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Working memory

Persistence is key

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 18, page 385 (2017)Cite this article

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In the first study, Bolkan et al. trained mice in a task in which they explored one arm of a T-maze and then, after a 60-second delay, were rewarded for going into the opposite arm. Optogenetic inhibition of projections from the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during the delay phase impaired performance, as did inhibition of mPFC projections to the MD during the choice phase. These results suggest that the MD supports the maintenance of information in the mPFC during the delay, whereas output from the mPFC to the MD during the choice phase guides action.

overall delay activity of these mPFC neurons was lower on incorrect trials, or when MD was optogenetically suppressed

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References

  1. Bolkan, S. S. et al. Thalamic projections sustain prefrontal activity during working memory maintenance. Nat. Neurosci. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.4568 (2017)

  2. Schmitt, L. I. et al. Thalamic amplification of cortical connectivity sustains attentional control. Nature 545, 219–233 (2017)

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  3. Guo, Z. V. et al. Maintenance of persistent activity in a frontal thalamocortical loop. Nature 545, 181–186 (2017)

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Authors
  1. Natasha Bray
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Bray, N. Persistence is key. Nat Rev Neurosci 18, 385 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.70

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