Distinct Thalamic Reticular Cell Types Differentially Modulate Normal and Pathological Cortical Rhythms

Publication date: 6 June 2017
Source:Cell Reports, Volume 19, Issue 10
Author(s): Alexandra Clemente-Perez, Stefanie Ritter Makinson, Bryan Higashikubo, Scott Brovarney, Frances S. Cho, Alexander Urry, Stephanie S. Holden, Matthew Wimer, Csaba Dávid, Lief E. Fenno, László Acsády, Karl Deisseroth, Jeanne T. Paz
Integrative brain functions depend on widely distributed, rhythmically coordinated computations. Through its long-ranging connections with cortex and most senses, the thalamus orchestrates the flow of cognitive and sensory information. Essential in this process, the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT) gates different information streams through its extensive inhibition onto other thalamic nuclei, however, we lack an understanding of how different inhibitory neuron subpopulations in nRT function as gatekeepers. We dissociated the connectivity, physiology, and circuit functions of neurons within rodent nRT, based on parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SOM) expression, and validated the existence of such populations in human nRT. We found that PV, but not SOM, cells are rhythmogenic, and that PV and SOM neurons are connected to and modulate distinct thalamocortical circuits. Notably, PV, but not SOM, neurons modulate somatosensory behavior and disrupt seizures. These results provide a conceptual framework for how nRT may gate incoming information to modulate brain-wide rhythms.

Graphical abstract

Teaser

Clemente-Perez et al. deconstruct the nucleus reticularis thalami (nRT) at the cellular, circuit, and behavioral levels. They find that parvalbumin- and somatostatin-expressing neurons in nRT have distinct cellular and circuit properties, segregate along predominantly non-overlapping neuronal pathways, and differentially modulate thalamocortical rhythmogenesis, somatosensory behavior, and generalized seizures.


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