatial working memory task while simultaneously recording neural activity in the mPFC and the hippocampus (HPC). We found that inhibiting SOM, but not PV, interneurons during the encoding phase of the task impaired working memory accuracy. This behavioral impairment was associated with decreased hippocampal-prefrontal synchrony and impaired spatial encoding in mPFC neurons. These findings suggest that interneuron dysfunction may contribute to cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia by disrupting long-range synchrony between the HPC and PFC.

International audience; Structural plasticity in the adult brain is essential for adaptive behavior. We have found a remarkable anatomical plasticity in the basal ganglia of adult mice that is regulated by dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs). By modulating neuronal excitability, striatal D2Rs bidirectionally control the density of direct pathway collaterals in the globus pallidus that bridge the direct pathway with the functionally opposing indirect pathway. An increase in bridging collaterals is associated with enhanced inhibition of pallidal neurons in vivo and disrupted locomotor activation after optogenetic stimulation of the direct pathway. Chronic blockade with haloperidol, an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia, decreases the extent of bridging collaterals and rescues the locomotor imbalance. These findings identify a role for bridging collaterals in regulating the concerted balance of striatal output and may have important implications for understanding schizophrenia, a disease involving excessive activation of striatal D2Rs that is treated with D2R blockers.

The cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia are largely resistant to current treatment and are thus a life-long burden of the illness. Studies of cognitive symptoms have commonly focused on prefrontal cortex because of its demonstrated importance for executive function and working memory--key components of the deficit. The role of striatal-cortical circuitry and therefore the striatum itself has received much less attention. Here we review longstanding evidence that the striatum and its cortical connections are critical for complex cognition and discuss emerging evidence of the striatum's potential involvement in cognitive symptoms. Finally, we suggest how mouse models might test ideas about the contribution of early striatal dysfunction to the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.

SummaryIncreased activity of D2 receptors (D2Rs) in the striatum has been linked to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To determine directly the behavioral and physiological consequences of increased D2R function in the striatum, we generated mice with reversibly increased levels of D2Rs restricted to the striatum. D2 transgenic mice exhibit selective cognitive impairments in working memory tasks and behavioral flexibility without more general cognitive deficits. The deficit in the working memory task persists even after the transgene has been switched off, indicating that it results not from continued overexpression of D2Rs but from excess expression during development. To determine the effects that may mediate the observed cognitive deficits, we analyzed the prefrontal cortex, the brain structure mainly associated with working memory. We found that D2R overexpression in the striatum impacts dopamine levels, rates of dopamine turnover, and activation of D1 receptors in the prefrontal cortex, measures that are critical for working memory.